This and That

15 June 2013

Updates: Sarah is suffering from an undiagnosed case of swelling in her legs. Up to her knee in her left leg. (One Dr. said it was a result of too much standing while teaching!) Her legs are very hot where they are swollen. She has been on antibiotics since Tuesday and the swelling is  going down. I had to take all her classes Mon - Thursday and it was a real strain for me. I am so happy to have had Ally with me. I don't see how I could have done it w/o her: No concentration or mental organization even with written lesson plans. I couldn't find my class schedule, forgot to take the chalk to class, or the resource book, or the reading text... Thank God that was on Thursday!

I brought Ally up to Kigali with me on Friday. We spent the day shopping for fabric for her Uncle Allen in Tucson who is an aerospace engineer and quilter! A young man whom her family sponsored in Uganda will come Saturday afternoon and spend the day with her. He is very special: When Ally’s parents began to sponsor him, they were unable to have children. They told him this was one of the reasons they were sponsoring him. He said he would pray that God would give them children. Soon thereafter Ally was conceived; two years later her brother arrived. Ally has helped me work with the modem and my computer so I have been successful in connecting every time I attempt to! That is such a relief! (Here is Ally and her first batch of guacamole.)

Last week when I got sick and vomited, teacher Rachel suggested that I might have been poisoned by a merchant (not an uncommon practice, evidently). Regina, who overheard part of this conversation is furious, and thinks Rachel was suggesting that it was she who poisoned me! Regina has talked to headmistress Theopiste, who then warned me that Rachel is a bad person and not to be friends with her! I am teaching Rachel about sewing: drafting patterns, using the machine, sewing garments, etc at my home, so when Regina came Thursday and saw her there, she became very upset. This is a spiritual battle! I tried to reason with Theopiste and she remained adamantly against Rachel. What will this mean for Rachel's teaching contract next year?! If they have difficulty forgiving in a situation like this, what does this say about the supposed culture of forgiveness toward the genocide perpetrators?!

Sarah and her brother Paul took a bus to Tanzania to check out the orphanage which their church in the U.S. has been sponsoring. The bus drove for 12 hours, then stopped. They had to find their own housing that night before continuing for another 12 hour ride the following day. The orphanage program turned out to be a scam. Nothing has been done toward the project after funding it for over a year! They had one day to see Tanzania on their own before the grueling two days of bus ride home again. And all this with Sarah's legs so swollen that she could hardly walk!

In a similar vein, as Sarah, Ally and I have looked in detail at the blueprints for the new library/admin building, we have realized that it is basically an admin building with a library room! The money was raised to build a library and that is NOT where it appears the money will be spent! We plan to  meet with Benjamin again this weekend. Please pray that he will be reasonable, as it seems he has his heart set on using the money for an administration building instead of a library.

Now it is time to have breakfast with the delicious tiny Rwandan strawberries!

The thought of concern and prayer from our friends has been very encouraging. A very necessary element of encouragement in my life here this trip!

Love to you all,

Maja