To be able to read is such a treasured gift...

First thing I must say is THANK YOU to mom, Candyce, Shawna and Kim for your comments about m blog...and thank you to everyone else who has emailed me while I am here. Your support really has meant more to me than you will ever know. It does get hard here sometimes to "see the light," but all of your words have really helped reignight my spirit! Murakoze!

I really cannot believe it is already Thursday. Monday was the Presidential elections, so everything around Rwanda was pretty quiet as people did their duty to go to the polls. It was so interesting, as I walked around town with another volunteer, to see all the cars on the road, all driving in the same directions, towards various polling stations. We had been out to find an internet cafe, but unfortuntaley, they were all closed. There was voting going on at Gisimba, so we did not go to work that day. Instead, to make use of our time, the two of us did our laundry, after which I must say that I can no longer complain about going to the laundry room back home! There was no sink or anything to use at the house, so Tory and I kneeled down, bent over a wash bucket and a rinse bucket, in the hot afternoon sun. With all the up and down, up and down to hang pieces on the line a couple at a time, I did start to get a little lightheaded, but overall, it was a very rewarding experience! HA! It is so nice, like when you clean your house top to bottom, to know that you just completed a huge task! So yeah, that was the excitment of my Monday :-) Actually, it was a little strange because we do not have a local news channel at the house so we couldn't even watch to see the results come in...although we all knew who was winning.....

So come Tuesday, I was told at the beginning of the morning that the English teacher wasn't going to be able to make it....so I was asked to teach adjectives... LOL OK, so maybe I wasn't laughing then...I was asking, "Remind me please, what is an adjective?!" LOL At any rate, with some help from the other volunteer who stayed home, I was able to put together what I thought was a decent plan....however, arriging to Gisimba, the place was quite a wreck. Apparently, no one had cleaned up the callrooms from the voting the day before, so there I was, recruting the older boys to help me clean up the rooms, to move the desks back in, and to find something as simple as a piece of chalk! At any rate, class started, but thankfully, the instructor did show up not too long after....so I was soon able to fall back into my comfort zone of teaching body parts to younger kids and teaching them songs like "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" and "Hokey Pokey." Actually, it is hilarious! Many of them already know Hokey Pokey, but they only know the tune, not the words....so it's a bunch of, "ah daaa da daaaa da daaaa da ah da daaaa da daaa ah daa..." LOL It is so cute... I wrote the words on the chalk board, but I still don't think that helped :-)

Tuesday night I actually went to a night school with two other volunteers who are helping to teach English to some professionals who are trying to improve their skills. After my failure in the morning with adjectives(ha,ha) I had decided to just be present and watch the oter volunteer and walked around the class to help review their work and make corrections. I can definitely say that for right now, until I can get a better grip on how to make a 2 hour lesson plan, I prefer to teach in a non-structured way...I also remind myself that when I can sit down with four competitive girls and teach them how to play Memory Match without turning over all the cards at once, or sneaking a peak when "no one" is looking, or fighting over whos turn it is, then I am also teaching them life skills, how to follow rules and respect each other...I think this is more my comfort zone....for now ;-)

I have spent the last few days at Gisimba doing a lot of reading to the kids, too. I have loaded my backpack every day with books upong books, some of which I brought and some that I found in their storage. It is incredible to see how these kids really are craving to learn the English language. In fact, just today, I was reading to some younger kids when a 17 year old came over, who speaks decent English. He brought by an Arthur book (from PBS cartoon) which I read to the kids. I then asked if he wasnted to read it with me, and I soon realized, he doesn't know how to read.... I can only imagine how frustrating it may be when a seven year old next to him is reading the words that he is struggling with. So, I sat with him for an hour until we got through that one book. It is sooo crazy! I never would have guessed because he can speak alright, I had just assumed. Some of the younger kids know how to "read" but don't comprehend a thing and cannot atually speak the language - it is so backwards....at least I am very happy that I am here long term because I already feel as though I am developing relationships with some of these kids and a sense of mutual respect, too - which is sooo important....

Before closing, I must also mention that was I was honored to have been able to meet yesterday morning for two hours with the local Archbishop! This woman Peg, whom I met through the run, was able to set up an appointment with him and brought me along. I was able to share some stories of the place I am working at, of the places where other volunteers are working, and even more exciting, to learn about different development projects he has been working on throughout the country. It was a fascinating conversation and it was such an honor to meet with "His Grace." I am looking forward to being able to visit some communities through Peg's assistance to see how his projects have been coming along. He asked me about my work back in the states and is so fascinated by EARTH, too :-) It was a very exciting conversation...

So, I should probably bring this to a close...I am heading to meet with the other volunteers for dinner in Kigali as there are three that are leaving back to the states this weekend. It is going to be very interesting to see so many people come and go during my time here, but I am really excited to have the opportunity to meet such extraordinary individuals!