L'Esperance.....hope

I must say, that the most incredible part of my entire time here was my trip this last weekend to another orphanage called L'Esperance. Maureen and I took a three hour bus ride to Kibuye and then embarked on a 90 minute motobike ride - up, down and around dirt and gravel roads, with rolling hills and views of Lake Kivu all around. I scheduled this trip after my visit with Manna Energy last month so that I could see one of their water purification systems in place. Little did I know what I would walk into. It is an absolute paradise...which seems crazy to say considering it is an orphanage, but it is truly magical. I could literally go on for hours about my experience here, so I will try to keep it brief.

First off, the Director - Victor. He is a Guatemalan who has been at L'Esperance for over five years after having spent 20 years in Germany. With an agricultural sciences background, not only has Victor worked to get the clean water system in place, but he has plans for the entire orphanage to become self sufficient in the next few years by creating income-generating projects. One such plan is to open an eco-lodge on the lake that will help fund scholarships for the older orphans to go to university. The plans are already developed with help from a university in Colorado. The goal - to make it the first Rwanda hotel to meet LEED standards! It will be hydro and solar powered and will use the fruits that are already growing by the orphanage to provide food in its restaurant. Fruit such as pineapple, banana, and mango are already being cultivated and will soon be joined with papaya and guava. From these fruits they will begin processing dried fruit and will eventually have it shipped to Europe. He is already working with NASA and Engineers Without Boarders from Boulder, Colorado to test out a few dryers this coming January. L'Esperance has already had cows donated to them to provide milk for the children. The cows have reproduced and the idea is that they will be able to sell additional supplies of milk to local markets for more revenue. With help from Manna Energy, Victor has already switched their cooking stoves to be 80% more efficient, only using .2 cubic meters of firewood per day for 127 children and staff! Remarkable! He has a plot of land that will be used to cultivate their own firewood so they will not have to battle rights to wood in the future, with a thought, as well, to eventually use some bio fuels. A mini agricultural school and community education program are ideas on the table, as well.

So besides all these amazing plans, my experience there with the children was truly magical, as well. We arrived and were greeted by numerous smiling faces and warm hugs. We were shown our room in the Director’s small yet cozy house. With no power and evening approaching, we spent a short time with the babies as they were enjoying their dinner of rice and beans.

Suddenly a huge storm began rolling in over the hills. The wind picked up, like you would not believe, and the children began screaming and ran for cover. We headed back to the house where the wind was blowing the rain in under the doors and in the vents above the windows. Victor told us that never in five and a half years had there been such an incredible storm! After a couple of hours, when the winds calmed, we were able to stand on the porch and look out at the horizon over the lake – the lights of Goma shown bright up north in the far distance...What a beautiful site to be seen!

After a standard Rwanda dinner of beans, rice and chips by candlelight, we went out to one of the orphan’s homes where they were singing and dancing some beautiful songs that they themselves had written in years past. Having produced two different CD’s, each having been taken to space, their singing truly moved my soul. To see all the children, old and young, joining together to share in simple pleasures; it was truly special. Later some of the teenage girls were dancing all around me, so I was able to join in, trying to shadow their moves - what rhythm they have!

Saturday morning Maureen and I went to spend time with the babies during their morning wash. The house mother and older girls were preparing the little baths after which each was placed on a small mat to await their drying. We helped to dry their little bodies and get them all dressed in worn, yet cleaned clothes. Sitting on the mats after being dressed, they were fed a handful of bananas each – again, it was incredible how they were so disciplined, sitting so still. What a contrast to the incredible energy they exhibited during the rest of the day. What great leadership this woman and the older girls have shown to them.

We enjoyed an afternoon hiking to the lake and were briefed here on how the eco-lodge would be constructed across the way. Other children from a local town were enjoying time just being kids, playing in the lake, in and out of the canoes they had there.

We came back and in the afternoon took some time to play with whiffle balls, tennis balls, frisbees and jump ropes with the kids. After a couple of hours with the older girls showing me up on the jump rope and playing some great ball with the younger kids, another huge storm rolled through. You would never believe the storms that could roll through this town. I think since it is up in the hills, right off of the lake side, the storms are incredibly intense. As we all ran for cover, I was in an orphan house with some of the older teenagers. We had a great time talking about my work, their studies, favorite foods, games, etc. Then, we began talking about song and dance! They tried to teach me a beautiful Kinyarwanda song they had made and then began to teach me the traditional Intore dancing. Wow...that was an awesome experience!! Juliet, Janet, Janet and Judy - how I miss those young women! I thought the previous night would have been hard to beat, but learning from these girls was so incredible.

Sunday was a beautiful time, touring around the entire orphanage, learning more about the chores the children have, including gathering water from the system, preparing the afternoon and evening’s food, cultivating the local fruits, gathering woods and running the cook stoves among many other things. This was the time that we were really able to get more information about all of the goals and practices of L’Esperance. The trip was too quickly concluded with another 90 minute motorbike ride back to Kibuye.

I must say that in all of the time I have spent here, I haven’t yet fallen in love with this country - it has really just been the children I work with, day in and day out, from which I have found the love this country has to share. My experiences with the kids at Gisimba have been so special, and traveling around the country side has been so beautiful, but until now I have not really fallen in love with anything here. However, after this experience at L’Esperance, I feel I have a stronger reason to come back to this country so that I can see how the programs that have been implemented have all progressed, not to mention to see these beautiful faces again...

L’Esperance means hope...and this place has truly given me hope for the welfare of these children. I see that they could perhaps find an inner strength here that so many other children never have an opportunity to experience.