NCV...Nibakure Childrens Village. Jake Lindsay Becca Luke.
Becca and I with the kids at NCV...the kids were precious.
Day 3 – Visit to NCV!
Morning – The boys (Jake, Luke, Rob who is Floriane’s husband) took off for a long run in the morning. They were gone for almost an hour because they took a very long route by mistake. Exercising in Rwanda.
1st stop…NCV. (Nibakure Children’s Village which is the orphanage being built from Floriane’s vision, our native guide for our two weeks here!!)
After driving to another town called Nymata, 30min away from where we are staying, we pulled up to the NCV site where they are almost done building the three of the 15 houses for orphans ages 6-18, up to 150 kids!
It was surreal, especially for Lindsay and Becca working in a partnership with NCV for almost a year and finally they were on the soil of the village.
As soon as we pulled in, kids from anywhere and everywhere came to us and Jake and Luke took out the soccer balls, and started a pick up game of soccer for over an hour and a half!! (Luke played the entire time we were at the site). Lindsay joined in but the kids were so talented that they out skilled her too many times for her to count. Becca was playing with a large group of kids, taking many pictures of them and Jake was videoing them with his Flip camera. The two of them were also making goofy noises that all the kids would mimic! Lots of videos, tons of pictures.
2nd stop…We visited Maranyundo, an all girls orphan boarding school very close to NCV, which is using the same architect as them. It wasn’t quite finished but a lady from New York donated 10 million of her money to fund the building and it sure looks beautiful so far!!!
3rd stop…Rafiki (meaning friend in Swahili) Orphanage and got the grand tour by Tim Yoss who is the manager of the place. It’s set up is very similar to what NCV is planning to do so it was very interesting to see almost everything built! There were about 24 kids there between of the ages of 2-5…..and after they woke up, we got to play with them!!! Luke and Becca with the bubbles – kids were going crazy! Jake with the soccer ball – go figure. Lindsay playing duck duck goose – accidently touching them on the heads and was told not to because of diseases.
-Learned that girls have to wear pants/skirts below the knees the hard way. They thought Lindsay wasn’t a Christian because she was wearing shorts. Luckily, Cricket, one of the workers at the site from South Africa, told her “…that in Rwanda girls can show their breasts but not their legs!” Don’t worry, Cricket gave her a wrap.
4th stop…Vanny’s house! One of Floriane’s childhood friends. All 8 of us went there and Vanny, Vanny’s mom, brother, brother’s wife, and Vanny’s son were all there. It was a magnificent house!!! The decoration was incredible and the living room was very accommodating. Everyone sat in a large circle and chit-chatted. We couldn’t really talk to Vanny or the others because they didn’t know English but we spoke with Vanny’s son for quite awhile. After a scrumptious homecooked dinner, Rod tricked Dr. DeVisser in eating a Hot Pepper (called Petipeti). He said it was pretty hot but looked ok. Jake then was dared to eat a whole one. For the first 10sec he was doing fine but soon enough, his eyes were watering and rushed to the bathroom. Lindsay, who’s very competitive, was asked to try one and ate half of one and also ran to the bathroom. Both their mouths were on fire until 20min later. The ice cream helped to alleviate the pain.
At the end of the night at Vanny’s house, which was so comforting and welcoming, the four students went into a living room to talk to Chris who is 22, Vanny’s son. Her son lived in the U.S. from age 14-20 and went to a few boarding schools. He told us that he loves Rwanda so much more and is happy to be back. He also said if you make a pretty decent income, then living in Rwanda is wonderful. Their family has a store that sells cosmetics imported from Europe. Most of the brands in Rwanda are fake and are from China but Vanny has a contract with a few stores in Brussels to import real brands and high quality products. Their store is thriving and Chris envisions taking over his mother’s store when he’s done with college.
Everyone agreed it was a perfect night to a perfect day. Almost New Years Eve! We’re going to a church service tonight (Dec. 31st) to watch Rwandan dancing, singing, and praising. Floriane said we will probably stay till midnight but the service goes from 8pm-3am! That’s a typical Rwandan church for you….
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