Group number one went to the Imbambazi Orphanage today. It was really interesting to see where Rosamond Carr lived and spent a lot of her time. When we first arrived K-Ellen (the girl who took over for Rosamond Carr) greeted us, and invited us in. We gave her the bags of donations for the orphanage and she was very pleased. After that she told us to go out and view the garden and just look around. The garden was so big and so beautiful! She gave us a tour of her place after that. Then we got to eat lunch outside at a big white table in the middle of the garden. We got PB&j sandwiches, koolaid, strawberries and cake, which were all very good. After lunch we walked to a secondary school where we gave them three soccer balls, pens for all of them and K-Ellen and we taught them a song! It was very interesting to see how they could all pick up and learn a song within minutes. We all had a great day, it was very fun!
-alex
Group number two made bricks today. We went on a short hike to get to the brickmaking place and it was really pretty. All the people walking along the road and in the fields were really nice and friendly and loved it when we attempted to talk to them in Kinyarwandan. When we got to the brickmaking place all the workers stopped to watch us work and laugh at how slow and weak the Mizungus (white people) were. We carried water up from the river, mixed clay, and put the clay into molds to make the bricks. Then we put the bricks out in the sun to dry. After they had dried for about a week, they would be stacked and a fire would be lit underneath them to harden them and make them strong. Because we were so slow, we probably made less than 100 bricks in a half hour and then the professional brickmakers showed us how it was done - one of the best brickmakers could make 800 bricks in a day! The workers seemed eager to get us out of there so they could get some real work done. So we hiked back to the house, took a quick shower, and headed off to the popular market where we shopped for fabrics so we could have skirts made out of them. It was really cool - the women just took the fabric we chose, took our measurements, and made whatever we wanted within a couple hours. It was a really fun day seeing a lot of the normal, everyday things Rwandans do for a living.
-julie
Group four was out at the basket-making activity today. It was a little over and hour and a half walk down to the "association". We walked out down some mountainside into a massive valley which was filled with beanstalks and potatoes. We walked on raised dirt paths between the rows of beanstalks, which were about 8 feet tall.
Once we arrived at the association we were introduced to the women. After that the guys helped make banana beer and the girls/women helped make baskets. After the long process of making the banana beer was complete, we too helped make baskets, but only for a short while (thankfully). After we returned, we went down the the market and purchased all the supplies for tonight's dinner. Then we tried to find some awesome shoes but failed. Dinner was pretty good, brochettes for all. Then I skipped out of KP duty to write this. Suckers. GORILLAS TOMORROW!
-Drew
Group 3 was gorilla trekking today. We walked for about an hour to find the gorillas, which was group 13 the black backs. The exsperience was absolutley amazing. We saw many gorillas, including a silver back, the leader. For the hour we watched them the gorillas slept, ate leaves from the trees, climbed the trees, and watched the babies play with each other. The view was spectacular because of the vast green hills and the intense rainforest. After returning we took a power nap than went off to find a restaurant. Later on we all went to the market and bought vibrant colored fabrics for clothing. Today was great! Brick making tomorrow
-grace
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