We both woke up very groggy this morning. There was a wedding taking place at a hall across the street from the BG last night. The wedding party went on until 4am with loud clapping and dancing. Perhaps we mentioned last summer that Rwanda was loud. It still is.
We got up at 7am to the sound of sweeping, goats and people talking to meet our good friend Hassan and a driver named Alex. They showed up at 7:45 and we made our way up to Imbabazi Orphanage near Gisenyi. For those of you that have read "Land of a Thousand Hills" by Rosamond Carr, you will be familiar with Imbabazi.
The road towards Gisenyi was under construction and was very dangerous (not for us but for the 1000's of people who were walking along side of it). The drive to Imbabazi took 1 1/2 hours and the last 1/2 hour was on a road that was not really a road.
Once to Imbabazi we were greeted by K-Ellen Cleary. K-Ellen had been a friend of Madame Carr for about 8 years before she died. K-Ellen and her husband now run this orphange and plant nursery. This place was one of the most lovely and beautiful places we have ever seen. The house is just like the photos in the book and the grounds are attended by 8 gardeners working 6 days a week. Imbabazi sits just below the mountains and volcanoes. The climate is a lot like Minnesota in late October (no malaria because it is too cool).
K-Ellen had us in the house for tea and cookies then gave us a tour around the grounds. Imababzi is a facility for 102 orphans. Some of them attend secondary school (which is almost always residential boarding school). There are about 30 kids who were at primary school but they were at school and would be back later in the day.
We got up at 7am to the sound of sweeping, goats and people talking to meet our good friend Hassan and a driver named Alex. They showed up at 7:45 and we made our way up to Imbabazi Orphanage near Gisenyi. For those of you that have read "Land of a Thousand Hills" by Rosamond Carr, you will be familiar with Imbabazi.
The road towards Gisenyi was under construction and was very dangerous (not for us but for the 1000's of people who were walking along side of it). The drive to Imbabazi took 1 1/2 hours and the last 1/2 hour was on a road that was not really a road.
Once to Imbabazi we were greeted by K-Ellen Cleary. K-Ellen had been a friend of Madame Carr for about 8 years before she died. K-Ellen and her husband now run this orphange and plant nursery. This place was one of the most lovely and beautiful places we have ever seen. The house is just like the photos in the book and the grounds are attended by 8 gardeners working 6 days a week. Imbabazi sits just below the mountains and volcanoes. The climate is a lot like Minnesota in late October (no malaria because it is too cool).
K-Ellen had us in the house for tea and cookies then gave us a tour around the grounds. Imababzi is a facility for 102 orphans. Some of them attend secondary school (which is almost always residential boarding school). There are about 30 kids who were at primary school but they were at school and would be back later in the day.
Imbabazi was so lovely that we decided to add it to our itinerary for next summer's trip. We would reccoment the book to all. It is a very nice, quick read about a strong woman in the Congo and Rwanda.
On our drive back to Ruhengeri we stopped a few times along side the road to take video of the countryside. We hope to share those images on this site when we arrive back home (so stay tuned).
Once back to Ruhengeri we made our way to the Amahoro tours office when we had a delicous meal with Greg. It was cabbage with carrots over rice and served with beans and sweet potatos. Delish.
The only thing is that we had to eat with some very abrasive Americans who were complaining about having to eat beans again. Rude. Go home! (Did I just say that out loud?! oops)
Afterwards we met with Greg and worked on planning the trip for next year. Once done with our meeting we went to see some of the best Intore dancers in all of Rwanda practice. Greg was able to convince them to reherse in thier traditional costumes for us.
Intore is a coed dance and drumming that can go on for hours. We go tired just watching them! Again, we video taped so stay tuned!
Once done with Intore we thanked them and made our way to the popular market. We purchased avocados (the best in the world btw!), onion, tomatos, garlic, peppers and lime to make guacamole! Funny but good.
At about 7pm we took our friends Hassan and Delphine out to eat (at the Virguna Hotel) for brochette for Delphine's birthday. Fun.
We are now typing and catching up on e-mail.
(James says: Mom and dad, thanks for taking the kids to Wisconisin! Mom, e-mail me so I can respond. I don't have your address) Kids I love you very much)
We are planning another big day with golden monkeys, interviews, meals and with friends in what will be our last full day in Ruhengeri. Sad but exciting to not know what we will be doing for the next several days.
We are going where Rwanda takes us.
Amahoro.
Dave and James
(Sorry about misspellings. Spell check is not working)
6 comments:
I love your blog. My friend and I are planning a visit to the orphanage in June of 09. We are taking some clothing and a lot of school supplies. What else could we take that would be of good use? It will be our second trip to Africa and our first to Rwanda. You fall in love with the people and their country. Who cares what you eat. However, I do love their pumpkin greens! Cheers from Lake Havasu.
Anonymous,
We support some children at the Imbabazi Children's Center. We have the latest list of needs and can put you in touch with a state side representative if you would like. Please email me at moorekgt@aol.com and I will send you the information.
Keith Moore
Highlands Ranch, CO
I volunteer in Tanzania but visited Rwanda for 5 days last year. I went as a tourist doing the gorilla climb and visiting genocide memorials. I want to go back as a volunteer this coming December and was interested in volunteering at Imbabazi Children's Center but can't find a contact for the orphanage. Does anyone have a contact there? Thanks so much!
Hope,
You can reach the state side contact, Carol Levy at crltupper@aol.com. She may take some time to respond.
If you plan to go in late November or early December you can help them prepare for Christmas. It is a great time and lot's of fun, plus all the kids are home from school during that time. It is the short rainy season and a great time to be there.
Keith Moore
Thank you so much for this post! My husband and I will be in Rwanda in September, and would like so much to visit Imbabazi (I'm mid-way through the book right now). I had been unable to find a contact (other than regular post) for the orphanage, and will try that email contact. I was also not sure whether they would even welcome "visitors", and am so glad to see they do! I would very much like to bring some things for the children, although we are also visiting 2 other orphanages on our trip and are trying to travel light. If you have ideas for SMALL things that would be helpful, I'd appreciate that.
My friend and I are leaving Denver on Sept. 26 for Kigali and will be visiting the orphanage on Sept. 28. We're planning to take a duffle with any needed clothes/supplies. Can anyone tell us what size clothes to take, and what else they might like to have? Julia
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