Catching Up

After a few prods from close friends to write more, I'm back in the game!  I'm sorry for my lack of postings.

Mom, Dad and Stuart (my little, not-so-little brother) were here in Rwanda with us for Christmas.  We jaunted all around Rwanda and saw Akagera Game Park, Diane Fossey's mountain gorillas (the thrill of a lifetime!), the Genocide Memorial, and generally spent good, quality time together.  The fam's visit was a shot in the arm, as Dan and I were beginning to experience the early stages of "culture shock" whereby EVERYTHING seems hard, nothing is easy, and we get annoyed easily.  That, and it was simply good to see my precious family.

Just before my parents and Stu got here, Dan and I acquired a puppy.  Story:  Dan drives past two little boys swinging puppies by their necks.  One of the puppies looks thirsty.  Dan comes back to the house to tell me about it.  The end.  

Her name is Kyovu (Kee-O-Vu, the name of our neighborhood).

She's adorable, but sooo naughty.  She doesn't know she's the best-treated street dog in Rwanda, but she is.  She's recovered nicely from parasites and tick fever and has taken well to chewing shoes, digging up our beautiful garden, and bringing presents in the house from the compost pile.  Her licks are beginning to outnumber her nips on the heel, so we think that's a good sign.  (Chantal told me the other day that Ignace, our wonderful night guard, said that when Kyovu gets to heaven, she will wonder why things are still the same as when she was on earth.  He thinks she has already gone to doggie heaven.)

My work at King Faisal Hospital is in full-swing.  It's been a whirlwind so far, as the hospital is doing great stuff but they lack folks to tell the world about it.  With time and effort (and a LOT of love), the place will become a world-class hospital.  Thank goodness my mother has her PhD in nursing and my dad sits on our home-hospital's board!  They are great resources for me.

Last night, a 20-year-old guy came to the house looking for someone we didn't know.  It became clear that he wasn't going to find who he was looking for, and Dan started talking to him, wondering what was so urgent about his quest.  His name is Billy.  His parents were both brutally killed in the genocide, his house burned to the ground.  He was only 6.  He and his two sisters hid in their grandmother's house for the duration of the genocide and miraculously survived.  Today was the gacaca trial--the time when a village comes together to try perpetrators of a crime--and this was his parents' murderer's time to confess or defend his innocence.  Billy needed money to take the bus to the trial.

We went on faith that his story was a true one...it was hard to mistake his authenticity, and Ignace assured us that "his story is too serious to be false."  Dan prayed with Billy, gave him some money, and wished him well.  We've been thinking about him all day today.

I'll let Dan tell you the end of this sad, wonderful story!  We have gained a friend in Billy (who has called Dan's phone three times since I started writing this entry, presumably to continue telling him about the outcome of the trial).  This place is so hard and so beautiful all at once, as evidenced by the last 24 hours with our new friend.  

We're grateful for the opportunity to be part of Rwanda's continued rebirth!

Campbell