Day 4: Shopping in Kigali and Electricity Woes

Today we woke up early to head down to the Internet café so we could Skype with the husbands before they headed off to bed. We are so thankful for modern technology where we can see and talk with our spouses half way around the world! After receiving and giving the latest updates we said our good byes and prepared for the rest of the day. The original plan was to go to an orphanage but the lady who was to take us was sick, so we headed to downtown Kigali. Ashley, another American from Wisconsin, whom we meet at church on Sunday, and her stepsister and boyfriend met us there. Ashley has been in Rwanda staying with her aunt and uncle for two mouths so she knew her way around a bit more than we did. Her stepsister, Kayla, just returned from Uganda and was visiting before heading back to the states. So the 5 Americans wandered the streets of downtown Kigali. We were asked about 20 times if we wanted to buy a map of Rwanda and told that Rwanda was in Africa (just in case we forgot what continent we were on!). We ate lunch at a pizzeria and shared a cheese pizza with some basil thinking we were safe, but when it came out and had green olives on it as well we were both thoroughly disappointed and vowed not to complain about American pizza ever again. We walked around for a bit and took in the culture before splitting ways with the others. When we went to call Faith the minutes on the cell phone were used up so we quickly learned the Rwandan way to add minutes to a cell phone and got a hold of her. Then, after we arrived home, the power went out. So we had a flashlight party on the couch with the two of us and all six children piled on top of us. Another day of interesting adventures!- Kelly

Tara, waiting for Faith outside the "mall"

Flashlight Party at the Shaw House ...

Be sure to re-read our Lakeside Fish Farm post and our Around 'home' post, as we added some pictures this evening. We have to edit all our images smaller so that we can upload it (in this lifetime) across Kigali internet – so sometimes it takes a bit of work to find enough free time!

A member of Faith and Roger’s church posted an advertisement on the local social network (Kigali Life). The ad stated that two Speech Therapists are in town for three weeks and are offering their services. We’ve already received seven phone calls in the past 48 hours. None of these kids speak English, so in large part we’ll be educating the parents in how to meet the needs of their children. There was one Speech Therapist in town that left last year. These families cannot find another one in the whole country. We schedule appointments starting tomorrow. Many of these families keep their children with special needs in hiding, as they are not accepted in society. Up until just a few generations ago these children were killed, put out of their “misery” just as you would an injured animal. Keep us in your prayers for strength and wisdom, as we are depending on Faith as both translator and to help us be sensitive to other cultural aspects of this area in ministry.

-          Tara