all RISE!

Luke, Dave & I are just back from a weekend healing conference in Cyangugu. There seems to be a bit of pattern developing anytime we seem to travel any sort of distance. This pattern usually consists of dramtic Rwandan hills (I am beginning to believe there is no flat land in rwanda) and death defying stunts from bus drivers. On the way through we passed through the Nyawunga Rainforest, and I simply could not grasp the sheer vastness of this area. We were treated to seeing some wild monkeys, complimented by the uplifting African music along the way.

Many over 500 people turned out in this remote piece of land on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere, on which a church was built upon and subsequently knocked down from an earthquake. The point of the conference was for healing people from the trauma's of the genocide and helping people to forgive one another from a Gospel perspective. There was singing, dancing, testimoneys, drama and preaching (one of which I had to do, and it was terrifying!). So many people came up to receive healing and also to receive Jesus for the very first time - It was amazing, and humbling, and a learning experience. Imana Ishymiwe (meaning praise God in Kinyarwanda).

I am beginnning to love african music, and particularly the worship music. People all of a sudden just burst into singing and dancing with out worrying what's going on next to them. I think Barney from "how I met your mother" would love the music here as it seems to be all rise! and very seldom seems to be slow. Over the weekend we had got to know the CJ groupe de jeunes (youth group) a bit better, and on the way home things all of a sudden became animated and hyper as we all burst into song in each others languages. It was one of those moments in life I think I will never forget. These people are so full of the love and joy of God all the time, I am going to find it hard coming home to the lethargy of our culture.

I am Umuzungu

I know I have already brought this up before, but everywhere we go we hear cries of umuzungooo! It means white man, and it's never meant offensively like it would be considered at home, and in fact when the children say it, it is adorable! It's a tad strange though the respect children seem to be brought up to show white people. I wish i could tell them there is a holy God out there who loves them, who fearfully and wonderfully made us all equal.

We have spent the week visiting different cooperatives partnered with CJ, all of which have their own specific attributes. First off however, we began the week going to a local church with Justin. It was called New Vision Pentecostal church, and had much more of an 'African' feel than the one we visited previously. There was singing and dancing, and just as I started to get into it, their pastor noticed and grabbed me to dance at the front, I was completely scundered! They usually have their services in Kinyarwanda, but just because we were there they had a translator. Much to Luke and Dave's malaise, I think I almost feel in love with her lol!

On Monday we visited a group who made a living breeding rabbits. They needed more hutches built to increase their stock. Cute as these rabbits first seemed, the only thing they were interested in was eating and breeding! A useful source of income where even their excrement is used for fertilizing crops.

Later that day we visited a place called kimichanga. People often say when they come back from Africa trips that the kids were amazing and i always figured it was lip service, but the kids here are genuinely so pleasant and playful. We actually got justin into trouble for them following us everywhere!

The next day we saw a group who showed great promise. They were entirely subsistant, where all their crops, livestock and farms worked in harmony. There was a real sense of community with these people. Their land covered a vast space that we had to walk, only for us to find after all that effort our camera battery had somehow died! Despite have much less technology people here don't get bored and they seem to be authentically content with their work. This is a place i could see myself living in. CJ provided advice and the capital to get the project up and running, and now they are in a place where they can return that capital for another project to use, praise God.Wednesday had us visit almost the polar opposite of the hope of the day before. Here we net a group made mostly of widow genocide survivors, some of whom were rape victims. They are still finding it difficult to cope with the atrocites of 15 years ago. Living conditions for these people are hard with the rainy season washing away peoples huts. Food is scarce at times making it difficult to take HIV medication as it makes them sick. Many of the children don't go to school, and there is a real need for counselling here. CJ stepped in and are trying to help build a bakery, that would provide the much needed capital that would give the momentum to this community to improve every aspect of their lives. They still are a few hundred dollars short, so we're trusting in God.

Finally today we visited another plantation called bom boga. This time fish is the main produce. The excrement from the rabbits they keep feeds the fish, while the water helps irrigate the crops. This is a group of HIV/Aids Sufferers who have worked really hard, and have showed great improvement and are a great encouragement to the other cooperatives. The land is located down a treacherously steep mountain, and if it wasn't hairy enough coming down it, it was amazing that we got up it. At one stage Luke, Dave & Justin had to get out of the car while we reversed up a cliff edge!On a more lighter note. I thought I had seen it all when it came to vanity in the west with fake tan etc, so i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw can of spray lightener! That's right people at home wanna be darker and people here wanna be lighter. The world can be pathetic sometimes!

DRC: Democratic Republic of Corruption

28 July 2009 (Original post 20/06/2009) please read updates in italic

I have just returned from my trip to the Congo DR, and I haven't been able to fully process my thoughts but here is some of the raw material I can come up with.

To call the bus journey to Gisenyi 'scenic' would only under sell the dramatic Rwandan landscape. Mountains and cliff edges abound, which made for nervous travelling as the bus drivers here seem to hold no sanctity for human life!! We had already passed a truck lying flattened upside down, no doubt killing instantly its driver, but this did not seem to act as a deterrant for our driver! On route we also noted a lot of uniformed workers, building along the mountain sides. It turns out this is part of the 15 year rehabilitation programme for genocide prisoners.

We arrived at the Congolese border to find it carefully guarded by the army. We went to pay for our visa's when we were hurried into this pokey back office, with God know's what behind the curtain that lay behind the shifty officer who interviewed us as to our purpose to travelling into the Congo. Praise God for Justin rallying our case for I fear if it were not for him we may have been pray to the hungry Congolese soldiers who had not been paid in over 4 months (which is not the first time that has happened either!)

Eventually we got in for the rip off price of $50 when it should have only been $35, but of course we had no legs to stand on because they had guns! We were even more outraged to find out they were going to force us to pay again the next day despite possessing an 8 day visa, which ultimately cut our time there short.

So we finally made it into Goma. A city torn apart from war and molten rock from the volcanic eruptions. As we rode through the town on boda boda's, we found most buildings lacked any structural integrity, there was poverty everywhere we looked and there was a general feeling of insecurity from the locals. In fact Dave was lucky to escape a mugging as the offender went for the wrong pocket, and then got surrounded.

With firearms everywhere and even attack helicopters flying overhead, we thought we had seen the worst of it, boy were we deceived. When we entered the refugee camp Magunga (our purpose for being in goma in the first place), we were immediately hit with the overwhelming and devastating need of the people who live there. We heard endless stories of widows who lost most of the families to the war, are now living barely with shelter and there is simply no food to feed their children let alone themselves.

They live with the clothing they have on their backs. They get fed on average one paltry meal every 3 days. They have no beds, no blankets, no education, no income, no self worth, no medication, minimal protection, no counselling, no sanitation, (in fact there is one toilet between 8000 refugees, and it's full, and its stinking). Their basic needs are just so many, it's incomprendable. And all these 'theys' that I speak about, these are real individual human beings, with real lives, thoughts, emotions, dreams. I am desperate that these people are remembered not as statistics, but as deeply loved children of God who need this world to...

WAKE UP!

There is simply no aid organisations there, including the UN. I can not fathom how anybody who finds themselves in that situation finds any hope let alone faith in God, but I was struck by the amazing faithfulness of these people who still believe that God will redeem their situation, end the war and return them to their homelands. Perhaps there has never been a truer meaning for that passage in Chronicles "If my people who are called by my name...". The children as well are amazing, they find such joy and playfullness despite such incomprehendable conditions.

I can not help but feel called into action, yet feel so helpless as to what to do. I am not so sure if returning to their homelands is the best situation for the people in these refugee camps. Perhaps maybe they could even start a new community there, subsistantly looking after each other. But right now I am too overwhelmed to have any idea what to do or even to pray for. This is something only God can take care of. I believe like in Moses time that He has heard the cry of his people, and He will come down to save them from such destitution.

We could have not been more relieved to return back to beautiful Gisenyi. The rwandan border control were most welcoming on our return, it really felt like we had came from purgatory into paradise. Lake Kivu is magnificent to bathe in and there are simply no superlatives to describe to beauty of the view.

To grasp this we climbed a hill behind where we were staying, and the scene could only be described as something out of the Lord of the Rings. The Congo mountains gave distinct resemblence to Mordor, with the Volcano off to the far right being Mount Doom. Then of course, fair gisenyi and lake kivu reminds one of Middle Earth. I'm not a LOTR guru, so if you don't believe me check out Luke's photo's when we get back! One of our other experiences here was our first taste of 'Banana beer', and if I have my way it will be my last, for it was rancid!

Again, I have not had enough time to gather my thoughts, not enough space on this blog to tell of every smell, sound and story. I will try my best to tell the story of these individual people, real human beings who God loves just as much as you and me, whose heart breaks for their situation. In the meantime Dave has written and excellent insight to what we say... see below.

http://ugandacrew2009.blogspot.com/2009/06/hope-inspite-of-what-we-can-see.html

Itchy Feet

Updated 22.06.09 .... I have now uploaded a couple of photos from our time working with one of the CJ Partners ACORDI, who try to help vulnerable people such as orphans from the war by getting them selling at markets, or milk from goats. Rather like housing they build up an equity in goats to buy a cow, or even a boda boda (An motorcycle used in public transport, an experience to say the least!) to make better money

We have made it to our second destination of our travels, that being the very beautiful Kigali. We will spend the majority of our trip here working for a magnificent organisation called Coeur Joyeux (I will be referring to it as CJ from now on!).

It was an 11 hour bus journey from Kampala on a okay bus operator named Jaguar. My legs were a little oo big for the seating, and my ass a little too wide! At first I wondered how I was gonna cope for 11 hours on this journey, but I managed to get pretty useless broken sleep most of the way. There was some outstanding landscapes ranging from the countless hills of Rwanda, to swamps, to savannah land. I notice that the roads and cities in east africa at least are filled with orangy dust which gives you a deceptive tan on your legs! I reminds me of a quote from the movie Blood Diamond that they say the dirt is this red colour for the amount of blood constantly spilt on the continent of Africa.

Border control was an interesting experience as well. We had our bags searched for what I presumed was drugs, but it turns out it was for plastic bags as they have been outlawed in Rwanda - my bad! It should also be noted that getting the Irish passport was not only travelling astutue but financially astute also as I gained a free visa in Uganda with it!

Kigali itself is a city of many hills, each consisting of its own district. We are situated near the national football stadium and United Nations building, so I'm sure they both will proivide interesting entertainment over the weeks to come. I've noted that there is a big mobile phone push here with billboards and sellars everywhere. You get people coming up to your parked car, looking for you to buy a topup, much like the Telegraph sellars in Belfast.

Despite President Kagame's horrific faults (and I hope I can get away with saying that!) one can not fault him on his massive effort on Urban Development. The roads here are as good as any, and the standard of living could not even have been dreamed of here 15 years after the genocide. It is amazing to me how this work has been so successful for if you could see the scafolding here, it doesn't bear thinking about.

Despite the huge infrastructure development, we have noticed from our early work with CJ that the countryside tends to be forgotten about. It's a contant life struggle to even as much as feed your family. A lady we met, Josephine, who is a widow, can only afford to educate one of her 5 children (there is no free education system here), and provides for her famly with the 6 goats she has. CJ has been a massive assistance to people like Josephine giving them life and spiritual support.

We constantly hear the word Umuzunga! being exclaimed when we roam the streets. This is Kinyarwandan for White person. I'd imagine if we had a word for black people in Ireland, there maybe some offense caused. There is also an assumption here that every umuzunga is rich! I don't think any harm is intended however, and I guess in comparison to here; despite the recession and my paltry wage in the Northern Bank; that we are indeed rich!

Justin our guide, mentioned that the biggest problem in Kigali at the moment is water and power, and indeed we have experienced this in our own accomodation as they are regularly cut off. Praise God however that He has always provided when it has been needed. We have also experienced some video nasties such as lizards, mozquito bites and cockroaches the size of hands (I exaggerate of course!).

In closing and I apologise for the length, CJ does an incredible vast work here in Rwanda and the DRC on such limited resources. God has His hand upon it and I hope on my return to rally some support and try to get them some new partners. If you're interested please do let me know. If you're still wondering why this blog was called ithcy feet, is because I feel like we have rested and prepared a lot now and I'm just desperate to get out there and do something!

the Pearl of Africa

It seems everywhere is the "Something" of Africa.

	So we have arrived in Kampala with all our limbs still attached...for now. After the boda boda ride I had today, I'm not too convinced they're all gonna be present for journey home. The 'Boda boda' is a popular form of public transport here in Kampala, where you simply call one of like a new york taxi cab. You simply ride on the back of a motorcycle whilst your driver skillfully (or suicidely, you can decide!) negotiates the oncomng traffic (that comes from all angles).
We've spent these last few days more or less climitising and regenerating from our energy sapping journey to get here. So far Dave has been propositioned by a "massouse", and Luke & myself have been thrown out of a government building, so not got ourselves into too much mischief just yet.
	So it has been well documented about my fear of flying, so just to give an update to all you lovely people who prayed for me about that particular area. God was ultimately gracious and I was able to just lay all my fears on Him and relax. At Heathrow airport while I was waiting for Dave and Luke to arrive I was lucky enough to see Susan Boyle pass me at the Arrivals gate in Terminal One... she is a crazy lady! One of the outstanding moments of the journey was flying over the sahara desert, seeing nothing but a dusty abyss on the horizon from 33000 feet. So after 2 bus journeys, 1 interview, 4 flights, 5000 miles and 54 hours we finally made it to Fields of Life in Kampala.

On our travels we managed to come across rather randomly a couple of Irish girls, who even more randomly bumped into Joy McMullan last week in Kigali. So tomrrow we actually head to Kigali on a 9 hour coach drive, where we will meet Justin and finally begin to set out our work. Glory has to go to God for the amazing provision he has given us in accommodation, transport and food. Speaking of which on a side note, the Fanta here is unbelievable!

Check out Luke's blog at This is not Ireland, This is Africa for some more.