12:38 PM Central Africa Time - Imbabazi Orphanage
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt,
not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can
say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be
done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” Matthew 21:21-22.
Today we visited Imbabazi Orphanage. In
Kinyarwanda, "imbabazi" means "a place where you will receive all the
love and care a mother would give." This orphanage was founded by an
82-year-old American woman, Roz Carr, after the 1994 genocide. Roz had
been living on a flower plantation just outside of Gisenyi at the foot
of the Virunga volcanoes for decades, and had always desired and prayed
to have children of her own. The Lord provided, just in a different way than she had imagined- in fact, He provided her with hundreds
of children! She found a need for these children to have a home, and
she provided it. She turned the flower plantation into an orphanage, but
kept the beautiful gardens. Her home, which now serves as the
director's house, had been ransacked during the genocide, but it has
since been restored to its original condition. Roz passed away in 2006
at the age of 94, but the orphanage remains home to around 100 children.
She left behind a legacy to fund the orphanage for six years, but that
trust fund will run out this year. The plan for the orphanage is to
survive on donations, no longer accept new children, and eventually
phase out the current residents as they grow old enough to provide for
themselves.
The orphanage is at the end of a long red dirt road [sorry (except I'm not...)- I had no choice but to link to that song!]. There are houses all along the several miles of road, and the families that live in these homes tend to spend a lot of their time outside. That being said, the hundreds of people who live along this road watched us drive by. The hilarity of the situation is that whenever they see mzungus (white people), they get really excited and chase the bus while yelling, "agacupa" [ah-gah-choo-pah] over and over and over. We were informed that agacupa means "water bottle." Jane, our guide/translator, told us that the school-aged children like having empty water bottles so they can fill them and take water to school. When you give a child an empty water bottle, it is like Christmas in July. They love them! It was a pretty hysterical sight to experience. Even the little itty bitty toddlers who can barely talk will waddle out to the road and yell, "Agacupa! Agacupa!" I would be willing to bet it is the first word of most of the little ones who live on this road. So much for 'ma ma' and 'da da.' Those words are way too easy and far too impractical. Agacupa is where it's at.
When we arrived at the orphanage, we met up with the historical director, Valerie, (the orphanage director was not in town). She gave us a tour of the grounds and told us the story of Rosamond Carr and how Imbabazi came to be. The plantation is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. Yes, Rwanda is gorgeous all around, but Imbabazi is the pearl of the oyster. The director's house is blanketed in ivy, and the flowers add a vibrant spectrum of color to the bright green grass and trees.
They have some really sweet pet dogs at the orphanage, and they remind me of Brutus. I miss the little guy so much! The dogs tend to follow us white people around because they are afraid of the Rwandans. The only reason why a Rwandan would own a dog is for security, so they train them to be attack dogs. Because of this, Rwandans are afraid of dogs and do not like them at all. The people will throw rocks at them and kick them. I can certainly understand why the dogs would stick with the white people who have a tendency to dress dogs in clothes, carry them in purses, and treat them like small children [guilty as charged!].
The kids (mostly teenagers) are pretty well adjusted at Imbabazi, so it took some interaction to get them to open up, but once they saw us being goofy, they broke out of their shells pretty quickly. It really was not too different than dealing with American teenagers. Sometimes it just takes a certain level of comfort before conversations spark. Believe it or not, I tend to flip from being an introvert to an extrovert, and that morning was one of my introverted moments. Thank goodness there are members of the team who jump right in and love big, so they served as encouragement for me to break out of my shell as well!
We played music and worshiped with the kids for quite a while.
We also played American football and had lunch with the kids. (They serve huge portions in Rwanda, so I was only able to eat about a third of the giant mountain of rice and beans they served us. Most of the kids did not finish their plates, either. I am pretty sure the leftover food goes to feed the animals, so at least I did not have to feel bad for being wasteful!) We played knockout on the basketball court. Aaand we discovered that physical activity is rather difficult at thousands of feet above sea level- the game of knockout was appropriately named since at high altitude, it will literally knock the air out of you. We practically needed oxygen tanks. haha. Regardless, we had so much fun!
The kids know some American pop music such as Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber, so we had a great time jamming for a while. It was a rather hilarious bonding experience! I even hopped on the djembe for a little while and did some drumming! I hadn't played the djembe since my drum circle & improvisation class in college, so it was quite fun to get back into it!
Also living at Imbabazi was Ashley, a peace corps volunteer from California. I had a really nice conversation with Ashley. She gave me insight into some of the orphans and said that as standoffish as the teenagers can be, they crave love and interaction. I mentioned to her that one of the goals of Visiting Orphans is to be more than do. We like to focus on quality time and attention to the kids more than we focus on bringing supplies and gifts (although, we did provide around $650 to help buy new mattresses since many of them were falling apart). Ashley said that she is impressed with the organization and that the kids look forward to Visiting Orphans teams coming. She said so many people send or bring "stuff" and then leave. She said that the basic supplies are great and necessary, but what the kids really desire is to be simply loved.
Ashley and I also discussed an issue that the orphans are facing which the older kids are rather concerned about. The Rwandan government has put forth an initiative to no longer have orphans in the country. They plan to do so through a process called "reunification" where the orphans are reunited with their family members. Sounds great, right? That is exactly what the government is hyping it to be. They are buttering up the good aspects and covering up the bad. They are essentially fooling the general public into thinking that everything will be rainbows and butterflies when the children are reunited with their families.
Well, the leaders of the orphanages who love the kids as their own are not fooled. [This post, written by an American woman named Tara who has been working with the largest orphanage in Rwanda, gives great insight into the in-orphanage point of view and how the kids are being affected. More about Tara to come- she is doing some AWESOME things in Rwanda!] Most (if not all) of the kids are better off staying in the orphanages than they will be if they are released to their family members. The kids are orphans for a reason. Their family members know the kids are living in an orphanage. (In fact, if I am not mistaken, the family members had to sign the kids into the orphanage in the first place.) The families either do not have the means to care for the children or do not want to care for the children. When the children were orphaned, the closest family member would have had the option at that point to take them. No matter the reason, the families already made up their minds; they said no.
By eliminating orphanages, they will essentially moving these children from "orphan" status to "homeless" status. Sure, they can say that there will be no orphans in Rwanda, but what about all of those homeless children who do not have parents? Oh- and what about all of the baby corpses that will result from people dumping their unwanted babies in the woods? Let's eliminate a "problem" by creating a bigger one. But hey- that is America's motto, too, especially when it comes to our ever-increasing national debt!
What makes this situation even more difficult is Rwanda has a closed adoption policy, which means the orphans must be adopted to families within Rwanda. This policy is in place due to the high death rate which causes an incredibly small proportion of adults to kids. Of course, the government is claiming that they are making steps to open up adoption to aid with the elimination of orphanages, but there are no signs of progress. As of right now, these are just empty promises.
All we can do in the meantime is pray. Pray that the children have peace. Pray for the orphanage leaders who are concerned and afraid for their beloved children. Pray that Lord provides the families the means to care for the children. Pray that God softens the hearts of the family members who might view caring for the children as a burden. And most of all, pray that the government leaders clearly see the probable consequences before it is too late.
The orphanage is at the end of a long red dirt road [sorry (except I'm not...)- I had no choice but to link to that song!]. There are houses all along the several miles of road, and the families that live in these homes tend to spend a lot of their time outside. That being said, the hundreds of people who live along this road watched us drive by. The hilarity of the situation is that whenever they see mzungus (white people), they get really excited and chase the bus while yelling, "agacupa" [ah-gah-choo-pah] over and over and over. We were informed that agacupa means "water bottle." Jane, our guide/translator, told us that the school-aged children like having empty water bottles so they can fill them and take water to school. When you give a child an empty water bottle, it is like Christmas in July. They love them! It was a pretty hysterical sight to experience. Even the little itty bitty toddlers who can barely talk will waddle out to the road and yell, "Agacupa! Agacupa!" I would be willing to bet it is the first word of most of the little ones who live on this road. So much for 'ma ma' and 'da da.' Those words are way too easy and far too impractical. Agacupa is where it's at.
When we arrived at the orphanage, we met up with the historical director, Valerie, (the orphanage director was not in town). She gave us a tour of the grounds and told us the story of Rosamond Carr and how Imbabazi came to be. The plantation is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. Yes, Rwanda is gorgeous all around, but Imbabazi is the pearl of the oyster. The director's house is blanketed in ivy, and the flowers add a vibrant spectrum of color to the bright green grass and trees.
They have some really sweet pet dogs at the orphanage, and they remind me of Brutus. I miss the little guy so much! The dogs tend to follow us white people around because they are afraid of the Rwandans. The only reason why a Rwandan would own a dog is for security, so they train them to be attack dogs. Because of this, Rwandans are afraid of dogs and do not like them at all. The people will throw rocks at them and kick them. I can certainly understand why the dogs would stick with the white people who have a tendency to dress dogs in clothes, carry them in purses, and treat them like small children [guilty as charged!].
The kids (mostly teenagers) are pretty well adjusted at Imbabazi, so it took some interaction to get them to open up, but once they saw us being goofy, they broke out of their shells pretty quickly. It really was not too different than dealing with American teenagers. Sometimes it just takes a certain level of comfort before conversations spark. Believe it or not, I tend to flip from being an introvert to an extrovert, and that morning was one of my introverted moments. Thank goodness there are members of the team who jump right in and love big, so they served as encouragement for me to break out of my shell as well!
We played music and worshiped with the kids for quite a while.
We also played American football and had lunch with the kids. (They serve huge portions in Rwanda, so I was only able to eat about a third of the giant mountain of rice and beans they served us. Most of the kids did not finish their plates, either. I am pretty sure the leftover food goes to feed the animals, so at least I did not have to feel bad for being wasteful!) We played knockout on the basketball court. Aaand we discovered that physical activity is rather difficult at thousands of feet above sea level- the game of knockout was appropriately named since at high altitude, it will literally knock the air out of you. We practically needed oxygen tanks. haha. Regardless, we had so much fun!
The kids know some American pop music such as Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber, so we had a great time jamming for a while. It was a rather hilarious bonding experience! I even hopped on the djembe for a little while and did some drumming! I hadn't played the djembe since my drum circle & improvisation class in college, so it was quite fun to get back into it!
Also living at Imbabazi was Ashley, a peace corps volunteer from California. I had a really nice conversation with Ashley. She gave me insight into some of the orphans and said that as standoffish as the teenagers can be, they crave love and interaction. I mentioned to her that one of the goals of Visiting Orphans is to be more than do. We like to focus on quality time and attention to the kids more than we focus on bringing supplies and gifts (although, we did provide around $650 to help buy new mattresses since many of them were falling apart). Ashley said that she is impressed with the organization and that the kids look forward to Visiting Orphans teams coming. She said so many people send or bring "stuff" and then leave. She said that the basic supplies are great and necessary, but what the kids really desire is to be simply loved.
Ashley and I also discussed an issue that the orphans are facing which the older kids are rather concerned about. The Rwandan government has put forth an initiative to no longer have orphans in the country. They plan to do so through a process called "reunification" where the orphans are reunited with their family members. Sounds great, right? That is exactly what the government is hyping it to be. They are buttering up the good aspects and covering up the bad. They are essentially fooling the general public into thinking that everything will be rainbows and butterflies when the children are reunited with their families.
Well, the leaders of the orphanages who love the kids as their own are not fooled. [This post, written by an American woman named Tara who has been working with the largest orphanage in Rwanda, gives great insight into the in-orphanage point of view and how the kids are being affected. More about Tara to come- she is doing some AWESOME things in Rwanda!] Most (if not all) of the kids are better off staying in the orphanages than they will be if they are released to their family members. The kids are orphans for a reason. Their family members know the kids are living in an orphanage. (In fact, if I am not mistaken, the family members had to sign the kids into the orphanage in the first place.) The families either do not have the means to care for the children or do not want to care for the children. When the children were orphaned, the closest family member would have had the option at that point to take them. No matter the reason, the families already made up their minds; they said no.
By eliminating orphanages, they will essentially moving these children from "orphan" status to "homeless" status. Sure, they can say that there will be no orphans in Rwanda, but what about all of those homeless children who do not have parents? Oh- and what about all of the baby corpses that will result from people dumping their unwanted babies in the woods? Let's eliminate a "problem" by creating a bigger one. But hey- that is America's motto, too, especially when it comes to our ever-increasing national debt!
What makes this situation even more difficult is Rwanda has a closed adoption policy, which means the orphans must be adopted to families within Rwanda. This policy is in place due to the high death rate which causes an incredibly small proportion of adults to kids. Of course, the government is claiming that they are making steps to open up adoption to aid with the elimination of orphanages, but there are no signs of progress. As of right now, these are just empty promises.
All we can do in the meantime is pray. Pray that the children have peace. Pray for the orphanage leaders who are concerned and afraid for their beloved children. Pray that Lord provides the families the means to care for the children. Pray that God softens the hearts of the family members who might view caring for the children as a burden. And most of all, pray that the government leaders clearly see the probable consequences before it is too late.
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