Remembering Rwanda: Noel Orphanage

Mr. B spent 3 days of his trip at Noel Orphanage, an institution that houses over 600 children from infants to age 18 and up. Noel is located in Gisenyi, a town on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, near Lake Kivu. Noel's location is remote, so it is often neglected by humanitarian organizations and is regularly understaffed and underfunded. His team painted a mural in one of the rooms and spent a lot of time playing with and loving on the children. Their primary objective was to identify needs and ways to partner with Noel in the future. As a result of their trip, AGCI/Embrace will be sending teams to Noel in 2011 to make improvements to the facilities, particularly the boys' dormitory. We found this video which was published to YouTube by someone who visited Noel earlier this year.

Here are some of Mr. B's notes about Noel:

I spent one afternoon playing soccer with the older boys. One in particular had muscles so defined you'd think he'd been in weight training. But no, just running up and down that soccer field every day. He was fast, too. Like many of the boys at Noel, he kicked off his flip flops and just played barefoot. I spent some time talking to a sweet young man who just smiled and asked me a lot of questions. He is 17 and has no parents. They died in the genocide. He has been at Noel since he was 4 yrs old. He never complained about his situation. It is in those moments where you smile at a person while wanting to cry for them. In just a few seconds so many thoughts crossed my mind like all the childhood experiences he didn't enjoy with his parents. When he lost his first tooth his parents probably weren't around to hug him or clap for him. This particular boy plans to attend the university and told me he plans to get a good job. He said he wants to be a police commander. I really enjoyed spending time with the infants. The infant room was small and had 8 or 9 ladies sitting around with one or more babies in their arms. Also in the tiny room were the narrow cribs crammed together along the wall, some with babies sleeping in them. I held several babies and soon realized they weren't wearing diapers. . . just little cloths or baby shorts or pants or in the case of my favorite baby, an infant snow suit complete with mittens. This little guy was warm. Some of these babies were too warm. Some of the time I was the only visitor in that room. The women in there seemed happy I was there. One time the special mothers began to sing which led to one of them dancing with a baby on her back. (please scroll down and pause (II) the background music before playing the video) Naptime was fun. Imagine 40 kids running around, then suddenly heading to their room (not rooms) where the beds are pushed together and there are no gaps between the mattresses. Then, like hotdogs on a grill, they lay down side by side and start to fall asleep. However, while trying to get comfortable next to your friend who may be with you at Noel until you reach the age of 20, your little 3 yr old arms start to overlap and your legs tangle a little. Who cares, though, as long as you are comfortable and can drift off to sleep. It was very peaceful to see so many boys in one room all with different colored clothes on, sleeping and dreaming. My heart ached for the one little boy in that room with albinism. What kind of life will he have growing up with no mommy or daddy to tell him he is beautiful? I pray they all have happy lives. Rwandan adoptions (which are temporarily closed internationally as they restructure their processes) are fairly strict and a child may not be adopted unless there is documentation regarding the biological parent or parents. As Noel is not prepared with staff to seek and file such documentation, there are few adoptions from Noel. Noel's plan is to care for all of the children until they are grown, if necessary.

On my last day there as I was with the infants, I noticed bottles with water, not milk. One of the special mothers in the room told me it was water with sugar. Hmmm. I wondered how long until these babies would get real food or milk. We were told as we were leaving that Noel had run out of milk. Our team decided to use money donated by our friends and families to purchase enough milk to last those infants one more month.

Remembering Rwanda: The Straw Weaver

Mr. B met this woman in Kigali. Her crippled body belies her youth. She is only 25 years old but suffers from a condition that has caused her tiny frame to be stuck in a stiff, crouched position. Her short fingers are bent and shriveled. One of their in-country hosts introduced Mr. B and his team to her. They looked on in awe as she demonstrated how she has trained her hands and fingers to work together to weave thin, flimsy strands of straw into durable woven goods. Years ago, a friend taught her to weave. Despite her physical limitations, she now helps to support herself and her sister (she lives in a small mud house with her sister who is a single mother to 5 children) by weaving handbags and mats and selling them to customers referred by her neighbors. A handbag takes her a week to make. A 4'x7' mat takes a month. Mr. B purchased a mat. How much does she charge for a month’s labor? About $8US.

Our mat represents one month of this precious woman’s life. I am amazed to look at her picture, and look at our mat, and think of how each fiber was touched and shaped with her little hands. Her story is woven into its perfectly-formed rows and intricate patterns. I am thankful that someone took the time to teach this sweet woman a skill she can use to create things of utility and beauty, to help support herself and her family, and to give her a sense of dignity, self-worth and accomplishment in the face of adversities.

There are few opportunities for disabled people in Rwanda, as my husband learned first-hand when he visited the Gahanga orphanage for the disabled. Not only are they physically disadvantaged, but they must also cope with social exclusion, stigma and superstitious beliefs that they are cursed. They are truly “the least of these” in Rwandan society.

Through her handicraft, this young woman has found one way to rise above her disability. I pray that she will be blessed and come to know Jesus. I pray that her example will help her friends, family and neighbors to see potential and value in Rwanda’s physically and mentally challenged citizens and that Rwanda’s misunderstanding of and discomfort with this segment of its population will subside. And our mat will also be a reminder to me to take the time to invest in others and to not focus on a person’s limitations, but to appreciate their potential and the beauty of each human life.