Crazy KICS

Here are just some fun pictures of kids from KICS. It all started with taking pictures of my 4th and 5th grade Science class for the Penpals we were writing and it was all down hill from there...


(4th and 5th Grade Science)




(2nd and 3rd Grade P.E.)


(Principal Dolinger at his best)

Play Like a Girl, Run with the Zebras...!!?!?

BIG game yesterday! All week, after running into Grace, I finally played in my first all women's soccer game here in Rwanda. I played for IS Kigali, which is a team made up of women from all over Kigali, selected from the different districts.



We have been practicing for one week and one week only to prepare for the match. The team is also made up of girls ages 14-20. The other team, APR soccer club, has been practicing for three months.


IS Kigali and APR are the best two women's club in all of Rwanda. Most likely, between these two teams they will compile the women's national team.


So... it is true practice does make perfect or close to it and APR out ran us and out played us. Beating us 1-0.


With this being my Rwandan women's soccer debut two of my friends came out to watch, Myal and Paul. Myal took some pictures, which you will see below and have a little photoshop touch to them.


It was great to have them there and to be supported! Unfortunately, with how Rwandan soccer is played my laughing joke was they didn't necessarily get to watch me play soccer, but run up and down the field.


The entire game I felt like all I did was defend and run around, which is not fully true, but how it felt.


Myal's only comments of the game were... good game and boy do you run like a girl! Of course I responded with... well Myal it is because I am a girl.


Thank you photoshop.


He got lots of pictures of my running and just sent me them this morning. Let's just say I had no idea I was running or playing along side elephants and zebras! Who would have thought!? Only in Africa....

Best Friends and Skittles.

I truly am blessed to have some very sweet, amazing friends. Since being in Rwanda, I think God has really shown me what real friendship is and who those friends are. Certain friends have truly strengthened me through their encouraging e-mails, packages, letters, and phone calls more then they know.

One of the hardest parts about being far away is missing out on big events both in my family and friends lives. For instance, I missed some of my close friends Laura and Shawn and another dear friend Pete get married. I will also miss my nephew turn two. Little or big things like that can some times be the hardest to miss. One of the other hard parts is just being away from some of my best friends. I deeply value those girls who have stuck by my side over the years and I just want to be close to them. After I left, my best friend Jesse and I literally weeped at missing one another. I have sent more e-mails just saying I miss you then I ever have before. I miss being a few minutes away and being able to grab dinner whenever we want. It is even hard to catch one another on the phone, especially when internet is slow and not readily available. Don't forget to add to that the difference in timezones. When I am available most people are in the middle of their work day or when they are available I am either asleep or in the middle of mine. Life here does not make staying in touch an easy task, but it does makes you appreciate and value you when things are easy and friends are close. But, like I said if there is one thing God has shown me, he has shown me what true friends look like. He has also given a lot of grace to keep some of those friendships going. Thank you Lord.

Today, I smiled and felt so blessed by one of dearest friends Becky because I received a BIG package from her. This girl, is amazing and continues to be a strong encourager in my life. She keeps me going. In the package was many of my favorite things, most importantly skittles! I love skittles. She also wrote me a card a reminded me of who I am and what our friendship has meant. It really meant a lot to me, but I think more importantly, what means more to me, is the actually friendship with people like Becky. Those friendships keep me going and give me the strength and the encouragement to continue in running hard here in Rwanda.

BLESSING of a Day!

Oh wow, was yesterday amazing. After running into my friend Grace who works closely with women's soccer here in Kigali, I was finally invited to play! First, let me just say that I have been praying for this opportunity since the day I arrived in Kigali, almost a year ago. When I first arrived, I was told I would be able to practice, play, and coach on different teams (professional and national). Of course, I got my hopes up and unfortunately was let down when things just started to not work out and every door seemed to close, one after the other. In those moments, I had to remind myself that this is Africa and that women's soccer is not organized and run like it is in the U.S. I also had to remind myself that God knows and that is enough.

Sooooo... almost a year later, I have finally been asked and the opportunity has arrived. Praise the Lord! So, yesterday was plain and simply AMAZING!! When i first got to practice I went up to the dorms to meet the girls. The Kigali City team is currently staying in dorms located at the Red Cross because they are practicing two times a day for a BIG match they have on Sunday. They were so excited to see me and two specific girls came over and gave me very warm welcome by asking, in their sweet broken English, my name, where I live, what I do. Their names were Julianne and Janet. We had a good laugh because all our names started with J's and were very similar. They never left my side the entire night. After that we headed down to the practice field where we played a match against each other. The German technical director was there, so there was an extra pressure for everyone to play well. By the end of the game I was absolutely beat!! I am not use to the Rwandan style of soccer, which tends to consists of kicking the ball back and forth and little control. The ball doesn't do the running, YOU DO! Little to say, I ran A LOT!! It was great though.

Another great aspect to the whole night was meeting this girl they like to call Cider. From the first time I saw her I knew she was the leader of the team. You could just tell. She was small, but there was a presence about her. She actually kind of looked a lot like CeCe from the Brazilian Women's National Team. She also played a lot like her too. She was amazing and I knew right away that I would have a ton of fun playing with her. I was right. She was creative, had amazing skill, and was really fast. At first I played against her, which was interesting then second half we played together. I liked the second half better :-).

I think what also made the night amazing was not that I got to play, but that there I was sitting in a group of over 25 Rwandan girls/ women ranging in age from 14-23 years old. There I was immersed in their culture and given a chance to see another side of Rwanda that I had not seen before. These girls laughed, smiled, and had fun together. They were so sweet, kind, and welcoming. They wouldn't call me muzungo (whiter person) because every time they did my new friend and team caption Cider would reprimand them and say her name is Jenny. You don't know how much that means to me because on of the hardest things about living here is that people so often see you for your skin color and what you can give them and do not see you as a person with a name. Thank you Lord. They goofed off and danced, which has turned into a game of trying to see what moves they can do that I can't do. I gave it my best shot, but some of those African dance moves are hard!! Just being there, I saw beauty, worth, and value in all these young girls and women. They were just so precious. I can only imagine how much more love God has for them.

This whole experience has just reminded me of the Lord's faithfulness. I needed this encouragement and he knew it. It also reminds of the verse in Luke about being faithful in the little things and to those God has given much he has entrusted much. It also reminds of a sermon I once heard by John Piper where he encouraged us to stop looking for the large and important roles in ministry, but to ask God what simple role he would have us to play and to let him know that we would be okay with any role even the most simplest of roles he would bless us with. It all just comes full circle for me. Upon coming to Rwanda I never would have thought I would be coaching a boys team and teaching at a soccer camp almost solely for boys even though I had women and girls on my heart and in my heart when I first arrived. But if there is one thing I have learned from my time in Africa it is that my expectations are not always God's expectations. I learned to take the little blessings and opportunities God gives me and to just be blessed and thankful for them. I have also learned as you focus on what God has before you in time he brings about new people, situations, and opportunities maybe even those ones you first expected, desired, and so deeply prayed for. Thank you Lord!

Condoleezza in Kenya.

Things are still hard in Kenya. Thankfully, some of the killing and fighting has decreased. Condoleezza Rice just visited Kenya while President Bush spent time in Tanzania. Here is an article on how it went, just copy and paste it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7250158.stm

Talk of Bush All Over Town.

So kind of funny, President Bush is in town, but only for one day and one day only. Kigali is kind of like a small town, especially when it comes to relief workers, missionaries, and the American Embassy. Everyone tends to know everyone and hears about everything going on. For instance, on Saturday I was playing soccer with a few women who work at the American Embassy. We have known for a few weeks that President Bush would be coming to Rwanda on Tuesday (today) to visit, so of course I inquired and asked questions. One of my questions was about getting their picture taken with President Bush to which they responded oh of course, I mean he will be at the embassy and will be meeting all the staff. My mouth dropped at how cordial the encounter sounded. She made it sound like they were just going to meet another one of their bosses. My next few questions were about schedules, his whereabouts, and exactly what he would be doing while he was here. Look at me getting all caught up in celebrityism.... and yes, I know that is not a word:-).... Interestingly enough one of the other regular players, could not be there on Saturday because she was preparing First Lady "things." She was preparing to meet and greet and take care of the First Lady who would also be here Tuesday. Also, just weeks prior to his arrival the White House sent in loads of Pre-Bush-Arrival staff who filled up three of our big, main hotels here in Kigali. All those people were here simply to prepare and prep for Bushes one day visit! For the last several days, of course, there has been all this hype about his arrival. American flags have been going up all over town and every taxi driver or person you talk to likes to inform us that our President is coming. I think the Rwandan people are very excited. Even some of our kids are headed to the airport and to the American embassy to meet Bush today. Unfortunately, being the responsible teachers, us teachers cannot leave and go too. Bummer. There is so my hype about Bush coming that this morning all roads from the airport to town were closed from 7-8 a.m. Most likely for high security purposes. So, in order to shift our day around Bush, Amy and I had to leave an hour earlier, 6:20 to get to school instead of our typical 7:10 or so departure. I guess it gave me more time to prepare my classroom being here at school an hour earlier :-). Also, interestingly enough because Bush is doing this BIG five day tour of Africa going to Ghana, Benin, Liberia, Tanzania, and Rwanda he is flying with three Air Force One planes. Boy, would I love to go up to the airport and get a picture of one of them.... As it would be, one of the planes is for the President, First Lady, and Condoleezza Rice. The second is for President Bush's convoy cars, and the third for reporters and other staff who are coming along. Even as I sit here and Bush is running around Kigali, all I can here is a bunch of helicopters hovering and flying. What a big deal and a lot of people for one important man....

Full Circle.

I had an interesting encounter yesterday. I ran into Grace who works closely with women's soccer in Kigali and was the other women's national coach assistant before the team kind of disbanded. I have not seen her for probably over four months or more. Since coming to Rwanda, one of my biggest desires was to work with the national team and to more specifically work with women soccer players. When I first got here, I pursued those opportunities, but as I pursued those opportunities, it seemed more and more doors closed, while other doors like coaching boys soccer opened. After a while I just surrendered my desire and prayer and just said, Lord it is up to you to work those things out. I just had to let what I wanted go and be excited about the opportunities that did lay before me. So.... how this comes full circle... well, yesterday as I was pulling up the field where my boys team and I typically have practice I noticed a bunch of women soccer players all dressed in blue and yellow playing on the field next to us. I was definitely curious. Then I noticed this tall, Rwandan women standing in the middle of them talking. Immediately I thought it was Grace. It took me a few minutes, but eventually I walked over and to my surprise it really was Grace. We both got excited and asked how each other was doing. As conversation would go, women's soccer came up and I just simply expressed to her that if she ever needs me, I am available to both help coach and play. Praise the Lord, she jumped at my words, and invited me immediately to start playing with her and her team. She even told me that would be practicing all week preparing for a match that would be held on Saturday against another big team in Kigali. Of course, you probably know my response. I was excited and told her even though I could not practice right that moment with them, I would definitely return the following day at 3:30 sharp to play. So... who knows what this opportunity will actually end up looking like but as it seems, my prayer have come full circle and today at 3:30 I will head to the Red Cross field to go play with about twenty Rwandan professional soccer players and Grace :-).

1/2 Marathon Here We Come!

We are doing it! My good friend and fellow teacher, Rebekah and I started training several weeks ago for a 1/2 marathon that will be held on May 11th here in Kigali. It has been one of our life goals to run one and together we decided this year we were going to do it. We are still about twelve weeks away, but are training four to five times a week with one of our runs being a long one, 6-8 miles. We are following a schedule for the next twelve weeks that will gradually lead us to running 20-25 miles per week with a long run of about 10 miles. I always laugh because if it wasn't for Rebekah I am not sure I would be able to finish the training over the next several weeks. It is not the 1/2 marathon that scares me, it is the training, the numerous, long runs I have to do each week in order to maintain a certain level of fitness. They definitely are painful...

Pen Pals!

So fun... I received an e-mail the other day from one of my old Young Life club kids and varsity soccer players, Megan, asking if there was some way she could help. Her idea was to have students from Hereford High School write and be pen pals with some of my kids and/or students here in Rwanda. It was such a great idea!! So, I talked with my 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes. They were so excited about the idea and the thought of having someone all the way from America write them and be their friend. Yesterday, in writing their new pen pals, I had my students tell about who they are, why they are in Rwanda, and what they like most about Rwanda. They even added in a little bit about their favorite sports and what their families are like. Hopefully in about a week after they finish writing, creating personal envelopes, and putting pictures into their envelopes letters will be sent. It may take a month or so for letters to be received in America and maybe one more one for them to send return letters, but no matter what my kids are excited and hopeful. I can remember one time when I had a pen pal all the way from China. I remember how excited I was to get a letters from her. I remember thinking how cool it was to be receiving a letter from someone half way around the world and how neat to see her Chinese letters translated into English. I am sure they might feel slightly the same way...

Anticipation.

I am getting exited! About six months ago my mom said she wanted to come visit. Then she decided to not just come alone and decided to invite others. She started inviting people from her church as well as friends and family to join her on a trip to Rwanda. That little trip has officially gone from one person to nine who will be coming to Rwanda in May for a construction, sewing, and sport projects. I am getting excited to have visitors and because I am confident that those who come will be impacted by their time here. I also believe that God is going to great things during their time here. Just other day I started to really dream more about their time here. For me, what originally was a simple idea of getting a few Rwandan girls together to learn sewing has now turned into this idea where the sewing corporation Amahorro Imani, my friend Emerethe and her street girls, and the women coming on this mission trip will all work together. I have a meeting in the next week or so to discuss the details with the manager of Amahorro. I pray it goes well and that they catch the vision of what is going to go on. Also, I am getting excited because on the trip will be a professional, swiss player/ coach. He wants to coach some soccer while he is here, so in the afternoons we will be putting on a camp for both KICS students and Rwandans from the community. I also have a meeting with the Red Cross here in Kigali to discuss all those details to see if their street children would like to participate in the camp and if they would allow us to use their facilities. Again I pray that they catch the vision of what is going to go on. I truly believe that God has great plans for this time in May. I am getting excited for the time, but definitely need to keep praying about the whole thing because there are so many pieces to the puzzle, more then I can fully take care of myself.

School Fees.

Currently a few NEEDS have come up. There are about seven boys here in Rwanda who cannot go to school. The school systems here in Rwanda require school fees, which are $100 USD per term. There are three terms. That is NOTHING compared to the education, especially college education, we pay for in America. Three of the boys names are Eric, Joseph, and Leonned. I work closely with these three boys each week. In the next couple of weeks, I plan on getting their pictures and a write up of their stories. If you are interested, you can support one of these seven boys and I will be able to send you their information and picture. The other four boys work directly with my friend George. He mentioned to me about a month ago that several of his boys cannot pay for school for various different reason. I asked him to consider and pray for four boys to support. There is no way to support all of them. Most of these boys cannot go to school because school fees are a little less then twice the amount of a monthly salary. On average, a decent job of cleaner, cook, guard, etc. pays about $60 a month. Again, that is a decent, good paying job.... It makes complete sense to me why their parents and families cannot pay for their schooling.... so... if you are interested in supporting one of these seven boys in the upcoming months, e-mail me and/or send a check and note, mentioning that you would like your donation to go to school fees, to:

Bridging the Gap
4719 Ridge Road
Mt. Airy, MD 21771

I will be posting on my blog the boys pics and stories in the next week or so.

Culture.

I am always amazed at the difference in culture. I mean here in Africa you can literally get a pretty stamp and cross a country border and experience a completely different culture. I experienced a taste of that this weekend when for three days a few of my friends and i jetted off to Uganda for a little R&R. We literally crossed the Rwanda/ Uganda border and felt the difference between the two. The people were a bit different in Uganda then Rwanda.


They treated us as visitors a bit differently too. The scenery, yet still very green, looked just slightly different. The roads were very different. I mean I wouldn't say Rwanda takes a large amount of pride in their roads, but it definitely is a bit smoother in Rwanda then Uganda. One thing I noticed less of in Uganda was the starring. Some times here in Rwanda, people will stare, to the point of even glaring at you. It can pretty intense some times where it makes you not want to make eye contact. Here in Rwanda people tend to be very curious about "white" people. They tend to see us as very different and separate from them. They also tend to think that we have lots and lots of money, which I guess compared to some we do. Yet, since i have lived in Rwanda/ Africa I have also noticed practices and attributes that are similar and universal. For instance, women, unlike in America or most western countries, carry their babies on their back. No strollers here :-).

Also, instead of carrying everything in their hands, people free up their hands and carry almost anything from water, suitcases, wood, bags, bananas, etc. on their heads. It's definitely not every day that you walk the streets of America and see someone carrying something on their head. Maybe we should consider adopting that one, I mean it does free up your hands and works on that bad posture we tend to have. Also, there are a few other cultural differences that I have noticed such as the value of milk. Yes, I said milk. It is very typical for you to walk into a restaurant or a pseudo coffee shop and see a big business man, in a nice suit just drinking a big glass of milk. Milk here is expensive, so only if you have enough money can you buy such a luxury.
It is seen as a rich mans drink and when someone is seen drinking it, it is kind of a status symbol. Something also interesting is that when a couple decides to get married, cows are given to the family of the bride as a dowry. Typically one or two cows are given, but depending on the value of the woman some times more can be given. How many cows are you worth? So many more things to be said, but will leave it at that for today....

MARYLAND!!

Tell me... how does a Maryland shirt end up in Rwanda??!

The Real Kenya...

Sad but true... http://jakelyell.com/blog/