The Patronage

Now that school is finished, things around the center are a bit quieter. Recently the “Patronage” started. It is basically a camp that is run at the center for about 3 weeks. Kids of all ages come and spend 3 or 4 hours here. We sing, play games, and teach the children. The youngest kids are 3 and they range all the way up to about 15. Things here are less organized so we don’t have a set number of kids everyday, it all depends on who shows up. So far we have ranged from about 300 to 650. It is fun playing with the children but it can be quite exhausting.
Aside from that, Mitchell and I have been working on the farm to fill the rest of the time. We are slowly working to clear, plow, and till an unused field so we can start planting there. We have also been thinking and talking a lot about a major project that we could focus on while we are here. Hopefully we will have decided something soon and will let you all know.
Ocassionally I will take an afternoon and go play some rugby. I have been playing with the national team which I just randomly stumbled into after hearing about some rugby in the area. It is nice to play and coach the guys a bit. The team is pretty good, but overall they just lack experience. They generally know the game and are pretty fit, but they just need to play more. I am hoping that I can teach them a few things while I am here in Rwanda.
The other day I was hit pretty hard with reality. I was helping by driving one of the brothers here to the psychiatric hospital. At the end of the school year one of the students was taken there because of a dramatic change in behavior. We went to visit him with the only person that knows him well at all and is still alive, his Godfather. All of his family has passed away and he grew up as an orphan with some sister (I do not know the order). Since he has come to the school to board and study, the sisters have moved to another country. So, this student really has no one. At the hospital, the brother and Godfather spoke with him. I do not understand Kinyarwanda or French still so I did not understand what was being said, but I did understand that he was not happy. It was difficult to see this young man (20) seem so alone and abandoned by everyone. I began to think about really all the orphans out there that may feel the same way, all the students in the Foyer here that have no living family. How blessed are we to have the families we have; it still supprises me when I talk about my family and they are surprised that I still have both parents and all my siblings. Thanks for reading.

Enjoy your thanksgiving,
God Bless