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Today has been a more relaxed day as the Muslim communities we've been visiting have their big holiday, which is as big to them as Christmas is to us. As we did not want to disturb them, we chose to do our interesting adventure, and soon found ourselves arriving at a 4750 square kilometer, national park with a safari included inside. Walking into the parking lot, each smile grew a few centimetres more, as our eyes landed on the roof seating of the safari vehicles. Excitingly we jumped in and headed into the forest with our chatty moods.

Just as fast as our smiles grew, our voices dropped in preperation to capture that perfect shot; keeping in mind what Daniel, an employee at the park, said, "the safari is all about luck".

Quickly I heard the ooing, awing, and "look there's two," and all I could think to myself is how great God has blessed us with the ability to grow and work together so fast.

As time went on, our silence, face reactions and eagerness to see something magical was unknowingly connecting us more and showed us that we are not like the strangers we saw in ourselves a couple days ago, but we are now friends working together to learn more about our world.

The last couple of days have been tiring, so today was about rest. Learning is best done when we are at our full capacity to focus, process and react; and that's what all of us need in the coming days, going into the communities. It was a perfect day to give ourselves an, emotional, mental and physical break.

Although we did not see any elephants, lions, crocodiles, or other crazy animals, the little things that brought us together was something beautiful to see. Small things like waving from one car to the next like people who have known each other forever. Or shoeing flies off each others shoulders to make sure we didn't get bit.

When we were out of luck, and didn't see any animals, we did not complain, yet we stood up and yelled "we are the animals." Even after only a couple of days, God has created something magical in our team, and we are all determined to work together even after our trip, and teach people about the work that these amazing people are doing. It isn't only a safari that requires luck, but also a team and I believe we have it.

Erin Kierstead

A connection. When I began my journey to Ghana, I deeply longed for a connection. Today, I believe I have made one.

We visited a Gari Factory group today that consisted of women aged 17-53. Gari is a common snack for senior school students, as well as the local families. The business was created through the dedication and savings of the local community women. They were able to save enough money to purchase cassava, which is the main ingredient of Gari. With the support from World Vision donations, they were able to afford the expensive and impressive machinery needed. There factory was able to thrive due their own hardworking mindsets and undeniable drive. The process of production consists of grinding, packaging, fermentation, squeezing, and frying.

A delightful surprise was that most of this work was conducted by females. Since the creation of this factory, the women have been able to afford to support their children in their educational pursuits as well as afford health insurance. The insurance ensures the children receive the treatment they need when ill without the expensive costs. It was inspiring to see the community spirit and mindset between these women. The women equally split their profits as they believe that they have all done their fair share in gaining these funds. When asked for advice for us, a team of young eager Canadian teenage girls, in creating our own businesses, they said it is essential to think in long term goals, thinking ahead of time. Further, it is imperative to understand that it is a gradual process, things do not happen overnight. Lastly, they stated the importance of education in the field you are interested in. This interaction taught me an abundance about the importance of determination. The women each had their own dreams of creating a better future for their children. With this goal in mind, they were determined to turn their lives around. This passion to thrive is truly inspiring, and empowers me to return to Canada with a new determination to fulfill my own dreams.

During our visit in the factory, I was intrigued to meet a young women who was the same age as me. Salifu. A 17 Year Old Gari Factory Worker. Her English was outstanding and impressive. I soon learned that she recently completed senior school. This immediately drove our conversation and connection, since I am graduating from high school in June as well. Her school is extremely far away from her home in Ghana, which is the reason boarded at the school. After leaving her school, she now works at the Gari factory 6 days a week. It is crazy to me, that we are the same age and yet our futures are so different. Our lives are so incredibly different but I believe that God has an incredible plan for both of us.

(Salifu, 17 Years Old and Hayley, 17 Years Old)

My journey in Ghana has enabled me to see and learn things that have transformed the way I will continue to live my life. I want to end with a call to action for all of you reading this blog. Please share my story and continue to support all of the amazing programs that have driven the various opportunities for these kind generous Ghanians. Click the link below to donate to the Food Security program that goes towards creating better futures for the children in the world.

https://m.akaraisin.com/17787/pc/personal-page

Hayley Ma

I woke up 3 in the morning to what sounded like a storm and looked like high pressure fire hoses of water coming from the sky. Turns out, it was just typical rain during the wet season in Ghana that feeds the beautiful green scenery. We were worried that we would encounter rain during the day but it came at a good time and actually cooled the temperature, which made the perfect weather that rest of the day to visit the local communities that World Vision has been working with.

Today was one of the biggest holidays in the community, yet the local people were so selfless and patient in welcoming us into their villages and spending time to interact with us. We first made our way to a farming garden in a rural community 100km from our hotel. The garden employs an innovative method of water collection and filtration to sustain the crops. With this garden producing vegetables, the local families need not to buy food from stores, and are able to feed their children and also have more money to send them to school. The community's current desire is to be able to expand the garden to all of the land they own (the garden might have been the size of 2 houses in Canada, and the land was the size of a neighbourhood) so that there is more food to feed more families, and that other communities also benefit from this program initiated by World Vision but sustained by the local families.

We then stopped by a village where a group of women were sitting in a circle with their children. This was a Savings and Loans group, and there are about 20 of these groups of 30 people in the nearby villages alone (while the group we visited was all women, there are men and mixed groups). The families in the group can borrow money from the communal money box*, and repay the money at an interest rate of about 5-10%, which gets reinvested in the pool of money. With these loans, families are able to pay large sums of money at one time, enabling them to send their children to school, pay for hospital bills, and start their own business. It was especially a highlight for me to see the confidence in these women and their willingness to share their testimonies about how they were able to grow their business with these loans to provide more for their families. The group works on an elected leader system, and has not only empowered people economically but also socially through bringing families together.

*I thought the money box had such an ingenious way of protecting the cash. 3 women in the group each had one key to each of the 3 locks on the box, and another woman stores the box, so all 4 of them need to be present in order for someone to access the money pool.

Today I learned the hard working nature of these local Ghanaians. Some of them go to the garden 3 to 4 times a week and could spend about 4 hours working in the garden and harvesting food. If they have enough energy, they will also go collect water afterwards. Some of the Savings and Loans ladies borrowed only a few hundred dollars to begin their businesses selling convenient goods and jeans. This visit showed me how World Vision funds have been used in projects that transformed the lives of children and their parents. The local people are not lacking motivation but rather resources in order to grow, which makes donations and advocacy so important. Seeing these personal testimonies opened my eyes to the results of empowerment and transformative projects, and I hope to use these stories to communicate the challenges I have seen and also inspire others to contribute towards their solutions.

Wenyu Zhang

Today was our first day visiting and interacting with the people in a World Vision community. We had the privilege of visiting a group of local farmers in Ghana, who have been able to use innovative technology to bring water to their crops, even during the dry season, using a central line and reservoir that connects to smaller line with burr holes that allow drips of water to nourish the plants. They have planted crops such as unions, ochre, green peppers, and mango trees. When engaging in a group conversation with the farmers about their work they identified all the benefits that this program has and will continue to bring such as a reliable income for families, a healthy source of food, and more time for children to attend school. The most inspirational aspect of this trip was when the community expressed the desire to expand the farm. They have the land and they have the man power, all they lack is the resources and tools. In light of this the chairman of the group said, “The future of the project is on all of us” reminding us that even when we are not in the community, there are things we can be doing to support their goal such as telling their story effectively. The locals hold a lot of pride in this project and because of that they have inspired all of us.

Jessica Adams

After 2 days of travel we got into Accra Sunday night and spent the night there. It was nice to finally have a shower and a good nights sleep.

Day 1 (Monday) we flew to Tamale, a rural community in northern Ghana. When we arrived in Tamale World Vision staff picked us up and brought us to the base office. There were so many sights on the way in the car! We saw lots of people selling stuff on the side of the road and many walking and balancing huge baskets on their heads. It’s amazing! We also saw people on bikes, cars pulling carts, and we even saw people sitting on top of a bus! We also saw a lot of goats so we asked our driver what was up with that? He explained that there was a festival today so everyone’s getting goats and bringing them home. Tomorrow they will be sacrificed.

After a very observant drive we made it to the base office and met the World Vision staff that we will be working with during the next few days. We had a security briefing where we learned lots of cool information. For example, the reason we saw so many bikes is World Vision provides them to the community to help kids get to school faster as they usually have to walk very far to get there. They also told us about how in Ghana they have 4 months of rain and then 8 months of their dry season. Right now they’re in their dry season and also in the coldest season (25-30 degrees)!! After our session we had lunch (fish or fowl and rice) and headed to our hotel. We had some time then to check out the hotel and relax until dinner.

After dinner we gathered together for another session. We did an icebreaker game to start off our night. After the icebreaker we talked about our ups and our downs of the day and the trip so far. Mostly everyone said for the down that they were really tired, but for the ups we talked about some different things ie. driving through the town, seeing kids on the street waving and all the animals wandering around. We then participated in a short leadership session which tonight focused on empathy and sympathy, and the difference between them. We talked about how we can show empathy when we go to the community and the appropriate way to respond when people share their stories with us.

When we were at the base office something they said to us really stood out to me. They told us we need to keep our bottled water in the car and if we need to drink it to go in the car and do so because the people in the communities don’t have easy access to drinking water like we do. So just hearing that made me more aware and much more appreciative of how lucky we are in Canada to have drinking water so easily accessible to us.

I’m looking forward to going into the communities tomorrow and I’m so excited for the next few days.

Lauren Dibbon

We started off the day with a buffet breakfast, and right after, we started our journey to Tamale, our final destination. We drove through the city of Accra back to the airport, and it was amazing to see the city again, but this time in the daylight.

We got to the airport, and we learned that we were one hour early to check in, so we went to sit down outside the airport and wait. I was impressed that no one complained, and the next hour went by quickly as we played card games, and talked with one another. We went back inside to check in, and go through security. Then it was time to board the smallest plane I’d ever been on.

During take off, it was amazing to be able to see the city of Accra from above. I had never realized how big it was. The one hour flight went by quickly, and soon it was time for landing. We were soon below the clouds, and I could see the area below. I was surprised by how beautiful the scenery was. There was green everywhere!

We got off the plane, and immediately, were hit by a wall of heat and humidity. We got into the vans, and started driving to the World Vision regional director’s office to meet the World Vision Ghana staff. We were warmly welcomed by Timothy, the regional director, Felix, the manager of 2 clusters of World Vision communities, and Frances, the manager of 1 World Vision cluster community. They led us through our security training, and we learned a lot about what World Vision is doing in its communities, such as sanitation, food security, and child empowerment projects. One thing that I was particularly surprised about was that with each project’s budget for 99314 people, you’d only be able to buy a quarter of a condo in Toronto. I was so impressed that even with such a small budget, they were able to do so much great work in their communities!

We finished our security training, and went to check in at our hotel. Driving into the city of Tamale, there was so much to see! One thing I noticed was that the people were wearing more traditional clothing, and there was a lot more colour than I had seen in Accra. Another thing that I saw was that there were goats everywhere. I saw more goats in one small area than I had seen in my entire life! We learned that there is a Muslim holiday tomorrow, and that many of the goats will get sacrificed.

We checked into the hotel, and were glad to find out that the rooms had air conditioning! We ended the day playing some fun ice breakers, which helped us get to know the team better.

-Imogene Sloss

Umuganda Day - August 26th 2017 in Rwanda

Umuganda: “coming together in common purpose to achieve an outcome”.

In Rwanda, on the last Saturday of each month, all members of society come together to help build a sustainable and rich future for their country. It is a day of mandatory community service for all able members between 18 and 65 years old. Youth, parents, elderly, police officers, military members, mayors, and even the president participate in this occasion. Our team had the amazing privilege of partaking in this empowering event which taught us an ultimate sense of community.

The specific activities that we were involved in were moving large stones from a quarry site to homes as well as fetching water to create bricks. Our efforts were focused on aiding genocide survivors (both perpetrators and victims), in either repairing or reconstructing their homes. It was evident that there was a profound sense of respect within the community; people of all ages were genuinely eager to help reconciliation efforts. Everyone wanted to show respect for what the elderly had endured during their lifetime.

My favourite part of the event was when all of the work had been finished and the community gathered in a large field to discuss the day and address other issues. After the discussion and introduction of important members of the community such as The Chief of Military, Head of Police, and Deputy Mayor, the community stood up to engage in celebration. Everyone danced and sung as they rejoiced for their accomplishments. Despite the fact that we had not contributed nearly as much as the other community members, everyone welcomed our team with open arms and encouraged us to celebrate with them.

Umuganda was a beautiful thing to witness; the entire community willingly coming together to help foster development and prosperity. People of all ages, genders, professions, and social statures came together to build a better future. During this day, our team learned the true meaning of the African proverb which states that “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. Rwanda continues to teach the world through their deep-rooted sense of community and resiliency; Umuganda was an experience we will never forget.

Rwanda Day 8

Today team Rwanda entered the wild by visiting the Akagera National Park. It was another early morning for us as we got into the vehicles at 5:00am for our long commute. The Akegera National Park is north east of Rwanda and borders Tanzania so the commute took over 2 hours. One thing I found on this trips was that our car rides were great ways to bond and interact as a group. These were opportunities for us to learn more about each other as well as make some funny memories we could take home.

At the beginning of the safari we were shown a map of the park. The park representative showed us how in the areas with more bushes and trees it would be harder to see the animals. This was found to be true but we were fortunate to see a few animals right away. At the beginning we saw a group of small monkeys and some antelope. Through out the trip we saw animals such as Zebras, Hippopotamuses, Elephants, Giraffes and other wild life. One animal we were hoping to see was a Lion but unfortunately they were all hiding.

An interesting thing we learned about was how even the animals were affected by the genocide that happen in Rwanda. According to our guide, when people would try to hide in the national parks it would disrupt the wild life. So animals like lions would run out of the park and into residential areas where they would be poisoned by those trying to protect their livestock and household. They have now put fences to stop the wild life from running out of the parks and also brought down 8 lions from South Africa to help repopulate the lions in Akegera National Park.

After the Safari we were fortunate enough to spend a full evening at a restaurant serving delicious Indian food. The night was filled with stories, games, and great conversations with our team. Even though today might have been a lighter day, it was great to bond with everyone and spend an entire evening just being together.

Nathan Tiangson

Rwanda Day Six

Community, partnership, and sustainability continue to appear as reoccurring themes in our quest for learning. Our day featured two major learning experiences: 1. Visiting Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups within the Bugasera cluster, and 2. A testimony from a former sponsored child.

In the morning, we drove to Nyamata to visit VSLA groups and learn more about World Vision Rwanda’s microfinance partnerships. As we entered the meeting room, we were kindly greeted by community members and agents representing their respective communities. VSLAs are associations where community members pool savings together to create a fund used to loan money to the same community members for development projects. The VSLA agent for the Karumura community, Munyankuge Emmanuel, illustrated the history and future for VSLA groups in the Bugasera cluster. Early into the VSLA initiative, VSLA agents found that there was a lack of financial literacy in households. In addition, they also found that it was very hard to teach people to save as people would question the purpose and benefits of saving. To educate community members, VSLA agents developed a saving model highlighting two major principles: 1. You must have a goal or objective before you start saving, 2. You must constantly look for ways to innovate. Without this model, community members focused spending habits to meet short-term needs, and often resources were wasted. This model taught them what saving was and how they themselves could go from “Zero to Hero” or from “an Egg to a Chicken.” The saving goals of each community is to save and contribute a certain portion to the respective VSLA each month. This concept of saving has reached further than monetary value to where community members are decreasing their water and electricity consumption, and planting fruits as a source of food. In addition to saving, these communities have improved their sustainability by engaging in income-generating projects. The largest of these projects are: 1. Owning a rental building for commercial use (which was built and financed internally), and 2. Heating bricks for construction purposes. For the latter project, the communities use their savings to purchase new bricks and flammable supplies in order to heat bricks. They then build a furnace out of these bricks and light flames at the bottom in order to heat all the bricks used to create the furnace. After heating the bricks, the community members are able to sell each brick for 30 RWF. To create each furnace of bricks it costs 8,000,000 RWF, however each furnace generates 12,000,000 RWF in revenue, resulting in 4,000,000 RWF as income. The process from purchasing bricks to selling heated bricks extends over a two-month period. This specific project is often executed by youth as it teaches them hard work and strength. Arguably the most important fact we learned about VSLAs in the Bugasera cluster was that 95% of aggregate members are women. This development increased financial literacy among women, and decreased female dependence on male counterparts. Women no longer needed to ask their husbands for money, or beg for bread, or worry about paying for children’s costs.

The 2nd learning experience we encountered occurred when we met a former sponsored child named Jean de Dieu. Jean, age 25, currently works as a medical lab scientist at the Bt David Clinic in Nyamata. He was born in a family of four children, where his mother had suffered from a mental illness. To make matters worse, their family lacked a father figure leading Jean’s family into poverty. His mother’s illness became serious when Jean was 12 years old, where he and his siblings then relied on the support of their grandparents. The following year, Jean met World Vision and he became a sponsored student. World Vision supported Jean throughout post-secondary education by providing food, school supplies, and other necessities. From the start, World Vision filled the void of his father, and became his family. After graduating with a degree in Mathematics, Science, Biology, and Chemistry, Jean marginally missed the minimum score for medical school. Instead of giving up, Jean went to a local hospital and achieved an internship. From his internship experience, he was able to land a full-time role at Bt David Clinic as a medical lab scientist. Due to the high costs of medical school tuition and related supplies, Jean is currently unable to attend medical school. Jean aspires to complete a PhD and become a gynecologist to support women in the Nyamata region. His passion to become a doctor developed when his mother was suffering from mental illness and her doctors would not provide adequate treatment. This story truly touched the hearts of our team, and we look forward to bring many similar inspiring stories back to Canada. -Agsaran Aron San

Rwanda Day Four

It was an earlier rise for Team Rwanda than we were used to this morning. Our two hour commute to the Akagera District in the east of Rwanda was the reason for such an early rise. The theme of the day was water and learning how World Vision works to provide access to clean drinking water to the people of Rwanda.

Once we arrived in the the Akagera District our first stop was at the World Vision regional cluster office. At the office we learned about the many projects that are overseen by the regional cluster from the regional manager Dennis. We also learned about the Water And Sanitation Hygiene (W.A.S.H) program and the regional manager of that program, Alice.

From the cluster office we travelled to the nearby Kanyangese primary school. The WASH program had supplied this school with a water station on the school grounds so that the students didn’t have to constantly leave to get clean drinking water. Upon our arrival to the school a group of students greeted us with singing and dancing. We were all so grateful to be welcomed so openly and with such celebration. We chatted with the students about what the water station meant to them and also their aspirations for the future. It was a very humbling experience. We ended off our visit to the school with a volleyball game on the net that was set up in the courtyard. Some members of our team played alongside some of the students while many more cheered them on. The game was so much fun and at the end we donated the volleyball that we brought to the principle of the school so that the children could have many more games like that one. It felt nice to be able to interact with the children and give them something that brought them joy, no matter how small.

After the trip to the school we visited the well that was the source of water for the area since 2013. The water from the well is pumped to a water reservoir on the top of a hill where gravity does the rest of the work to distribute the water all throughout the region. This well that we visited provided clean drinking water for 14,000 people and had a water station within at least 500 metres of every household in the region. The goal of the WASH program is to have clean water available in every single household in the area. It was extremely inspiring to learn about how World Vision is able to work with local companies, community members, and government to create something so beneficial to such a large number of people.

Another activity that we had planned for today was to visit the Peace Tree. This is where perpetrators and victims of the genocide meet to reflect peacefully with one another and heal. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go because it began to rain.

Today was a day filled with plenty of joy as we celebrated how far certain areas of Rwanda have come with their clean water initiatives. There is still work to be done, but with the help of the WASH program and World Vision we hope that there are more success stories to come in the future.

- Nathan Baker

The day began with an early morning as everyone craved the stories to come. The schedule included a graduation ceremony for Youth Ready, a visit to a Women’s Cooperative, and a trip to the Nyamata Church Genocide Memorial.

The purpose of the Youth Ready program is to empower the youth of Rwanda. Following the genocide, the country struggled to rebuild its education, banking system, and government. Aaron, the founder of the program explained, “Before, we were failing our young people […] Unless we took action to provide more opportunities and support, a generation would be wasted”. To support the future generation, Rwanda in partnership with World Vision developed Youth Ready. The program provided its participants with training for tailoring, welding, driving, and electricity. Today, our World Vision team was honoured to attend the Youth Ready graduation ceremony for 504 students. Prior to the event, we were able to greet the youth by communicating in Kinyarwanda. They revealed their excitement towards our physical differences. As for the ceremony, the celebration congratulated the progress and achievements accomplished by the Rwandan youth; many obtained grants from the government to pursue entrepreneurship! Three cultural dance performances took place where our team witnessed the youth’s uncontainable joy, every student cheered and clapped for one another. Speeches made by leaders and students demonstrated the gratitude and pride of the Rwandan people. Surprisingly, our team was referred to as a Guest of Honour, although we had simply entered their ceremony. Their appreciation for our attendance convicted us to return the favour by sharing of their story: renewal from a haunting past.

Our team then visited a Women’s Cooperative. A cooperative is a business owned and run by its members, who share the profits or benefits. The group of 50 women weaved African bowls with resources grown on their property. Their success began after the genocide when a group of widows and poor ladies joined together to weave traditional bowls. They decided to partner with World Vision who, taught them financial accountability, sharpened their skills to create different weaved products, and provided them with materials. Their success also reaped benefits for the community as today, they teach youth their practice. Their talent amazed Team Rwanda and became a catalyst for appreciating the African culture. Our group purchased bowls in support of their work, and also enjoyed gifts from the elders. Their generosity demonstrated the truth that those with less often give the most. We pray that God will bless them as he promised: “Those who give generously receive more, but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy” (Proverbs 11:24)

The last event of the day was a trip to Nyamata Church Genocide Memorial. Unlike the Kigali Genocide Memorial, this site was the preservation of a mass murder that occurred. In 1994, thousands of Tutsis hid in the Nyamata Church, hoping its holiness would influence peace from the Hutu community. After the death of their protector, Antonia Locatalli, militia invaded the church with hand grenades and firearms, killing a majority of those in the building. Survivors were then hunted down by the local Hutus. As a result, the Tutsi community lost 10,000 individuals. Upon entering the church, Team Rwanda was not prepared for the emotions to come. The building was filled with the remains of all the victims, including their clothing and possessions scattered throughout the sanctuary. Hundreds of coffins contained the bones of those murdered, each coffin containing one hundred people. One hundred and eighty skulls were also on display in the basement, only a fraction of those who had suffered. Details included bullet holes on the walls and ceilings, and blood left on clothing. The overall impression left us speechless and in tears, unable to fathom the horror that occurred in 1994. We expressed our sense of hopelessness as a group, but also dwelled in God’s goodness. Outside the church, children played and the sun continued to shine. Although we stood in the presence of death, Rwanda’s accomplishments and the joy we experienced today gave us hope. Our leader Sarah praised God for his authority over death, “Death couldn’t conquer life. Death couldn’t conquer joy”. The memorial left us at a loss of words, however Rwanda’s growth since 1994 will be an uncontainable story. Our day could not be described in one word. Each activity provoked overwhelming emotions that ranged from joy to despair. Nonetheless, today Team Rwanda witnessed the bravery of this country: from pure horror to joy and celebration. Their progress in twenty three years is teaching the world the importance of community support and unity.

-Allison Au-Yeung Photos by Hugh Luo-Tatebe

We met two men who gave their powerful testimonies about their experience with the genocide. Elijah, on the right, was one of the perpetrators who contributed to the killing of the people of Rwanda in 1994 including 9 family members of Selestin, on the left. When the two were really young the Rwandans were all separated into 3 ethnic groups, Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. As a Hutu, Elijah was fed lies throughout his childhood about how bad the Tutsis were. Elijah was one of the killers of the genocide and Selestin was a victim. But through forgiveness and love, Elijah has become a man that regrets his past actions but tells people about his mistakes to share awareness and Selestin has forgiven Elijah over the years and that he was even Elijah’s best man at his wedding. It was a shock to see how genuine they felt about each other and that they chose love over hate even through all the cruelty and chaos they went through. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-7‬

- Hugh Luo-Tatebe

We visited the homes of families with children that were sponsored by World Vision and we just really got to know more about them and become friends. My group visited a home of a mother and 4 children - 3 of which lived in the house and one was away somewhere else for school. We were able to get a hold of great footage of her and messages from her to her sponsors. We learn from the mother that she had been given a cow and she raised this cow with so much love and care, it gave birth to four calves. The manure from the cows were used to fertilize the soil and because of the fresh soil, they were able to grow very good beans! The mother decided to sell these beans so she had money to even buy a television for the kids. We were all so amazed to see the ripple effect taking place, first by a single cow that was given to the family. The cow provided for milk, vegetation, meat, and even money. The mother had such a generous heart and she would do anything for her kids.

- Hugh Luo-Tatebe

Today we visited a school of primary and secondary students! As soon as we drove into the school grounds we were surrounded by students of all ages and they were all so excited to see us! We found out that there were a handful of students that were sponsored and supported by World Vision and was able to attend school because of them. The students were all very energetic and enthusiastic when we got to walk with them and give high fives and just interact with them. Seeing the students so eager to learn and study inspires me even more to become someone that can inspire other students around the world.

- Hugh Luo-Tatebe

Rwanda day one

Our first full day in Rwanda started with a wide range of emotions at the Genocide Memorial. Nothing could have prepared us for the emotions we would experience throughout this excursion. After driving the busy Rwandan streets, we arrived jet lagged yet curious.

We quickly learned that approximately two hundred and fifty thousand people of both Tutsi and moderate Hutus tribes were laid to rest with dignity within the premises. An aspect that we found quite heart warming was the idea that both tribes were buried communily as they could no longer be identified. We felt this way because regardless of tribe distinction, the fact that they suffered from the same trauma brought them together.

The tour inside the memorial building was both touching and disturbing in ways we never thought possible. Pictures of victims lined the walls, and the remnants of their bodies displayed the brutality of the Genocide. After discussing with the group, it was agreed that one of the most touching parts of the memorial, was the children’s room. Here, children were commemorated for their innocence and potential through pure-generated biographies about their likes, best friends and deaths.

During our lunch break we got the chance to speak with past child sponsors who are now working with World Vision, about their success stories. Although eighty percent of the population has a family member who was victimized by the Genocide, it becomes much more real when speaking with someone who has experienced it first hand. With this in mind, our interactions with these World Vision members was rich.

Following lunch, we took a trip to a Canadian funded cooperative community farm, where disabled victims of the genocide were able to work and find a purpose. They proudly showed us their farm and beamed as they explained to us that their crop feeds the city of Kigali. Our hearts were warmed knowing that these were just a few of the thousands of success stories World Vision has.

We gained an insightful understanding of how the Genocide happened, why it happened and how Rwanda is continuously recovering. To think that this memorial only holds two hundred and fifty thousand of the one million who lost their lives is astonishing. It’s baffling that mankind is capable of such hatred; no one in our group was able to wrap their head around it. Yet somehow, we ended our day with a warm heart and feeling of hope and respect for the people of Rwanda.

Day 1

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