My mind is still somewhat in a jumble (not a jungle) from the 22+hour trip home and all of the wonderful children, countryside, sounds and colors that we experienced for about two weeks. Quite honestly, I was ready to get home, but let me assure you all that your prayers and funding have been well appreciated and carefully spent.
I'm happy to report that your generosity will help to build two more homes that we hadn't even counted on. Way to go! This was a real bonus for the ZOE program.
Our team of 14 people from our Church worked on two different houses that are being built for the orphans of that horrible Genocide and deaths due to AIDS. Just as important, we visited other homes that had recently been constructed. Anything these "family" units receive has to be earned. The community works together to build houses, fences and look after each other. Too many heart-touching stories to relay here, but trust me, you should all feel proud of yourselves to be a part of this effort by the Zoe Ministries.
One story that typified the "everybody works" approach follows:
We were helping to dig the foundation for a larger house that would house the 63 children ( I'm no
t exaggerating) that were sleeping head to toe like cord wood on straw mats in a much smaller house. After the digging was done (all work is by hand with some hand tools), everybody daisy-chained small stones like rip-rap to cover the bottom of the foundation ditches. Next step was to cover the stone with moist clay that had been mixed on site by hand. The women started carrying "hub caps" or anything else to move the mud (as we called it) to the masons. The mud pit was pretty far from the foundation. At home, I would think in terms of using a wheel barrow to make the most of my trip. here's what got me....I looked up and noticed a woman carrying one shovelfull of mud at a time. To top it off, a baby was strapped to her back. Talk about dedication...that sight still gets to me.
Again, thank you all for helping us help these children. If you could see the smiles on their faces, you'd know that there is hope in Rwanda. Best regards, Mac
Our team of 14 people from our Church worked on two different houses that are being built for the orphans of that horrible Genocide and deaths due to AIDS. Just as important, we visited other homes that had recently been constructed. Anything these "family" units receive has to be earned. The community works together to build houses, fences and look after each other. Too many heart-touching stories to relay here, but trust me, you should all feel proud of yourselves to be a part of this effort by the Zoe Ministries.
One story that typified the "everybody works" approach follows:
We were helping to dig the foundation for a larger house that would house the 63 children ( I'm no
t exaggerating) that were sleeping head to toe like cord wood on straw mats in a much smaller house. After the digging was done (all work is by hand with some hand tools), everybody daisy-chained small stones like rip-rap to cover the bottom of the foundation ditches. Next step was to cover the stone with moist clay that had been mixed on site by hand. The women started carrying "hub caps" or anything else to move the mud (as we called it) to the masons. The mud pit was pretty far from the foundation. At home, I would think in terms of using a wheel barrow to make the most of my trip. here's what got me....I looked up and noticed a woman carrying one shovelfull of mud at a time. To top it off, a baby was strapped to her back. Talk about dedication...that sight still gets to me.Again, thank you all for helping us help these children. If you could see the smiles on their faces, you'd know that there is hope in Rwanda. Best regards, Mac
Mac,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Thank you for including me in this email as it is always interesting to hear about trips like this. I must say the ZOE Program is quite impressive. I have seen many pictures and presentations on trips such as this that have been made by others in the community. Please do let me know when you give your presentation at church. I would like to see more. Talk to you soon.
Kyle Martin