"I had a farm in Africa...."

My life is starting to feel like a scene from Out of Africa:) As the opening words of the book and movie state, “I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. The Equator runs across these highlands, a hundred miles to the north, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. In the day-time you felt that you had got high up; near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold.” My setting is only slightly different, as I am at the foot of the Virunga Mountains, about a hundred miles south of the equator, and still at around 6000 feet elevation. The nights are getting chilly in the mountains as we are coming into the rainy season, but it still feels amazing during the day. I am still settling into the surreality of actually being here. Below is the view from my front porch....not bad!



My parents came to visit last week and see for themselves why their daughter had run off to the middle of Africa to spend a year of her life. They instantly fell in love with the beautiful country and beautiful people. My dad, the agriculture guru, was in awe of the tiny plots of land still farmed using primitive techniques with a shovel and a hoe. My dad planted a full garden (aka my “farm”) in my back yard. To the right is a picture of Museveni, my day guard and gardener, who is so proud of his hard work. My mom fell in love with the markets full of freshly picked produce and spent a lot of time cooking and stocking my freezer full of food! My parents both fell in love with the students at Sonrise and, like myself, could not believe the maturity and faith of these students. I had my dad talk to several of my older classes, mostly about the techniques of modern agriculture in America and the impact of agriculture on the world. They were amazed by the concepts of combines, cotton pickers, and satellite technology. I am encouraging my father to get involved with the development of agriculture in Rwanda, and so Dale Dawson was able to set up a meeting with the Rwandan Minister of Agriculture. They had a great meeting and possibly opened some doors for my dad to provide some assistance in agricultural areas of Rwanda, which is immensely important since over 80% of the population of Rwanda is involved with agriculture. In fact, the Minister of Agriculture will be in the US in a few weeks and is even going to come to Marianna, AR to visit my parents and tour the family farm.

We had a group from Arkansas (including Dale and Judi Dawson, the founders of B2R) come to Musanze to visit and all the rooms in my big house were finally filled. One of our favorite experiences of the weekend was going to dinner at Virunga Lodge, which is a resort on top of Virunga Mountain about 20 minutes away from my house. The views of this place are breathtaking, as you look out at the smoky volcanic mountains and glassy lakes below. On our way to the top, we had two Rwandan boys just jump in the back of our truck for a ride up to the top. We thought it was hilarious that these random kids were brave enough to just bum a ride; however, it turned out, of course, that our friend Tom knew them. The boys lived small village close to the Lodge and were returning home on their five mile walk from school. So we all followed the boys into their village, and we were quickly surrounded by the precious faces of children wanting to get a look at the white people visiting. I think there is some type of signal that they send to all of the children when a white person is spotted because they come out of every corner of the mountains. They all want their picture taken and to have your email address, which we found amusing since there are no computers for miles around. We found out later that they walk about 2-3 hours to get to town so that they can access email. They were so gracious, as they all wanted us to come visit their thatched-roof, mud hut homes. We were able to go inside several homes, complete with water bottle chandeliers and pet chickens walking around your feet. It is such a precious experience to go into a remote village like this one. Even though you see poverty at its worst, you also experience the joy of the people who have so little material possessions but so much faith in something more important.

Bishop John and his wife Harriet hosted all of us at their home for a great Rwandan feast while the crew was here. Here is a picture below of the whole group. My parents had a great trip and are looking forward to coming back and bringing the whole family!