A lunch party and a boat trip

Today was another busy day in the village. 

You may think it is a sleepy village because it is hot and humid, but everyday for me here is different. 

This morning Eric came to visit the house. If you have been reading this blog from the beginning you might remember Eric. He is the little boy who was born with talipes in one foot. This means that his right foot was turned completely over and the only way to walk was with the top of his foot on the floor. I knew that if he had been born in the UK that foot would have been 'repaired' when he was a baby. My own godson was born with talipes in both feet. So, for Eric it was impossible to get health care as his family are basic farmers and do not have access to money for health care. I arranged for him to be seen by a doctor from a Belgium NGO. Eric had to leave his home in Gasundwe village and go to live with a family in Kamembe. To cut a long story short, two years later he returned home to the village walking and playing football. 

Now he is able to go to the local Primary School and also help his family with cultivating the land, which is how they make a living. Today he came to the house and helped us to make some teaching resources and learn some new counting songs like 10 Green Bottles, and 1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive.

After that, Esperance made us a lovely lunch with a Kivu Lake fish each, a very tasty treat! I only ate the fleshy part of the fish because I am a squeamish muzungu but all the others ate every part of those fish. I could hear the crunch as they it off the head. Nothing is wasted here in Rwanda!

After lunch we traipsed down to the lakeshore because we had arranged to meet Davide with his boat. The expedition comprised of Davide, Gabriel, Theogene and his little niece, Esperance and her little boy named Peace and me. 

Gasundwe village is situated almost at the end of one of the many, many inlets on lake Kivu and from our vantage point at the top of the hill on the peninsula we can see for miles. But just across the water is another peninsula, which looks like an island but it is not. We have heard rumours for about two years now that a rich man from Kigali is going to build a hotel on that piece of land and now we have proof. There is indeed a building being erected there. I jokingly said to Davide that we must make friends with this rich man! He took me at my word and organised for us to go and have a look around this building site. 

The lake was beautifully calm and still. I don't know whether you have read 'The Voyage of the 
Dawntreader' by C.S.Lewis but there is a point in that story when they reach the World's End and the water is still, calm and sweet. It is a very special  event in the story because it is at this 
point that Reepicheep decides to go and live in Aslan's country. When Lake Kivu is like it was today it always reminds me of that moment. 

As we neared our destination we could see many people working on the building and they waved to us with cheerful smiles. We also noticed that the rich man had built his own road so that he and his guests could access the area by car. So, we arrived at the opposite shore and 
made our way over the gangplank to the land. We were greeted by a friendly security guard 
who showed us the way to the main construction site. 

The manager/foreman gave us a guided tour and it is going to be a beautiful hotel in an amazing location with unsurpassable views. Rwanda is a beautiful country and visitors will really appreciate the peace and calm, but it does contrast markedly with the hardship 
experienced by the locals. This is what occupies my mind as I live here. And, truly, I have no 
problem with the acquisition of wealth, the important thing for me is how you use that wealth. 

If you hang onto it for personal greed, all that happens is that you get very fat!!(only joking!) 

The teaching of Jesus is clear on the use of money. If you don't know what it is get yourself a modern version of the bible - maybe The Message - and read it for yourself. Don't take my word for it. you may remember the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthews Gospel chapter 19, verse 21. The point of that story is not that Jesus is saying you must not be wealthy but that you must not treasure your wealth more than you treasure your relationship with God. Anyway, sermon over! Back to the story.

After we had a good nosey around and were informed of how much a room would cost per night (2000$, but I think they must've meant 200$, surely?) whichever, totally out of our price range! We got back on the boat and started to make our way out of the bay but just as we were leaving Davide saw the owner's car coming along his new road. Davide said we must turn around and that I must go and greet this man. So we did! We turned around and three of us left the boat and went to talk to the owner. He seemed to be genuinely interested in our project and asked for my contact details. I will try my best to follow up this contact. It would be a wonderful asset to the village and to the surrounding area.

We re-embarked and set off once again for home. This time singing praises to God. Esperance has a truly beautiful voice and I love to hear that music wafting over the water. It seems to be the voice of angels.

So, the sun sets on another amazing day here in Rwanda. 
Thank you for reading. Much love, Tricia