So much news! But one step at a time. Buhoro buhoro.

So many things have happened in the village this week it is difficult to decide where to start! But I hope you have also been reading Margo and Chris' blog because they have been posting every day. Click on the link and it should take you there.

Here is a photo of Peace. He is the little boy of Esperance and until recently he still cried every time he saw me but now we are best friends and when I say 'Hi, Peace' he smiles back at me. His two older brothers, Reponse and Zedan are in the village now because school term has started. During the holidays they were in Gisenyi with their father. This is not an unusual arrangement in Rwanda. Their big sister, Sandrine also came back to Gasundwe but within a few days she had packed her bag to go back to her Secondary School for three months. Again, this is the usual practice because secondary schools are so far apart that it is not possible to travel every day.

The challenge is that ALL the schools go back on the same day so the buses are crowded with students and their school bags, mattresses, plastic buckets and anything else they can carry which may help them for their new term. This is something I knew about but had forgotten, so when I tried to book bus tickets in the usual way, by phone, it was impossible and I had to go down to Nyabugogo and pay for the tickets before they would give us a seat. I paid for five tickets because we had lots of luggage. Three people were travelling and two big suitcases. Usually this system works for me. However, this time even though we had tickets fully paid we were unable to get a seat on the bus because there is a new regulation that students returning to school must be given priority. It is a good regulation but the consequences for us was that after two hours waiting in the madness that is the bus park with the heat of the sun beating down we decided to negotiate a taxi cab to take us to Kibuye. It all worked out in the end, it always does!

After spending the night at Home St Jean, the next day we had a lovely boat ride on Lake Kivu, arriving at the village in the early afternoon. Once again, as we pulled into the shore there were friends there to greet us and to help carry our bags up the hill. 

Two more of our trustees of Village Rwanda UK were visiting the village for the first time and I wondered how they would respond. It's always slightly worrying because that first walk up a fairly steep hill can be exhausting but it's all made so pleasant by the warm welcomes from all the neighbours as we pass by their houses. And then to arrive at last at Mama's house is such a relief!

There was food and water waiting for us and lovely clean beds made up, complete with mosquito nets for us to rest whenever we wanted. 

Usually there are three bedrooms that can be pressed into service for guests, however, one bedroom is currently out of use because it is crammed with six cupboards full of resources that we were able to purchase from an orphanage that was closing down. So another bed had been erected in the room which already has bunk beds in it, making it a little squashed but Margo and Chris were very happy with the arrangement. I was fortunate enough to have my usual room, but Gabriel and several other guests had to fix themselves up wherever they could find a space!