New perspectives

We've been home for a little over a week now. I can't believe how much STUFF we have in America. It's ridiculous! Even though I've lived in the United States since I was born, I think it was just as big of a culture shock coming back to America after the trip as it was entering Rwanda at the beginning. The first thing my parents and I did when we left the airport was go to Pizza Ranch in Indianola for lunch. Part of me was really excited to finally have "American" food again and have a selection of foods to choose from, but I couldn't get over how much food just sat there at the buffet. When I got home to Sioux City and looked in the fridge, it was stocked with water bottles. When I went upstairs to my room, clothes from my pre-packing attempts were everywhere. Things that I thought were normal before seem just embarrassing now. I keep thinking, what if a Rwandan could see my house and all the wasted resources? I still don't get how America (and other countries like it) can be so wealthy while other nations are struggling so badly. It's a difficult concept to get my head around, especially after being able to experience and compare two drastically different societies.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm sure the rest of the group would agree on some level that we all learned how grateful we should be after seeing the Rwandans get by (and happily, too) with so little. This trip was definitely an eye-opening experience, and I miss Africa already! I've made some great friends and memories, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go.

Back to (Our) Reality

It's still taking a while for everything to truly hit me, but I had a big "WHOA" moment when I walked into Wal-Mart yesterday. We have so, so much. We have the resources to DO something with our lives, yet so many people waste their time on useless things. The Rwandans are so innovative; they utilize everything, such as making baskets from the hair-like strings found inside of banana leaves.

Drinking fountains amaze me now. Clean, purified water just flows with the push of a button! One of our full water bottles fell out of our jeep once and some kids picked it up. It seemed they had never seen clear water before! They smelled it, poured it on their hands, set it on the ground and stepped back to see if anything would happen... they never even drank any! It was a very strange sight.

It's also weird constantly knowing what time it is and having the ability to reach anyone at any time by texting or calling. However, I really did enjoy being alone with my thoughts and having the time to journal while reflecting. There's so much noise here, being consumed in silence while in Rwanda was honestly quite scary because it was so unfamiliar.

One of the things I keep thinking about is the Genocide Memorial. Some of the statistics remain permanently etched in my mind: Every 20 minutes, 1,000 Tutsi citizens were murdered. It was extremely painful to actually see some of the machetes used and the cracked skulls that were beaten. Sometimes, I would catch someone's eye and could sense the amount of trauma they endured.

The thing I miss the most are all the friendly people we would encounter. Everyone would drop what they were doing and wave. When I returned, I excitedly said, "Hi!" to several people, and not one acknowledged I had said anything! I'm disappointed with the lack of excitement in our culture, things don't fascinate us like they do with the Rwandans. They truly have taught me so many life-changing things. (Even now, my friends are talking about playing some board games but everyone has already packed them away. In Rwanda, the kids would use anything they could find to create games. I loved their creativity!)

I am beyond glad that everyone in our group was able to experience everything we did! It wouldn't have been the same trip if even one person wasn't present. Thanks for all the great memories, group!

Back Home

So it's the last day of college and we just got back from Africa yesterday morning. Horrible flight but in the end we all made it home safe and that is all that matters, though I don't think I'll ever fly United again.

Looking back at the trip, there is a lot of stuff I learned about the differences between a society like our own and the one in third world countries like Rwanda. Just something as simple as paved roads is something that I take for granted everyday, but back in Africa they don't have many of those. Going to the bathroom in a toilet that only consists of a hole in the ground and has the worst stench, sleeping in tents that don't protect you from rain and it's pouring outside, wearing the same clothes and not showering for days at a time are just some of the things I know were very different from life back home.

I guess it is important to at least understand that America is a society that many in the world only dream of coming to, or at least having the type of lifestyle we have. However, it is not like the people of Rwanda or Uganda were depressed or anything, actually I would say that they are happier than most Americans. We live in a society that is very judgmental and very fast paced, so it is hard to enjoy life sometimes.

For a few days, I was working with a local woman named Cecil who makes these things called briquettes, which are a combination of sawdust, paper and water compressed to make an alternative burning source. They make these as a means to prevent people from cutting down trees. All of us students would be out in the hot sun working and doing this very boring job, and I mean it was very boring. But the local people there did this day in and day out, everyday as a means of making a living. The craziest part was that even with all that work, they only make about 5000 franks a day, which is equivalent to about 8 dollars a day. And that is not for one person, but for everyone there. I could not imagine living off so little for so much work.

I hope that one day I can go back to Africa, maybe not to Rwanda or Uganda, or maybe I will, but I am sure I will be back again one day. The people there are awesome and I will never forget them, whether it's Innocent, Gerard, Isaac, Greg and so many more. And maybe the next time I go, I'll see a turtle for real. :)

The Other Side

I have always known that America is a disposable society, but only recently understood what this really meant.

When traveling home we had an unexpected cancellation of the flight from Chicago to Des Moines. We were so close, but had to get a hotel room in Chicago and leave early the next morning for Des Moines. When we got to the hotel we were all exhausted and grumpy because we smelt bad and had been traveling for 45 plus hours. At the front desk the lady in front of me asked for a disposable toothbrush. Not knowing that they provided those for free, I also asked for one.

The toothpaste is already on the brush and ready to go when you simply add water. It is only meant to use once and toss in the trash. In fact, the lady in front of me asked for two so she could have one for that night and one the next morning. I kept thinking about all the Rwandans that have never owned a toothbrush and the ones that do, cherish them for years and years. I gave one to a little boy at the market and he looked at it this alien object with his eyes squinted trying to figure out what it was.

I used my disposable toothbrush that I requested at the hotel once and then I set it on the counter. I couldn’t throw it away. I had such heavy guilt in my stomach, but felt helpless.

Seeing the other side of the world has changed me so much in ways that people will tell you it will, but you can’t understand unless you see it for yourself. You can see starving children on TV and watch documentaries on the hardships other countries face every day, but it becomes real when you watch it through your eyes instead of through glass.

I really appreciated that we lived like Africans and ate local food while we were there.
If we would have stayed in nice hotels and only visited the poor villages, our experience would have been completely different—it would have been more of a vacation. I wouldn’t change anything about the trip—so truly special to live side by side with Rwandans.

The only difference though is that we were able to leave. Our time there was done and we got in a plane and flew away to out familiar life—yet everything looks a little different now. Who knew a handy toothbrush at a hotel when I was tired and stinky could have provoked such an emotion. The word Disposable keeps coming back to me.

It’s so important to understand that the Rwandans can learn so much from us and gain a lot from our donations, but we have just as much to learn from them and they have just as much to offer us in return.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home! After spending 40-50 hours traveling back, I believe everyone was ecstatic when our plane hit that Des Moines runway. Chicago brought us a little frustration and unrest the night before as our flight was first delayed and later cancelled. It stunkbecause we were so close, just a 45 minute plane ride, but so far away at the same time and there wasn't really anything we could do. Virginia had to wait in the packed customer service line for awhile. In the end, we got hotel accommodations at the Ramada and were booked to leave for Des Moines at 6:00am. So we got a 4 hour nap and we were at the airport by 4:30 the next morning. It wasn't exactly ideal and how we planned, but I think it could have been so much worse. It would have been awful to miss aplane or have one cancelled earlier. Then we might have beenstuck in Belgium or D.C. At least this way we were only an hour flight away, it was our last one, and we wouldn't miss much because we were leaving so early in the morning. I'm thankful and I think we're blessed that was theonly glitch we ran into. Well, not all of our luggage made it with us on our flight either, but that worked out fine too. They had three flights coming into Des Moines from Chicago that morning so the luggage was all mixed around. It wasn't lost though, so that's good! They called when it came in and I picked it up on my way home.

This trip was amazing! I got to meet awesome people and we all came together for a common purpose and goal. We made a plethora of unforgettable memories. I learned about and immersed myself in another culture, experiencing both the similarities and differences. It was so freeing to be without a cell phone, TV, computers (besides doing the blog), and any other kind of technology. It allowed me to focus solely on what was going on around me and I loved it. The people were beyond friendly and I will really miss them. Back in the States, our celebrity days are

over. Ha! A big thanks to Virginia for staying and cool and keeping everything organized, despite the African sense of time and plans. We couldn't have done it without you!

A few pictures from the trip:

I couldn't quite figure out how to organize all of the pictures right so they're a little everywhere.

The first is a gorgeous sunrise in Uganda on our way to Queen Elizabeth National Park!

Next is a group shot at the Mweya Lodge with our 'Thank You!' sign for all of the people who donated for our trip.

Kayla and Annie smile with a group of kids at recess. There were so many and they just crowded around us. It was crazy!

Anna, Tiff, Kayla, Annie, and Emily join in the fun dancing and singing the people from the Gishwati village one night. For many of us, this was our favorite memory.

Tiff, Emily, Kayla, and Arron are all smiles after finishing our 4 hour rain-filled amazing hike through Gishwati!

Some boys of the Gishwati village play with the American football we brought. We tried to teach them to throw it but eventually there were kicking it around like a soccer ball, getting a 'kick' out of how it bounced.

Again, it was a completely amazing experience which I will never forget! The people of Rwanda will always be in my heart. As will all of the great people I shared this trip with :) Thanks everybody!

Freedom

Finally back to the states and out of Africa, feels so weird. I think every time I look at my watch, knowing it does not have the right time, I see what time it would be in Africa and think about what we would be doing during that time. Leaving and being essentially disconnected to everything was very freeing. I loved that I was detached from my cell phone and T.V. and all other clutter and noise that got in the way of the raw beauty Rwanda had to offer.

I am very much missing Africa and all the people that we met and became friends with. The vibe and energy given off was contagious. Getting back into reality has its way of pulling you down, yet a hard reminder that I am so very blessed with simple things as a bed, roof over my head, and a hot shower.

Some pictures while we were there. The first is a few of us girls with Ben Beck who has a major part in running the research station for conservation of the apes in the Gishwati forest, who had a great influence on us all and wished he could be along our entire trip.

Second shows Maggie and Megan working on one portion of our service learning project in Rwanda which was to build a library.

Some other pictures are of some animals that we saw there!

Uganda

Well, we are done with our service portion of the trip! It's crazy all that we've accomplished and all the memories we've gained. This experience has truly been one of the coolest things that has happened to me!

Today we arrived in Uganda to have two days of fun-- or what we dubbed a "mini vacation." We flew into Entebbe and drove to a hotel that is sooo nice compared to where we have been staying! There is actually hot water! Last night, we slept with four geckos in our room in a very dirty, small hotel room! It's definitely a wake up call.

It feels like 100 degrees here, so we went straight to the pool as soon as we dropped off our stuff. Tiffany was wearing a Simpson College shirt, and someone in the pool as if we went there. THEY DID, TOO! It was an unreal encounter! Megan actually knew one of the guys and the girl we met is from Des Moines! They're doing research here for eight weeks. How cool is that?!

Before dinner, we went on a sunset boat cruise around Lake Victoria. It was such a relaxing time, and perfect for reflection on everything we've encountered on this trip. It was also really nice to get off the bumpy roads!

Tomorrow morning we leave at seven to drive to Queen Elizabeth for a safari. The drive is about seven hours, so we'll go on a night-time safari to see the nocturnal animals tomorrow, and then on Tuesday morning, we'll venture on other drive to see the rest of the wild life! We are even going to ride in a boat where there are crocs and hippos! Apparently, we can see elephants from the boat, too.

After our mini-vacation we will drive the seven hours back and fly out of Entebbe to Brussels overnight. We arrive at six am in Belgium and have a six hour layover! We're going to go into the city to get some waffles and chocolate then return to the airport to fly to D.C., Chicago, then, finally, Des Moines. Although it was been AMAZING, I'm ready to see my family and friends again.

I would recommend a service trip to anyone and everyone- it has altered my life immensely.

Thanks again to everyone who helped!

Kayla

Goodbye Rwanda

Wow I'm finally getting to blog! Technology isn't quite as quick and easy as it is in America. We arrived in Uganda today around 1:30 and our lodging is amazing! We are all thrilled, especially after the hotel last night. This trip was planned out really well. It makes us appreciate a little nicer things much more. It's hot here, too so everyone was excited to take a quick dip in the pool. We are leaving for a sunset boat cruse in about a half hour. I think it is going to be beautiful!

Our last couple of days in Rwanda definitely had a lot of mixed emotions. It's always exciting to go to a new place, especially when we are going to be doing some cruises and safaris, but we had made a lot of friends and memories in Rwanda. Leaving the guest house was hard. All of those girls did so much for us and they were so fun and kind. We have been blessed with all of the great helpers we have had on this trip. It was even more sad to say goodbye to Girard and Greg. I can't imagine what we would have done without them. They went above and beyond their call of duty. They were there at the snap of a finger if we needed anything at all. They were excellent hosts and friends. We all will miss them greatly. We're all hoping Girard will make a visit to the United States someday too.

Kigali was much different than the other cities where we stayed. It was a lot more modern. Girls were wearing jeans and clothes that looked American. There were malls and other big buildings and centers. It was kind of crazy to see how quickly there is such a big change. Not far from there, the majority of people are very poor. Not that there isn't poverty in Kigali, but it has more of a big, wealthy city atmosphere. It was a mini culture shock.

The genocide memorial was hard too. Violence like that is always difficult to come to reality with and look at. It's so awful to me that they made kids witness the murdering and torturing of their loved ones, or even made them do it themselves. It makes me sick that most of the world sat around and ignored the fact that there was any issue. The little biographies of the children who died and how they were killed was brutal. Oh, it just made my heart ache. One baby girl was thrown against a wall. That is a terrible image, but it sticks in your head. I thought the memorial was more intense than the Holocaust Museum. Seeing the room of bones and all of the skulls that were broken, cracked, or even missing whole parts was awful. It doesn't get more real than that. I think it's very good and important to go and see that though. It's shocking how recent it was. It makes me realize that extreme hate and violence is still extremely prevelent and things like that can happen. Learning about the event helps to prevent it from happening again. I hope it impacts everyone in that way.

I'm excited for the next couple of days! Lots of traveling but we should see some amazing things. can't wait! :)

A Whole New World!

Hello everyone!! We have been very busy these past couple of days and have started doing some physical labor and direct work with the kids in Ruhengeri. The Art of Conservation organization has done so much to improve the lives of many people as well as many endangered species that it was a great pleasure to volunteer with them.

Every year there is a gorilla naming ceremony that is a HUGE deal. All the gorillas born in the past year receive names and very important officials attend the event because the gorillas have boosted their economy immensely by attracting tourists. Each school sings a song at the ceremony and many include English. We helped the classes by teaching them the correct pronunciation and even the melody of the songs they will perform.

Although very rewarding, being in the schools is also an eye-opening experience. No one has a pair of tennis shoes--which, luckily, was one of the largest donations we received-- and their uniforms are all dirty and ripped. All the little kids have runny noses because the health conditions are less than satisfactory. Art of Conservation is providing lessons on how to be healthy and how germs are spread, etc. It's a really cool organization.

They also invented the idea of a "briquette." Instead of cutting down trees or using sticks to create a fire to cook a meal, AoC has allowed a local family to start a business making "charcoal," which consists of three parts saw dust, one part paper. We mix water with these two components to create a mixture and use a press to squeeze out all the water. AoC built a greenhouse on the family's property to allow the briquettes to dry faster. So far, we've made over 600 briquettes, mixed a LOT, and installed a sign in the front yard to attract more customers for the family. (600 is huge- each round only makes three) They are all so thankful and the children just stare at us the whole time! We start to sing songs that we've learned in Kinyarwandan and they smile and clap with us.

Today, Annie and I met a girl named Betty. She was 17 and learned some English in school. One of the first thing she said to us was that she needed a doctor. We asked what was wrong and she replied, "No, I need a doctor for my friends." It's just hard knowing that there is so much need that can't be covered right away. I'm learning a lot that can be done and will sort everything out when we return.

I also appreciate washers and dryers so much more!! We washed our clothes in basins of cold water and had to hang them outside. It's so difficult for them to dry because it rains all the time!

Because it's so green and there are so many ferns, we've decided that Rwanda looks like the set of Jurassic Park. It's misty in the morning and always kind of damp, but still completely breathtaking!

The road conditions are very poor, so our group was wondering about car accidents because so many people walk in the middle of the road and ride bikes carelessly. Our driver, Gerard, said there are rarely accidents because after a citizen gets in three, they can't drive at all ever again! Crazy!

Some other culture differences we've noticed: lack of personal space, men hold hands or put their arms around each other while they walk to work, there are no shower curtains, many young women have children, if you wave while moving your fingers back and forth it means "come here," they dance with their feet!, the women do a majority of the "yard" work or physical labor, and apparently it's not rude to point and laugh at someone!

It's been an awesome adventure so far. We are half way done- more to come!

Mukundwa

1/2 way

It is so hard to believe that our trip is half way over. Where does the time go?

Right now the group is staying in Ruhengeri and, as said in the posts below, we are volunteering with the Art of Conservation. Through this organization we are working with school children to educate them about the importance of wildlife conservation. We have been doing this by visiting a couple of local schools and teaching via music, particularly singing. It's been quite interesting trying to sing in Kinyarwandan (the natvie language of Rwanda) as the kids try to do the opposite and master English. It's been fun learning from each other. Our group is still getting swarmed by kids all of the time, being called "mizungus" which means "white people" in Kinyarwandan.

Speaking of the word "mizungu", yesterday myself and a couple other girls had a quite interesting experience on the streets of Ruhengeri.. Anna, Megan, and I had outfits made by some local Rwandan women in a market here. We went to pick them up and tried them on there to make sure they fit. We then decided to just leave the outfits on and walk home in them. At that same time, though, we were out shopping with our two housekeepers (Sophie and Eunice) because it was our turn to pick out dinner for the evening. Needless to say, we received MANY reactions from the locals. We were stared at before for just being mizungus, but at that point we were mizungus walking around town in Rwandan clothing. To say that the Rwandans were happy would be an understatement. Everywhere we went men and women gushed and complimented us, saying in Kinyarwandan that we were "smart and pretty" for deciding to wear Rwandan clothes. Sophie and Eunice were definitely getting a kick out of it. It was so much fun.. We kind of felt like super stars. No one was insulted or mad that we were wearing African clothing, something that I expected at first. Everyone was just proud and happy.

When we leave I am going to miss this inviting culture.

Lost In Translation

My Simpson group and I, being muzungus or white people who speak primarily English, are quite frequently needing translators in Africa. However, verbal speech is only one way to communicate.

The first day I was here someone asked me how I was doing in KyniaRwandan and I responded by saying thanks when I meant to say that I was good. They responded by laughing, and I was confused so I just laughed as well.

This week our Simpson Group is working with schools and teaching them music that is both KyniaRwandan and English. Halfway through our class, we all go outside for recess and attempt to play and communicate with the children without knowing more than, "Hello how are you?" and "I'm good thank you."

We try to communicate through facial expressions how to play certain games like Frisbee and American football, but sometimes this doesn't always work so well. There are hundreds of children pushing and shoving trying to get to the two Frisbees that we provided. They both broke in less than 30 seconds. As Ben Beck said, the Directer of Conservation of the Great Ape Trust, "This is a great metaphor for how big the problems here are and how little resources we have to make a difference."

When all else fails at recess we simply begin singing the few Rwandan songs that we have leaned and dancing to them. Usually they join in or sometimes they giggle at out pronunciation. It's so difficult for Rwandans to learn English and English speakers to learn Rwandan because our tongues move much differently and have built up different muscles. That is what I learned at school this week!

After recess some older girls stopped me who knew fairly good English. They proceeded to ask me how old I was. When I said that I was 20 she asked me how many chickens I had. I was very confused and assumed that this was just another question she knew how to ask me in English. I told her I had too many at home to count. They both died laughing.

Again I was very confused, but have grown use to being laughed at when speaking to Rwandans because something is generally lost in Translation. Come to find out.....she was actually asking me how many children I had.

Instances like this happen time and time again, which is a great part of the experience here. I enjoy attempting to learn their difficult language and empathize when they try to learn ours.

Briquettes and Food Market Adventures

Hello all!

Today has been another eventful day in the life of us Simpson College students in Rwanda. We traveled to a new school to teach a new song to the students. The lesson went very well and the children are now one step closer to singing the song at the baby gorilla naming celebration that takes place every year.

I am so grateful that I get this chance to be a part of these children's' education in protecting the environment and the mountain gorilla species. I also enjoy the sheer happiness that the children get from just being near a mzungo (white person), every time they see you a huge smile breaks out onto their face and it makes you feel uplifted no matter how tough the day is going.

Later on today I again went to help make briquettes that are apart of the Save the Forest Briquette Initiative. They are being created to provide an alternative to cutting down fire wood everyday for cooking purposes. I have helped there the past three days and our group has made over 600 briquettes with manual mixing and pressing.

Yesterday a few of us received our African made dresses that we had tailored from material that we bought at the market. We also happened to be the group that was helping Eunice and Sophie (guest house staff) prepare supper for the night, so we went shopping at the food market in our new outfits.

This was quite the experience! It was twice the amount of looks from people on the street and comments as well. All good comments of course such as; you look pretty, you are smart, very nice, and those outfits are beautiful. At the food market everybody stopped what they were doing just to look at us in our outfits, it is a very different feeling but a good one!

Hope everybody is well and I can't believe I will be on a plane back in one week!!

--Rurabo

Well-Behaved Children & Being Grateful

The past three days I have gone to a couple of schools with the Art of Conservation.

The children are so well-behaved here, especially compared to American children. They can sit and focus on one song for hours at a time even when it may be quite frustrating for them to understand it.

We have taught three different sections of kids so far. I don't know how they can focus for so long on a languange not native to them, English. They never complain, and they always do what they are told.

I've seldom even heard children crying or whining. They are some of the happiest kids I have ever seen. Yet, they have so little.

This has really opened my eyes as, in America, we have everything we could ever possibly need. However, we are truly not that happy. People are always focused on tomorrow or that next step.

Not many Americans take a step back to just enjoy the moment and take one step at a time. Things are slower paced here, and I think that's why people seem to be more relaxed and well-behaved.

I am definitely going to take this state of mind home with me because I could have used this knowledge a long time ago. I think it would have prevented a lot of bad things from happening.

Back to the kids, though. They don't have fancy toys to play with, cool clothes, or video games to play. They really enjoy singing and dancing as a form of entertainment. Many use a bamboo shoot to sort of roll a bike wheel around as a game too.

They are more than happy wearing what would be considered, to Americans, rags. Some of them don't have buttons on their shirts, so they have to hold their shirt shut.

Many of their shoes are broken, or they are wearing one rainboot and one sneaker. I am happy that we brought so many bags of shoes with us since they definitely need them.

The lesson here is that you may have everything in the world but be the most unhappy person. On the other hand, you may have the least in the world but be the happiest person.

Just take one day at a time and be grateful for what you have. Here in Rwanda many people have next to nothing but still smile and enjoy each moment.

Here's a kind of funny story that will explain just how little some people have here.

I was in the market on Monday gathering food to cook for supper that night. I had a water bottle in my backpack before I left. After leaving the market I wanted a drink of water.

I reached for my water bottle and nothing was there. I turned and looked at where it should have been, and it was gone.

I never would have thought somebody would take a water bottle, but it happened. It didn't bug me since it was just a water bottle after all, and I'm glad it wasn't anything else.

The scenerio just shocked me that somebody would take such a little thing like that.

So appreciate what you have because there is somebody out there who has way less.

- Umufasha

Muzungo, Muzungo!

Everywhere we go we attract a lot of attention from the Rwandans. The kids smile, wave, and yell "muzungo" (which means white person) and "aggichupa" (my awful spelling, which they yell asking for an empty water bottle). The adults usually smile and wave as well.

As our group drives around I feel like I am in a parade, it is so much fun to wave and say hello to everyone we see. I think when I go home I will wave at people as I drive and they will think I'm a weirdo!

At first this attention made me a little uneasy, but as the week has progressed I have become comfortable with it and I really enjoy trying out my Kinyarwandan with the people we meet. Yesterday was a true test of my comfort with attention.

It was my small group's turn to help prepare dinner, so Annie, Megan and I had some free time before we were to go to the food market so we decided to pick up our traditional outfits we had made for us.

While we were trying on our gorgeous dresses, we drew in a crowd of locals who couldn't get enough of us. They all had such huge smiles on their faces and were taking pictures of us on their cell phones. The woman who prepared one of my dresses actually walked us all to a photography shop and paid to have a picture taken with us.

We were having so much fun that we decided to wear our traditional getup to the food market. As I said before, we always draw a crowd, but when wearing the African dresses the locals went NUTS! They loved that we were trying to fit into their culture. Everyone smiled (and laughed) and were giving us the thumbs up sign.

They would say to us how "smart" we looked and how beautiful we were. They would come up to shake our hands and the children couldn't stop staring. It was so much fun, but I know I am not cut-out for a celebrity life, by the time we got through the market and had purchased our food I was so tired!

Every experience I have had on this trip has taught me that when you dive into another culture, they are more likely to accept your culture as well. Everyone I have met here has been so kind and wonderful and ACCEPTIVE of me. This is something different than the American culture. What an amazing adventure.

-Muganga

Gorillas

Gorilla Trecking was oh so fun! I think i am in love - in a group of 6 of us we followed our guide all the way up close to the volcanoes where we hiked to the Hiruwa troop of gorillas. once we got to the wall where we crossed from the national park into the sighting area we had to drop all our stuff, aside from our cameras of course and hiked the rest of the way in. Little did we know but we were within 8 feet of the gorillas! i have never been that close to a real live animal of that size!
So much has happened and i am loving every second of it. Even the food here is good. i don't think i have eaten anything i didn't like! However a hot shower is very much missed.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

So it has been raining all day here.. Actually it's pouring outside now. Other than that though, it is still a fun time here in Rwanda. We went to the school today and taught the kids there some new songs and helped them with their Engish and they also helped us with the Kinyarwandan.

A few of us are here at the internet cafe doing the blog and later we will be going to the market to get some food for dinner in which we are going to help cook (wish me luck on that one). If anyone gets sick, they can go ahead and blame that on me.

So one more week until we head home and thankfully, time is going by pretty slowly. I'm glad it is too because I want to enjoy Africa and I can definitely say I feel like I'm learning a lot about their culture. Yesterday I was helping to build a bathroom where I helped carry rafters onto the roof, move bricks, nail the rafters down and finally spent most of my time there digging a whole with some of the local workers. I had a good conversation with them.

Hopefully the rest of the trip will be fun with lots more adventure!

I love you, Mom!

Hello all! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! (Mom :])

It seems like we've been here for a lot longer than six days... and I can't believe we're not even half way done yet! We have seen so many insane sights, like today when we saw the gorillas. It was such a humbling experience because they are so massive- we were five feet away from them! The "teenage" gorillas were classic; they were constantly climbing a mass of branches then jumping off and rolling. At first, I was pretty intimidated by the Silverback, but he didn't do too much.

I'm fascinated by all the languages we hear here. Almost every adult knows at least three: French, English, and Kinyarwandan. Yesterday and today I spoke with someone in Spanish whose native language is Congolese. It was really cool! I'm learning a lot more about the culture than I ever expected to, about things like weddings and gender differences. The women here are so strong! They will be carrying a baby on their back, a sack of potatoes on their heads and a jug of water in their arms at the same time for several miles. It's incredible. The clothing is also very beautiful and the food isn't too much different than the U.S. except for the majority contains starch and carbs: potatoes, rice, noodles, etc. We also have several bananas a day. A few of us have gotten sick, just a couple of those from the food. I hope we will continue to stay healthy. (For my parents... I have been taking Airborne... haha)

Tomorrow we start working with the school kids! We met with Julie, the founder of Art of Conservation, today for lunch. She gave us song and work books to assist us with the lesson plans for the kids. Tonight my professor will sketch one up and we will all learn the songs in Kinyarwandan to teach them. I also learned that we will be constructing toilets on a dirt tennis court outside the school. This is exciting considering the current "toilets" are holes! We will bring all the donations to the school tomorrow (or on the last day) and I know that Julie has also received a lot!! It's quite exciting.

Us girls are going to the market tomorrow to have dresses made from the fabric we've purchased. We're going to ask the girls at the school to teach us to walk with items on our heads. Then we'll be true Rwandans! (to go along with our new names, of course.)

I hope everyone in America is doing well!

Mukundwa :)

The Art of Conversation

Although this is written in Anna's name this is actually Emily Fichter more recently known as Mutimukeye. I have had a really hard time getting connected to this blog through my email here which is very relivent to the topic of this entry.

In America we are constantly listening to our ipods instead of singing and texing instead of talking. I have discovered here that the art of conversation is restored when there is an absence of technology. I can't begin to explain how refreashing this is! Creativity is distorted when there is so much in America to do. Many villiage children here sing, dance, make their own toys, and have nothing, but smile brightly.

It can become frustrating at times to not have technology unless you go to an internet cafe and even then waiting 15 minute for your page to load when the top of the page says, "instant results;" however, it can also be liberating. People here are so patient, and walk to their own beat. It's incredible.

As a very broad statement to sum up my trip so far----It has changed my life in all the greatest ways. Everyone who has travel a lot told me that I would come back a different person, and I smiled and said that yes I was so excited, but no expectations could possibly of captured the emoti0ns and experiences I have had here so far. Sure I have only showered twice in 6 days and ruined my only camera in a rainforest, but this trip has been so special.

GORILLAS!

Today was a very exciting day as we got to do our gorilla trek!

We were broken up into smaller groups and taken on a hike to a place were the gorillas have been tracked to be the night before our visit. The gorilla family/group that I got to experience was formally known as group 13 but is now renamed to Aswhate (that translates as special). This group has gotten that name because there is one silverback male and no younger blackback males. The male also has stolen two femals from the Congo and two from Uganda groups.

The baby gorillas was one of the highlights, they were playing with each other and hamming it up for our cameras. I could not believe how close we were able to get to the animals and how calm they remained while we were visiting them. This species is only found in the three countires in Africa and I hope that operations like the one that we participated in today help conserve them and thier unique habitat.

Yesterday we had a very relaxing day at our hotel and hung out at the beach on lake Kivu. We even went to an island for a picnic lunch with the whole class. After relaxing and recharging our batteries from the long hike in Giswhati we traveled to Ruhengeri where we are staying in the guest house of AoC.

I am looking forward to the next few days working in the schools to help Julie's mission with Art of Conservation. Tonight we are going to practice singing the songs we are going to teach the children. The songs have messages about conserving the gorilla habitat and improving hygine.

I can still not believe that I am in Africa and every day is full of new experiences and I can not wait to see what is in store for the remainder of our time!!

We're here!

We've only been in Rwanda for a couple of days, and I am already learning and experiencing so much. For starters, I have learned to make many adjustments in Africa. Some for example, include getting used to the the lack of plumbing. technology, food choices, and personal space. Although that probably seems like a huge downside, it's actually been wonderful experiencing something so different than what I'm used to in the States. It really makes me grateful for all that I have, especially when I see how happy these Rwandans are without all of the material items. I love seeing their smiles and warm welcomes.

Yesterday we went on a four hour hike in Gishwati forest. It was cold and wet and tiring, but definitely fantastic. It was neat to see the forest close-up and bond with my group more. Speaking of my group....we rock. We've been having a great time thus far, from playing American games with Rwandan kids, to sleeping in wet tents, to cracking jokes about each other's memorable quotes. I can't wait for all of the new experiences we will continue to have over the course of the next two weeks.

Muraho from Gisenyi!

I don't even know where to start! I don't want to be too repetitive but I'll do my best to share my experiences. First of all, it is absolutely beautiful here! I absolutely LOVE driving around and seeing all of the scenery. The people are just as beautiful too. They are all so loving and happy; it's just amazing. I've never felt like so much of a celebrity either. When we drive, the kids wave and smile and chase after us. It's adorable! It's really nerve wracking though because they get so close! Some of the kids ran all the way to the health clinic with us this morning.

We went on a 4 hour hike through Gishwati yesterday. It started raining on us after about a half hour and it didn't really let up until the last half hour or so. I was amazed and impressed with all of our attitudes, though. That was what made it so fun. We were all gung-ho on crossing rivers and getting completely soaked. I feel like that wouldn't happen with most groups of teenagers and I think that is something really special about us.

I'm running a little low on time at this internet cafe so I'm going to wrap up on what I thought about today. The thing that stuck out most for me today was smiles. Firstly, the Batwa had gorgeous smiles. I was blown away by them and I couldn't take my eyes off of the. Their dancing and singing was outstanding. The little boy with the cutest smile ever was unforgettable too! Secondly, I couldn't stop smiling all day. I realized my mouth was almost hurting because I had been smiling so long. That feeling you get when you're taking pictures for a big high school dance and you hate it. But in this case, it only made me smile more because I was genuinely smiling and happy. It was such an indescribable feeling.

The trip is going awesome and I can't wait to see what awaits us! We're all excited to sleep in beds and shower tonight. Great thinking on timing Virginia! The hotel is beautiful and right on the beach of Lake Kivu. We're watching some dancing tonight from Innocent's group and then going out to do some dancing ourselves!

Rwanda

the trip has been great. the group has become more tight knit than originally and we had a crazy first few days with the tents being soaked (along with everything) and a few sickness.

the country is beautiful and the mountains are great. we will be heading to our gorilla trek on sunday and i look forward to it greatly.

tonight we will be watching the bats, then some traditional rwandan dancers followed by the disco for whoever is willing to go(count me in)

i look forward to the rest of our trip and cant wait to see the experiences that will becoming ahead of us. the children are cute and very excited to see muzungu (white people) and we got to sing and dance last night in the village.

Adventures!

Wowza!

So much has happened already and we have only been here for not even a week yet. Im so glad this trip is not going by too fast, I want to soak it all in. I absolutely love it! The people are so inviting and friendly, that could be because we are white and stick out like a sore thumb! My favorite thing by far this trip was hiking in the Gishwati forest! I had no idea what we were going to be upagainst until we were in the thick of it. Pouring down rain the entire time made the experience that much more exciting! As Ben Beck would say, "You can't get wetter than wet". Once we were soaked and muddy you couldn't get much more soaked and muddier than we already were. Hiking to the waterfall, crossing rivers, holding huge worms and trying to gracefully slip down the muddy hills was great. I could do that all day! The scenery was beautiful. Later that night we got to play outside the research station with the neighboring kids of the village. We sang and danced to their songs as well as some of our songs. There really are no words for how amazing of a time it was to spend with all them, as well as some of the parents who joined in too.
I am having a great experience and would not give it up for anything!

Internet Cafe in Gisenyi

Currently we are sitting in an Internet cafe in Gisenyi. We have all been having a wonderful time I believe even though a few of us, myself included, have gotten sick.

We are all much better now, though, and that's all that matters.

Today we met with the Batwa tribe, and they sang and danced for us. It was amazing. They are extremely musically inclined.

Before that we went to the local health clinic in the village we were staying in. We gave them the donations we had brought for them, and I know they are grateful. This moment personally touched me since I handed two pairs of glasses to the lady that were my grandfather's.

My grandfather passed away last September, and it was rough on my mother as it was her last remaining parent. It was really touching to see that they would go to good use, but at the same time it was the last part of letting him go. 

Yesterday we hiked through the Gishwati Forest and met with the Women's Cooperative and some traditional healers.

We also sang and danced with the village children in the street. They sang some Rwandan songs to us, and we taught them the Hokey Pokey, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

This has been quite a journey so far, and it isn't over yet.

Hello all,

I can't even explain how much I have enjoyed my time here so far. It has only been a few days but we have had the chance to experience the most wonderful things, with equally wonderful people.

We got to spend 4 hours hiking through the Gishwati Forest (which made me feel like I was walking through a Jurassic Park movie), stand next to a beautiful waterfall, survive a mad rush of rain water, and persevere through it all as a team. I really learned about how strong we all are.

Later that night, we all went out into the street of the Gishwati to talk with the locals. The children came up to us right away and we spoke with each other. The conversation was not easy because I only know a few phrases in Kinyarwandan and only they only knew a little English, but
the adults stood back and watched. They were more skeptical of what we were doing.

This experience happened because our Professor began to try and dance an African dance, although the children laughed, as we joined in we could see how more people became interested in what was going on.

As more people joined the group, we began singing a few songs we had learned in Kinyarawandan, then the children sang songs for us. We even got them to do the Hokey Pokey with us! I found that through body language we could communicate, and in turn we could all learn a little about each others' culture.

It was the most AMAZING time, just learning about each other. As we embraced their culture (by basically making fools of ourselves), they became more acceptive of ours and even the adults joined in on the singing and dancing. I can positively say this was one of the best days of my life!

Hello from Rwanda!!

Hey everybody!!!

We are currently in an internet cafe in the city of Gisenyi after returning from the field station of the Great Ape Trust. There we hiked in the reserve through the rain for 4 hours and it was nothing short of AWESOME!

Our group is getting along very well and we can make even the worst situations into something fun to take our minds off of it....such as down pouring rain and bridges washing out during the hike. We have also all been given Rwandan names and mine is Rarubo which means flower because I enjoy looking at the plants so much.

The landscape here is very pretty with the mountains and lush forest, also lake Kivu which is by the hotel we are staying at now is nice. There are many people everywhere you go just walking down the road to get to the place they need too, makes me feel lazy sometimes because we are always driving in jeeps.

So far this trip has been amazing and I will remember it for the rest of my life.

Can't wait to see what is in store for the rest of the days we have here!!!

This Time for Africa!!

Well, I'm in Africa now and I'm having a blast. I can't believe I've only been here since Monday! Seems like it has been so much longer because we have done a lot of stuff and met so many cool people and of course, cute kids. After a not too long flight (or so it seemed) and eating the delicious airline food, I am definitely happy to be here in Rwanda. I can't remember all we have done or how I felt at different times while we were doing them, but overall I am very happy I chose to come to Rwanda for my May Term trip. The first night we slept in the Great Ape Trust office and in the morning, Greg and I were woken up by this very annoying bird who insisted that wake up call was at 5:30am. We then headed to the field station a few hours away and of course got our daily "African massage" on the way there. We met many awesome people there and are many people I know I will not forget who worked there like Innocent, Eric, Gerard and many other cool people and lots of kids who love to play football and love to get their pictures taken. So far the thing I'm going to remember the most is when we were in the Gishwati Forest where at the end of the trail, there was a waterfall. I had never seen a waterfall before, so it was very cool to be standing right next to one. The guide brought a mango and we were all standing there enjoying out mangoes when the next thing we know, there was a monsoon and the waterfall went from beautiful to trying to kill us. We all moved as fast as we could to get out of there thankfully we all made it. It may have been dangerous, but it was so much fun and the way back was even more fun with the briges being washed out and we had to cross creeks by walking through them. Now I'm in an internet cafe and my time is about up, but I am excited for the rest of this trip!!

Muraho!

WOW. This trip has been an unreal experience so far. I absolutely cannot believe that we are so blessed to be able to come here and do what we're doing.

I don't know where to start! Right now we're in Gisenyi and are done working with the Great Ape Trust. We hiked in the Gishwhati Forest for four hours in the rain yesterday to get a feel for what the organization is trying to do. Three guides led us and told us many things about the environment. We even heard the chimps several times! The hike definitely showed how awesome our group is because we had to deal with flash flooding and bridges being washed out, and of course, all of our clothes being soaked! It was such a cool way to see a Rwandan rainforest.

THE KIDS in Gishwhati are beyond adorable. They yell, "Muzungo, Muzungo!" when we drive by and run after our jeep. We introduced them to bubbles the other day... they kept saying, "Mange, mange!" when we held the blowstick to their mouths which we found out means "eat" haha! They are so great.

Last night was one of the best nights of my life and a great way to wind down after a long day. The Rwandans in the village started off by singing their national anthem and then we taught them the "hokey pokey," twinkle, twinkle little star and itsy bitsy spider. They laughed so hard! After we sang, I asked if they would teach us some of their songs and dances. A huge party ensued right then! They ALL knew their country's songs word for word and each had a specific dance. AMAZING. They taught us what to do and laughed because it was unnatural to us. It bascially looks like a big bird stretching its wings and stomping its feet in a certain pattern. We were all jumping and singing a song we had learned in our preparation class at the end after the sun went down.

One of our guides, Gerard, gave us all Kinyarwandan names! Mine is Mukudwa which means "kind or compassionate." We now introduce ourselves that way by saying, "Nitwa ____." Everyone says we are true Rwandans now! The people here are so welcoming and absolutely everyone waves. I'm just having the time of my life while immersing myself in such a different culture. It doesn't seem like we're working at all. (Although with everything we raised, the head of Great Ape Trust said it was enough to feed 22 people for a YEAR! So exciting!) All the tangible donations were MUCH appreciated and the hygiene items were a perfect addition to the health clinic.

Tonight we are staying in a hut in the capital city, Kigali, which is a huge upgrade from the tents we stayed in the last two nights. It rained all night! We also haven't taken a full "real" shower since being here. The rain counted as ours yesterday, and the first full day here we rinsed off with a bathtub nozzle (freezing!) We also haven't used a real toilet! At the Great Ape Trust field and research center the bathrooms consisted of a hole in the ground! It just really shows how blessed we are to have the luxuries we do.

More to come! We are sharing minutes on computers at an internet cafe. These are the only computers I know of here! Crazy.

Love you all and thank you again for your support!! Keep us in your prayers!
Kayla

We're in Chicago!

This is beyond exciting! We are just about to board on the flight to Brussels.

Our group is so awesome. I can tell we're all going to be really close at the end of the trip!

Some of us had some Asian delicacies for dinner and eat with chopsticks to embrace our "international mood." Quite fun!

We just met another group that's going to Rwanda! They overheard us practicing the language and come to talk to us! They will be teaching English there and are from Concordia-Moorhead (shoutout to Mother Patti! Go Concordia! haha)

Thanks so much again to everyone! More posts to come! Pray for safe travels. :)

Chicago

We're currently in Chicago waiting to board our next flight to Brussels. Everyone seems to be quite excited including myself. We're all somewhat tired but the excitement has seemed to override any of those feelings.

We hope to enjoy our next plane and practice our Kinya-Rwandan before arriving so we will be able to show our great communication skills.

I can't wait to reach our destination of Kigali and enjoy the fascinating experiences that are waiting for us ahead. Lets hope we get to sit together on the flight and arrive before we know it. Rwanda here we COME!!!

Tomorrow.

Well, tomorrow's the day to depart. It's so crazy that it's already here. In January, this seemed so far away, but after our packing party (see Angela's post below) it all hit me: I am really going to Africa. I'll get to see people and places that most Americans only see in National Geographic or on TV. Traveling abroad is an experience my group is so lucky to have.

We'll be leaving from the Des Moines International Airport tomorrow afternoon. We have several connecting flights (one even in Brussels) before landing in Rwanda. It'll be a long trip - but definitely a worth while one.

I am pretty much done packing, but I keep re-opening and re-checking and re-weighing my suitcase and carry-on bag. I think it's a mix of nerves and complete excitement. I can't wait until we get there!!!

Packing Party

Things were everywhere at first.

Yesterday, we had a packing party.

You're probably thinking how can packing turn into a party?

When you have a great group like us and a ton of things to pack it sure can turn into a fun party.

It was a little disorganized at first, but it quickly turned into an organized process.

Things were separated into piles, and everybody joined in to lend a hand.

Members of our group are very giving and always there with a willingness to help.

It soon became apparent, though, that we had too much stuff to fit into the bags.

We had to come up with some out of the box solutions to that problem.

As you can see to the left, we had bags full of shoes.

The shoes took up a lot of room and didn't leave much space for other items.

We decided that we could fit small tubes of toothpaste inside the shoes to save space and weight.

As odd as it was, every donation counts, and we weren't willing to give up anything.

Now, we have lots of shoes full of many tubes of toothpaste to hand out.

Eleven fifty pound bags wasn't enough for all the donations, so we have to take about three extra bags in order to fit everything.

I am a bit surprised by all the donations we were able to gather with each of our busy schedules.

Family and friends have been extremely supportive in the effort, which really makes a difference.


Thank you to everybody who donated something.

It truly means a lot to us.

This is something all of us will remember for the rest of our lives.

 Keep us in your thoughts as we travel to Rwanda starting tomorrow.

There will many stories to share after we get back as this is just the beginning of an incredible journey.

Here we go!

I cannot believe that this trip is less than two months away! The books we've been reading allow me to visualize what our time there will actually be like, but I know it will be much different at the same time. Reading about the genocide has given me a "reality check" about some of the situations we will encounter. To think that everyone over the age of 16 has witnessed murder is astonishing.

On another note, I finally got everything figured out for the Yellow Fever vaccine! We're almost "All Systems Go" for our adventure.

The donation collection process has increased immensely! We've set up an area in the library to gather donations from people on campus, and Anna contacted the Des Moines Register to gain more awareness. Our story was on the front page! Also, with help from my Godfather, we have gained a wonderful group of supporters. I know other members from our group have been working hard and have acquired games, clothes, paint, and so much more. I'm so excited to see everyone's reactions.

What I'm most excited for is to meet all the Rwandans and people whom we'll be helping. I know they will change my life in so many ways; I can't wait to see how!

I don't really know how to do this whole blog thing but I guess I'll learn as we go! I can't believe that March is already winding down. We only have about a month left of classes and then we are off to Rwanda! I feel like I have so much to do in that short amount of time. I am beyond excited for this trip. I have wanted to go to Africa for years. I know it will be a life changing experience. At the same time, I know I can't even imagine everything this trip will accomplish, both for the Rwandans and for me. I can't wait to meet the amazing people Virginia and others have told us about. Seeing pictures of the land also gets me so excited. It's so beautiful! It seems like it will be a wonderful place to reflect on what is truly important in life and discover how we can make a difference in the world.

We're reading our last book for class, Rwanda Means the Universe. I've really enjoyed the books we've read. It's amazing to me that we will be seeing and experiencing some of the same things (hopefully some different ones too) that the people from the stories did. I think we might be having some Rwandans come in to talk with us too. That would be really cool to hear about their life and culture.

We're still looking for donations! Every little things makes a difference! :)

How Time Flies...

Alright, well I have never actually blogged about anything ever before, so this is my first! Looks like I just lost my blogging virginity ;) Anyway, it's Saturday morning and I thought to myself, what a good time to blog about going to Africa. Of course, since I'm doing nothing else, I have a lot of time to just think, and lately I have been thinking a lot about my future. I mean, it's almost March already.. Spring Break is a couple weeks away, then after that just a few weeks, then finals, and then BAM!-- it's time to go to Africa. Then it's summer, which will fly by, then I go to D.C. and then one more semester and I graduate and it's time to start a new life-- yet I have NO IDEA what I am going to do. I guess that's the reason I am doing things like going on this trip to Africa, not only because I like to volunteer and like to travel, but also to help me figure out what I want to do with my life. It is just crazy how fast time is going- sometimes I want it to slow down, but then other times I think I just want to be done with school. I guess what I'm getting at is I am here in college, living the life no one else in my family has ever had the great opportunity to have and I am taking as any opportunities as I can to do things that I have only dreamed about in the past. I mean, who would have ever thought I was really going to go to see an actual African safari?! One thing that keeps lingering in my mind though is all these outbreaks of violence that is going on in north Africa- most recently in Libya- and I am just worried that that violence will spread to places like Uganda or Rwanda and then we obviously couldn't go on our trip. I try not to think too negatively, but I keep seeing that stuff on the news, so I think it sometimes. If anything, only the Uganda part would be cancelled-- Rwanda is too small and I think it's far enough away from all the violence that we wouldn't have to worry about it. Other than that, I am excited to go to a whole new venue that we refer to as the "third world"- hopefully it will change my life.

About 2 months to go!!

Our class is getting very excited about going to Rwanda and about what we will experience there. As an environmental science major I am very excited about the work we will be doing in the forest and with the school children.
One of the things I am most interested in is observing the forest habitat. The book we just finished (In the Kingdom of Gorillas) gave me an idea of what we will experience. I have been to Ecuador and Belize in the past and I would like to compare those ecosystems to that of the Rwandan forests. That is what I am most excited for!

**We could use your help!! Please take a moment to look at the items listed in previous blogs for donation. We would be grateful for any donation and can't wait to make a difference in the lives of the Rwandans in May .**

Our May Term group has been meeting every Wednesday at 5 to better prepare ourselves for the trip. We have been discussing both Rwandan culture and environment (as a main highlight of our trip will be learning and educating about the importance of environmental conservation). As Anna said below, we are currently in the process of asking Simpson (faculty, students, and staff) for donations. Hopefully we can get a good turnout. I think we are all pretty excited for our trip thus far!

As we prepare for our trip we will be collecting items to take and donate to the two organizations we will be working with. We will be volunteering our time to both the Art of Conservation and the Great Ape Trust which have ties to Des Moines.


Some of the items we are hoping to collect are:

-paint
-painter's tape
-paint brushes
-bars of soap
-toothbrushes/toothpaste
-girls sports bras
-boys jock straps
-running shoes
-duct tape
-artists pencils without erasers
-blank CDs and DVDs for recording

There is a donation box located in Dunn Library.

Checks can be made out to Simpson College with Art of Conservation or Great Ape Trust written in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to

Virginia Croskery
c/o Simpson College
701 N C St-ARMC Studio No. 5
Indianola, IA 50125

We are all very excited to be given the opportunity of a lifetime as we travel to Rwanda on this service trip. Thank you for all donations!

Introduction to this Blog

This blog is going to be used by a group of students traveling to Rwanda to experience a primitive way of living and learn some life skills along the way.

The trip is service learning related and will involve a lot of giving with hardly any taking.

We students will be working in Rwanda with the Great Ape Trust and Art of Conservation out of Iowa.

Our journey to Rwanda will begin May 1. Right now, we are in the stages of learning about the culture and ways of the Rwandan people.

Stay posted, there will be much updating in the future.