This post features student writing.

If I were to describe today in three different ways, I would say “rewarding,” “emotional,” and “full of new friends.”

This morning we did something called “umuganda,” the community service that all Rwandans do on the last Saturday of every month. We visited the home of a woman who is a genocide survivor. She is suffering from chronic illness and is forced to spend a lot of time at the hospital. It was beautiful to see how all her neighbors came together to help her and take care of the grand property she owns. The children of the community played soccer in her backyard while the adults cut bananas leaves, tended the garden, and swept the house. It was a pleasure to join these friendly people and help out the woman. We were able to meet later in the afternoon. She was so strong and I have only the greatest respect for her. We also got to play with the local children and by the end of the service, everyone had a big smile on their faces because of everyone’s friendliness and welcoming attitudes.

After service, we visited the Ntarama Genocide Memorial. I didn’t know how to feel or, how I would feel after the visit. The guide told us the story of the genocide and the events that caused it. Then he led us to the church where hundreds of skulls are located. There was a picture wall where the faces of some of the victims were displayed; their clothes, left intact, were full of holes and bloodstains and also hung on the walls.  We were shown some of their personal belongings; money, letters, pens, etc. All of these objects gave back the identity of the victims and made the visit we so much more real. It transformed the thousands of victims at the church into separate individuals with a family, a job, and a story.

The remainder of the day was filled with new friends. After lunch, we got the chance to work on our independent projects. Habisona, Madeline, Julie, and I decided to pay a visit to the Nyamata High School. We were planning on just handing in some questions for the director to read and approve so that we could do an interview with some students in the near future. But then we met with the dean of students, who brought us into a room with two students named John and David and told us that we could interview them.

Later, Diana, Vanessa, Moses, and Tom also joined us and we got to interview all of them. We learned so many things about them (that will be mentioned in our blog posts about the independent projects), but all of them turned out to be such friendly, hard-working, and interesting students. We became friends very quickly. Even though we live in different countries and were brought up differently, we were able to relate to one another. I’m looking forward to seeing them again and meeting more students. And I’m definitely motivated to keep in contact!

-Sofia

Today we went to a genocide survivor’s house and provided service to her. The surprising thing about this service was that we already found others working at the house when we arrived. In Rwanda, no matter how different people are, they will always find a way to connect with you.

Then we went to the Nyamata Boarding High School and started talking to five students. These five students opened up to me like I was one of their friends. Our conversation was very thoughtful and heartfelt.

Rwanda has so many friendly people and that’s what I love about it the most.

-Habisona