Arrival (Post #7)

While Move Up Global is the Boston based non profit I work with, IREME is the Rwandan based team we have on the ground doing the work in the community every day.  We hired a staff of 9 people there so far and up until this trip, I have been connecting with them virtually over Zoom and email.  Some of them have only been working there a few months, so the operation is growing quickly.

Turning into the gated driveway of the IREME office, I immediately started crying. Finally seeing the people I have come to love over Zoom was so overwhelming.  The IREME team and a few teachers were there to greet me.  They were lined up like they were waiting for the Queen of England.  I got out of the car and each of them greeted me with a hug and a gift. They were showering me with necklaces, bracelets, gifts, all sorts of things. It was so overwhelming, but beautiful. 

In Rwanda, when you greet someone, you hug on both shoulders and then shake hands. This seemed a bit much to me at first, but then I grew to love that it creates a real moment to make eye contact and really greet someone with purpose. 

After a lot of happy tears, I met some of the top Grade 5 students who had come to learn how to use computers.  It was so nice to see real work happening right away.  They each greeted me and were so gracious and bright.  

Then we walked inside to a prepared lunch.  I can’t believe they waited for me for hours!  I felt terrible, but they did not care, everyone was so happy.  We ate a delicious lunch and then the music came on and we started dancing!!! 

   These people are full of so much joy and fun.  I instantly felt I was in my new family.

 And I met Esther!!! Olive's baby was 8 weeks old and so precious. Oh to hold a baby again!

I got a quick tour of this complex, so much bigger than I expected!  This new building is about a mile downhill from Nyabirehe Primary School, but in the middle of the community.  It serves as the office for IREME, a computer lab where classes and trainings happen, a conference room for big meetings, and a guest house for visitors.  I am the first visitor to stay here, besides Nili who lives here during the week while working.  What a lovely place to stay.  I settled into my room which is big and wonderful, very comfortable and private.

The amenities are nice, even though the electricity, water and network services come and go with the weather.  That is something we will work on as development comes to this region, but with a little patience, the guest house has everything you need to be comfortable.  And the team there did everything to help me with my stay.

  

I will say every single person there was very worried about me getting too cold.  I tried to explain that I had just left a foot of new snow at my house in New Hampshire, but they are correct in the way that it is not a direct comparison.  Even though the temperatures stayed between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit while I was visiting, there is no central heating in this area, so there is usually a chill in the air at night.  Even when inside, the elements outside make a huge impact on life.  It made for great sleeping weather, though.

 After a while, people left, and then I hung out with Nili and Olive together and I got to give them some of the gifts I brought.  It made my heart so full to know that these little things I could bring make them so happy. 

     

Finally we sat and had some tea and fruit, I tried some new kinds of fruit, green oranges, red fruit and passionfruit. By then, I was getting very tired, so I closed the evening early for some good rest.

What a dream to be here.  Really, I do not have enough words to explain the miracle that is here.  I see the vision now, where we are coming from and what we can imagine.  We are going to do amazing things.