We’re so thankful to all of the volunteers that helped make our first annual KEZA Gala such an amazing event! Saying “we couldn’t have done it without you” would be an understatement. There were no major issues, we raised a good chunk of money, and we gained a ton of new members in the KEZA family. It was a tremendous success!
2006 – 2007 was about listening. 2008 was about trial and error, research and development and lots more listening. Now in 2009, we finally know who we are, where we’re going, and how we’re going to get there.
We’ve turned the whole bead making operation over to the women and they now have their own business called BURANGA (meaning beautiful). Words can’t express how excited I am to report this. The women are so proud of BURANGA, and we are so proud of them. We have finally achieved our first KEZA partner, 100% Rwandan owned and operated!
Now KEZA is based solely in the US as a 501c3 non-profit corporation. In Africa, we are there to develop locally owned businesses and buy their products. We’ve finally learned how to truly serve the people, and not just our American ideals. For more information, check out the HOW IT WORKS page on the website.
We’ve got lots of beautiful (and quite daring) jewelry designs coming your way this summer thanks to Lindsay Perkins and Jenny Lai, our interns from Rhode Island School of Design. They have been so great to work with and will be joining BURANGA in Rwanda for a few months this summer!
We are off to an amazing start this year and we look forward to living out the ubuntu philosophy with each of you. Remember, KEZA is not KEZA without you!
Most Sincerely,
Jared
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monday, December 1, 2008
KEZA’s Heart
As I look back on the last year, I am struck by a number of things. Sisters of Rwanda’s morph into KEZA has been so much more than a name change. In August we experienced a tragedy that shattered all of our hearts. The women of KEZA came to us to share a reality that has had immeasurably devastating consequences. Our gratefulness runs deep and wide for their courage to expose the reality that was taking place within the organization. They told us that Co-Founder & Pastor , Joseph Ayienga and General Manager, Margaret Karara were stealing from the organization, using the name to raise funds under false pretenses, pocketing money allocated for school fees and verbally abusing the women. The Directors of the organization and the remaining team members were both shocked and deeply saddened by this betrayal. The aftermath of this has been a tiresome journey, each of us trying to balance the uneasy volatility of their retaliation to the exposure, full of lies, slander and false accusations.
But the heart of this story lies not in the horrible abuse being heaped on the organization, its leaders and the women, the true heart of this story has left us humbled and awed by the strength, courage and resilience of our women yet again. Despite consistent threats and being kicked out of the church they’ve attended for almost 2 years, the women have stood their ground. They believe in KEZA…they believe in what we are doing together and in the family we’ve built. But most importantly they believe in each other. In our last newsletter I described walls being broken down as the women embraced a spirit of healing in their own lives. Little did we know how deep that spirit of healing would have to journey in each of our hearts over the next few months. But she has journeyed with us. Our family at KEZA has never been so strong. The women have defended the honor of our President & Founder Jared Miller as false accusations continue to fly at him day and night. They have stood in the gap, in a place where only they could stand. They fought hard, both on their knees and in local government offices telling the truth about the controversy time and time again.
In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt said: “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
This quote spoke to me yesterday as I reflected on the journey Sisters of Rwanda…now KEZA, has taken over the last couple years. We have made mistakes yes. But we have learned from them, and though mistakes are seemingly devastating at the time we face them, their teaching is immense. We find ourselves covered in dust and sweat and blood often, not because we are doing something wrong, but because we are doing something each of us deeply believes in. The women of KEZA are daring greatly to overcome generations of abuse and poverty in their lives. They are daring to believe that they can make some of the finest fashion in the world. They are daring to embrace each other despite deep pain that once cause division amongst them. They are daring to believe in a God who will see them through anything. And alas, though few have in the past, they are daring to believe in themselves.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sisters of Rwanda becomes KEZA
Sisters of Rwanda started in December of 2006. We started this journey with just a few women, and together we have struggled, triumphed and learned what it is we are meant to do. Our family has ebbed and flowed with women and children for over 2 years, and we now have 43 women, just over 100 children, 2 international staff, 2 Rwandan staff, a handful of interns, an incredible team in the US, and a following of supporters all over the world. For the last 2 ½ years we’ve been researching alongside Rwandan women, but mostly we’ve been listening to the tears, the laughter, the challenges, the history…and in essence the hearts of Rwandan women and their children. Alas we are ready... Sisters of Rwanda is now KEZA.
KEZA means “beautiful” in Kinyarwanda, and we are about representing the beauty of Africa. We are dedicated to generating income for non-profit development organizations. We will ensure integrity, efficiency and quality products from all of our KEZA partners. We will establish Africa’s position in the luxury fashion industry and bring much needed income and careers to the poor. We will no longer speak of “those Africans” living in poverty. KEZA is where “they” become “we”, and together we shall strive to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor
At KEZA we believe that when THEY become WE, the world changes. We believe that when people cease to speak of “those Africans” living in poverty, disease and corruption, and begin to view human beings from all over the world as an interconnected HUMAN RACE, then the pain and suffering we so despise in the world will begin to fade away. This is the essence of Ubuntu philosophy. Ubuntu is described best by the honorable Desmond Tutu : ““Ubuntu is a concept that we have in our Bantu languages at home. Ubuntu is the essence of being a person. It means that we are people through other people. We cannot be fully human alone. We are made for interdependence, we are made for family. When you have ubuntu, you embrace others. You are generous, compassionate. If the world had more ubuntu, we would not have war. We would not have this huge gap between the rich and the poor. You are rich so that you can make up what is lacking for others. You are powerful so that you can help the weak, just as a mother or father helps their children. This is God's dream.”
Welcome to KEZA, “Where THEY become WE.”
*KEZA means beautiful in Rwanda's local language, Kinyarwanda.*
KEZA means “beautiful” in Kinyarwanda, and we are about representing the beauty of Africa. We are dedicated to generating income for non-profit development organizations. We will ensure integrity, efficiency and quality products from all of our KEZA partners. We will establish Africa’s position in the luxury fashion industry and bring much needed income and careers to the poor. We will no longer speak of “those Africans” living in poverty. KEZA is where “they” become “we”, and together we shall strive to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor
At KEZA we believe that when THEY become WE, the world changes. We believe that when people cease to speak of “those Africans” living in poverty, disease and corruption, and begin to view human beings from all over the world as an interconnected HUMAN RACE, then the pain and suffering we so despise in the world will begin to fade away. This is the essence of Ubuntu philosophy. Ubuntu is described best by the honorable Desmond Tutu : ““Ubuntu is a concept that we have in our Bantu languages at home. Ubuntu is the essence of being a person. It means that we are people through other people. We cannot be fully human alone. We are made for interdependence, we are made for family. When you have ubuntu, you embrace others. You are generous, compassionate. If the world had more ubuntu, we would not have war. We would not have this huge gap between the rich and the poor. You are rich so that you can make up what is lacking for others. You are powerful so that you can help the weak, just as a mother or father helps their children. This is God's dream.”
Welcome to KEZA, “Where THEY become WE.”
*KEZA means beautiful in Rwanda's local language, Kinyarwanda.*
Friday, July 4, 2008
A Glimpse of Heaven...
Two weeks ago the women of SOR had a day of fellowship. In all honesty, when they asked if we could do this, I envisioned a relaxing day of sitting and talking and simply being together. You can imagine my surprise when I showed up and found each woman elaborately dressed in beautiful Rwandese dresses. The women spent the day cooking a meal that included meat and preparing for the afternoon "events". It's important for you to know that meat is not a regular part of our diet because it's too expensive. It's a luxury that one enjoys only on very special occasions, and no more than once or twice per year. They had each chipped in a little bit of their own money to buy this treat. And the fact that they could afford to spare anything for this meal holds more significance than you might imagine. Before now this luxury was not even considered an option. KEZA, our new product line, is finally starting to bear fruit. As these fruits begin to blossom, so do our sisters. You can almost see the burdens they carry lighten. Smiles are no longer a rarity but a constant part of the décor.
After our special meal there was a time to thank God and open our hearts to one another. Some cried tears of relief as if they were breathing for the first time in years. Some danced; each step, each clap, and each cry praise to God for rescuing them...for loving them. One woman sang and didn't stop until her heart had released its fill. We laughed and cried together, sharing each other's joy and pain.
Yet the most beautiful piece of this day was just beginning. There was an exchange. I believe it was supposed to be a simple gift exchange, each woman having picked a name from a hat the Friday before. The women sat eagerly, gifts in their hands, anxious to give. Maggie called each woman by name and then asked, "Who is it that you love?" The woman would stand and announce the name of the woman she had picked to the cheers and laughter of the group. What happened next, with each repetition of the exchange, is what represents the very core of who we are and why we are here -- they embraced...and held on...and you could see the healing taking place before your very eyes. Some of the women almost knocked each other over with their love, some hung on and wouldn't let go, others laughed and danced within the arms of each embrace with tears streaming down faces stretched with smiles.
When SOR began, these women were broken from the abuse they had endured the majority of their lives. Year after year bitterness and resentment became the protection they had used to survive, year after year hard walls around their hearts grew higher and higher. To love another prostitute was out of the question. The likeness that might have bonded them represented what they despised, creating a wedge between them. And so, with each embrace the walls crumbled. Bitterness, resentment and hate evaporated before our eyes as we witnessed miracle after miracle. The Spirit of healing gently wrapped its arms around each of us as we witnessed this beautiful gift. Our seeds of hope blossomed as we witnessed blossoms of healing. To think this is only the beginning is almost too much for me to comprehend. The small seed of hope planted two years ago when Jared and Joseph started this journey with seven women in a tiny shack, has grown into a family of 42 women, 5 staff members, and 116 children.
I've never before had the pleasure of witnessing such healing.
I believe heaven actually opened up that day and showed her breathtaking face right here on earth.
Ilea Dorsey, Country Director (Rwanda).
After our special meal there was a time to thank God and open our hearts to one another. Some cried tears of relief as if they were breathing for the first time in years. Some danced; each step, each clap, and each cry praise to God for rescuing them...for loving them. One woman sang and didn't stop until her heart had released its fill. We laughed and cried together, sharing each other's joy and pain.
Yet the most beautiful piece of this day was just beginning. There was an exchange. I believe it was supposed to be a simple gift exchange, each woman having picked a name from a hat the Friday before. The women sat eagerly, gifts in their hands, anxious to give. Maggie called each woman by name and then asked, "Who is it that you love?" The woman would stand and announce the name of the woman she had picked to the cheers and laughter of the group. What happened next, with each repetition of the exchange, is what represents the very core of who we are and why we are here -- they embraced...and held on...and you could see the healing taking place before your very eyes. Some of the women almost knocked each other over with their love, some hung on and wouldn't let go, others laughed and danced within the arms of each embrace with tears streaming down faces stretched with smiles.
When SOR began, these women were broken from the abuse they had endured the majority of their lives. Year after year bitterness and resentment became the protection they had used to survive, year after year hard walls around their hearts grew higher and higher. To love another prostitute was out of the question. The likeness that might have bonded them represented what they despised, creating a wedge between them. And so, with each embrace the walls crumbled. Bitterness, resentment and hate evaporated before our eyes as we witnessed miracle after miracle. The Spirit of healing gently wrapped its arms around each of us as we witnessed this beautiful gift. Our seeds of hope blossomed as we witnessed blossoms of healing. To think this is only the beginning is almost too much for me to comprehend. The small seed of hope planted two years ago when Jared and Joseph started this journey with seven women in a tiny shack, has grown into a family of 42 women, 5 staff members, and 116 children.
I've never before had the pleasure of witnessing such healing.
I believe heaven actually opened up that day and showed her breathtaking face right here on earth.
Ilea Dorsey, Country Director (Rwanda).
Friday, June 20, 2008
Treasure Center Update
Two months ago, we moved into the new Treasure Center building. The building has changed but the center still represents hope and serves as a reminder that each woman is treasured.
We are renters at the new Treasure Center, and were recently told by the landlord that he wants to sell it in the next couple of months. This means we either buy it or leave. This was devastating, but unfortunately, not a surprise. Even though we just moved in and the house is old and needs some work, we already consider it home. Within these walls we've watched our first Sisters of Rwanda business come to life and we've become a family. It has provided shelter in crisis, and has allowed healing to take root and blossom in those who enter. There is a garden growing in the spacious yard that is full of vegetables the women will soon harvest. It is a safe place for kids to play, a place where we work hard and celebrate life. On a Saturday afternoon, you're likely to find a few women practicing their new trade (even though it's their day off) while others come to share a meal and enjoy each other's company.
This is our Treasure Center, our refuge, and it's always full of life. We want to stay. Not only is it our refuge, but we cannot afford to not have a venue for KEZA jewelry production. Without any prompting from us, our beloved Sisters have starting fasting every Tuesday and praying daily while faithfully marching around the home, inspired by the story of the Israelites marching around Jericho. The writer of a book called Hebrews reminds us, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for 7 days." Now we, of course, do not want any walls falling but we do hope to purchase it and truly be able to call it ours. It will be nothing short of a miracle if we can raise the $90,000 dollars needed to purchase the home.
Owning this Treasure Center will keep us from having to move every 3-6 months. It will finally be a place the Sisters can call their own. And it will alleviate us from having any major monthly bills. We've done the research, the price is right, and the location is absolutely perfect. We are calling on those who support the vision of SOR to help us raise this $90,000 for the Treasure Center.
Ilea Dorsey, Country Director (Rwanda)
We are renters at the new Treasure Center, and were recently told by the landlord that he wants to sell it in the next couple of months. This means we either buy it or leave. This was devastating, but unfortunately, not a surprise. Even though we just moved in and the house is old and needs some work, we already consider it home. Within these walls we've watched our first Sisters of Rwanda business come to life and we've become a family. It has provided shelter in crisis, and has allowed healing to take root and blossom in those who enter. There is a garden growing in the spacious yard that is full of vegetables the women will soon harvest. It is a safe place for kids to play, a place where we work hard and celebrate life. On a Saturday afternoon, you're likely to find a few women practicing their new trade (even though it's their day off) while others come to share a meal and enjoy each other's company.
This is our Treasure Center, our refuge, and it's always full of life. We want to stay. Not only is it our refuge, but we cannot afford to not have a venue for KEZA jewelry production. Without any prompting from us, our beloved Sisters have starting fasting every Tuesday and praying daily while faithfully marching around the home, inspired by the story of the Israelites marching around Jericho. The writer of a book called Hebrews reminds us, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for 7 days." Now we, of course, do not want any walls falling but we do hope to purchase it and truly be able to call it ours. It will be nothing short of a miracle if we can raise the $90,000 dollars needed to purchase the home.
Owning this Treasure Center will keep us from having to move every 3-6 months. It will finally be a place the Sisters can call their own. And it will alleviate us from having any major monthly bills. We've done the research, the price is right, and the location is absolutely perfect. We are calling on those who support the vision of SOR to help us raise this $90,000 for the Treasure Center.
Ilea Dorsey, Country Director (Rwanda)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
sisters
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about paper beads in Beauty for Ashes, explaining the history of this endeavor we've embarked on. Well, this month we launched our new jewelry line – KEZA Beads (KEZABeads), which are hand crafted in Rwanda by the women of SOR.
This accomplishment is just the beginning…
With KEZA Beads, a new gender equality campaign, putting together the new training facility, fundraising, and new interns, the directors at SOR felt as though we just didn’t have enough work to do. So naturally, we decided to take on another project…soap and candle making.
Becca Stevens (www.beccastevens.org) and 6 other women traveled from Nashville to Kigali, Rwanda last month to share their expertise in the skin care and candle business. Becca is the founder of Thistle Farms (www.thistlefarms.org) a skin care line, and Magdalene House – a non-profit that works with prostitutes, female drug addicts and former prisoners in Nashville. They were an eclectic group, each with their own strong personalities and amazing gifting. And they were each a beautiful gift to us.
These women didn’t just come to burn themselves with beeswax and measure soap ingredients…they came to share their lives. The spirit of this group was raw and genuine. Their authenticity melted away pretense, and broke down walls. We sat as sisters barefoot on the floor, and talked. Sharing stories of humiliation, rape, life on the streets, abuse, prison, addiction and much more; realizing that our wounds are shared by women around the world. Realizing that together we can heal, day by day. Reminding each other that we don’t have to have it together all the time. We cried together. We laughed at each other. Together, we rolled beads from paper, messed up necklaces, melted beeswax, started electrical fires, poured candles, mixed soap, dug in the dirt, prayed, and praised God for His grace.
This is beginning of something and the air is thick with anticipation. We are low on funds and materials are scarce – but we have finally produced the first of 3 products that hold our dreams within each. That may sound silly – I know when most people are shopping for candles or soap or jewelry they aren’t thinking of the dreams their purchases represent. Yet for us, these simple items hold the very livelihood of 42 women and their children. We’ve got candles that smell like honey and coffee, soap that smells like fresh cut flowers and clean laundry mixed together, and beautiful jewelry that is original and unique – all hand made. The smells from this week will remain with me. Varnish-beeswax-roasted coffee-charcoal-fresh flowers-rain-mud-geranium-sweat- and the strong aroma of hope. These smells represent unity and community. They represent hurting women in America becoming a family with hurting women in Rwanda. They represent healing…healing together. They represent dreams becoming a reality.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Shine Brightly: KEZA Stories
My name is KEZA* and I am 25 years old. I was born in southern Rwanda, where I lived with my family until I was 13. I spent those early years growing up with eleven brothers and sisters and we loved each other very much. We were each other’s closest friends, playmates and teachers. When I was young I had big dreams for my life. I wanted to become an educated business owner. Even though school was difficult for me, I really enjoyed learning and was driven by my dreams to succeed.But life was hard...my father was abusive, often coming home drunk and beating my mother. Mother was a strong woman, and in the end courageously left my father in order to protect herself and her children. My father refused to support us, and so my mother was left to support 12 children on her own. I remained in school for two years after their separation, but had to stop at age 12 because my mother could no longer afford to pay my school fees. I was so sad that I couldn’t continue going to school, it was as if my hopes and dreams were slipping through my fingers, becoming impossible to hold.
I worked at home for a little while, helping around the house. But I was becoming a burden to my Mother. At 13 I left to go and live with my eldest sister in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. She was working and my family believed she could take better care of me. I was happy to be there with her, she was someone I admired and loved. Sadly I was soon seen as a burden to her as well, and after only one year, I left. Since then I’ve been moving from one home to another.
Later that year the genocide began. I am from the targeted tribe and was forced to flee to a local stadium and hide. It was there I was told that my family members had been murdered, including my oldest sister. I couldn’t understand how something like this could happen.
The loss of my family weighed heavily, but I tried my best not to lose all hope and I hung on as best I could to my slippery hopes and dreams. After the genocide I lived with friends I had met during our period of hiding at the stadium, and found work where I could.
I was 15 years old when I was betrayed by a friend and raped for the first time. Sadly, this kind of thing is a common occurrence. His status in society meant that there was nothing I could do, no one I could tell. Two months later I was raped a second time. I became angry, bitter, and scared, never escaping the memories of what had been done to me.
I folded into my own solitude, feeling it was the only safe place.
With little hope and fewer opportunities I was forced to sell my body on the streets. I knew of no other way to survive. I had become one of the forgotten in Rwanda.
When I was approached by Pastor Joseph, I trusted no one. Everyone in my life had let me down. Yet this man seemed different and I held onto the glimmer of hope he offered. Two years later I am still holding onto to that hope and I am no longer working as a prostitute. Pastor Joseph started Sisters of Rwanda with Jared in order to help us. We didn’t know why they wanted to help us, or if they really would. But Pastor is different, he really does want to help us have a better life. Sisters of Rwanda is teaching me skills that will free me of the life I was stuck in and give me new opportunities. I now understand only God can profoundly change a person. I believe it is necessary for the Church to reach out to these women, teaching them about God and encouraging them, but it doesn’t stop there. Our spiritual needs are crucial, but we also need to survive, we need opportunities to learn and make money without selling our bodies. We are all chasing the best life possible and in order to achieve that each and every one of us requires money. No-one is an exception to this rule. I plead with the world to understand the plight of these women of which I used to be one.
Finally it seems that my dreams aren’t so slippery. I dream of having a good life with my children. I dream of being able to live without having to beg or sell my body on the streets. I dream my children will stay in school and have a much better life than I did. I dream they will grow up feeling happy. I do not know where the future will lead us, but I will hold onto these dreams I have.
*To protect the identities of the women we serve, the names of our beneficiaries have been changed to KEZA, which means beautiful.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Beauty for ashes...
Beauty for ashes…
Two weeks ago I accidentally joined the Sisters for their morning prayers. I had a meeting with someone who just happened to be on African time…in other words, she was late. So I walked into the Treasure Center - feeling awkward and out of place. I shyly greeted each Sister as they each turned to see who had walked in the door. Prior to this day the majority of our interactions had been with other people around, and because I don’t speak Kinyarwanda, all of our conversations had been through translators. So I sat alone feeling silly for a few minutes. I looked around and realized each woman was in her own space, praying; so I bowed my head and asked for forgiveness for being such a donkey. A few minutes later they formed a circle and joined hands…I humbly joined them feeling as though I was intruding. They just smiled and welcomed me into their circle. They started singing and I swayed with them as they praised God in a language I couldn’t understand. Then they prayed again, aloud & together, and at that moment I was struck by the beauty I was witnessing… I took my shoes off knowing the Spirit of God had joined us in that room. I have no idea what was prayed or sung that morning, but it doesn’t matter. I was fortunate enough to witness beauty in a way I could have never anticipated. I spent the rest of the day digging through beads, teaching about color coordination, and getting the knees of my jeans filthy as I sat with each woman one by one. It was a glorious day. I was humbled by the simplicity that had brought me such joy.
As I recall the events of that day, I am drawn toward words from the prophet Isaiah. He says a lot in this particular speech, but it is these words in particular that move me: “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…” When our hopes and deepest desires are burned by life’s experiences and other people’s cruelty, they blow away as easily as ashes blow in the wind. Yet through Isaiah, God is promising to restore beauty, joy and praise to our damaged lives. In a way, our most recent endeavor reflects this promise. We are using other people’s trash to create jewelry. Yes, trash to create jewelry. Our new jewelry is made from recycled paper that we are collecting all around
In a couple of weeks we will release the first of our product line called KEZA. In
Each time I am with the sisters I encounter these realities I describe. The promises God made through Isaiah are coming true for these women, and I am constantly awed by the glory in each of their smiles.
I hope that the wearers of our necklaces will encounter the story each piece beholds.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
New Treasure Center, New Hope
The end of February is rapidly approaching, and I can hardly believe it. The first 2 months of 2008 have been as crazy as the year has been fast for Sisters of Rwanda. Upon Jared’s return to Rwanda, we were kindly asked to leave the center we had been using as a refuge, training facility, home and church for 2 years. Our Executive Director, Jared, had been away for 6 months laying the foundation for SOR in the US. He returned in January amidst a plethora of newness. New systems needed to be put into place, new women joining SOR, new problems he hadn’t seen before, new budgets, new ideas for income generation projects, new campaigns to implement, a new Country Director on the way, and now we need a new Treasure Center. Happy New Year!
Of course, these things are to be expected, and in most cases they are welcomed. And welcomed they are. With each new obstacle we are reminded of why we are here. It strips us of any pride we may have been unknowingly (or in some cases knowingly) carrying around. Things that feel crushing, send us to the best place for us to be…our knees. New ideas or ways of doing things challenge us to be better than we ever thought we could be. The storms bring us together and remind us to work and live like a family. And as the old cliché says, the struggle in all of it makes us stronger.
We’ve been looking for 2 months now, and the process has been refining. Because the Treasure Center is so important to everything we do and hope to do here in Rwanda, we were waiting and praying for a perfect place. And at last we have found a new Treasure Center, a new home for Sisters of Rwanda! It’s just a minutes walk from the church and the homes of our beloved beneficiaries. It has plenty of room for everything we are already doing, and room to grow into who we are becoming.
The Treasure Center is more than a building. It is a place of refuge for women and children. A place to cry and share stories. A place to laugh and hope for a life without abuse and humiliation. A place to satisfy the hunger in one’s belly, and more importantly, the hunger in one’s soul. A place to mend broken hearts and rebuild dignity. A place to learn. Learn English, learn to read, learn to write, learn how much you are loved, learn pottery, learn bead making, learn to create beauty out of the ashes of life.
Above all, it is a place for women and children to hope. We have found a new Treasure Center, but more importantly, we have found a new place to hope.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope the following way:
Hope: to cherish a desire with anticipation; to trust; to desire with expectation of obtainment; to expect with confidence.
And so we have found a new place to hope. A new place for abused women to cherish with anticipation the desire for justice and liberty. A new place to trust those around you with your story, your life, and your future. A new place to desire with the expectation of obtainment, love. A new place to expect with confidence that the way women are viewed in Rwanda, in Africa and in the World can and will be changed for the good.
- Ilea Dorsey, Country Director
Of course, these things are to be expected, and in most cases they are welcomed. And welcomed they are. With each new obstacle we are reminded of why we are here. It strips us of any pride we may have been unknowingly (or in some cases knowingly) carrying around. Things that feel crushing, send us to the best place for us to be…our knees. New ideas or ways of doing things challenge us to be better than we ever thought we could be. The storms bring us together and remind us to work and live like a family. And as the old cliché says, the struggle in all of it makes us stronger.
We’ve been looking for 2 months now, and the process has been refining. Because the Treasure Center is so important to everything we do and hope to do here in Rwanda, we were waiting and praying for a perfect place. And at last we have found a new Treasure Center, a new home for Sisters of Rwanda! It’s just a minutes walk from the church and the homes of our beloved beneficiaries. It has plenty of room for everything we are already doing, and room to grow into who we are becoming.
The Treasure Center is more than a building. It is a place of refuge for women and children. A place to cry and share stories. A place to laugh and hope for a life without abuse and humiliation. A place to satisfy the hunger in one’s belly, and more importantly, the hunger in one’s soul. A place to mend broken hearts and rebuild dignity. A place to learn. Learn English, learn to read, learn to write, learn how much you are loved, learn pottery, learn bead making, learn to create beauty out of the ashes of life.
Above all, it is a place for women and children to hope. We have found a new Treasure Center, but more importantly, we have found a new place to hope.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope the following way:
Hope: to cherish a desire with anticipation; to trust; to desire with expectation of obtainment; to expect with confidence.
And so we have found a new place to hope. A new place for abused women to cherish with anticipation the desire for justice and liberty. A new place to trust those around you with your story, your life, and your future. A new place to desire with the expectation of obtainment, love. A new place to expect with confidence that the way women are viewed in Rwanda, in Africa and in the World can and will be changed for the good.
- Ilea Dorsey, Country Director
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A Long Overdue Update
It’s been quite a while since we started this blog, but we’ve only actually updated it twice. I suppose that is part of a budding non-profit. If only we had more hours in the day. So much has changed over the last few months. I am back in the US after spending the last year and a half in Rwanda. Suffice it to say, it’s been quite the culture shock. I’m counting down the days until I return home to Rwanda; back to the land that I love.
However, this trip to the US has been monumental, both for Sisters of Rwanda and for me personally. I have learned so much over the last three months. It’s been humbling, stressful, empowering, rejuvenating and fruitful, all together. I have been challenged in every way and I am truly grateful for it. We’ve gone through a tremendous refining period. We’ve changed our literature, our website, and just about every other way we relay our vision to the world.
For the first time, we have press kits, pledge cards, business cards, and we’ve reworked our website, our MySpace site, our Facebook site, and now the blog. Our 501c3 (non-profit) papers have been filed, we have a new bank account, a board of directors, a board of advisors, and a whole flock of new volunteers. We are finally becoming a “real” organization. We have been a legal organization in Rwanda for over a year, but it is still a big step for us to be legit in the US. We no longer have to work under an umbrella organization and we are now eligible for grants and many other opportunities.
During my time in the US I have spoken at many churches, Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities, many gatherings for SOR, and to many individuals. I spent time in Hilton Head, Ohio and New York City and will be back in NYC in mid December. I have meetings and interviews lined up for just about every minute that I’m there (thanks to our amazing NYC crew).
I am continually amazed at the favor and support we are receiving in the US and in Rwanda. So many people are coming along side of us. We are so very grateful for everyone that is giving of their time, resources, prayers and finances. We are truly blessed and our dream of freeing women from prostitution is no longer just a dream; it is happening every day. With almost no money, and in a short amount of time, we have already gotten 103 women and 243 children out of prostitution and on their way to mental, physical, spiritual, and financial health.
I hope to be updating this blog weekly from this point forward and I’ve have asked that our other staff members do the same. My hope is that we will be able to keep you informed regularly about all that is going on, both in the US and in Rwanda. Thank you to all of you giving so much and selflessly serving the Sisters. We appreciate you, and so do they.
Sincerely,
Jared
However, this trip to the US has been monumental, both for Sisters of Rwanda and for me personally. I have learned so much over the last three months. It’s been humbling, stressful, empowering, rejuvenating and fruitful, all together. I have been challenged in every way and I am truly grateful for it. We’ve gone through a tremendous refining period. We’ve changed our literature, our website, and just about every other way we relay our vision to the world.
For the first time, we have press kits, pledge cards, business cards, and we’ve reworked our website, our MySpace site, our Facebook site, and now the blog. Our 501c3 (non-profit) papers have been filed, we have a new bank account, a board of directors, a board of advisors, and a whole flock of new volunteers. We are finally becoming a “real” organization. We have been a legal organization in Rwanda for over a year, but it is still a big step for us to be legit in the US. We no longer have to work under an umbrella organization and we are now eligible for grants and many other opportunities.
During my time in the US I have spoken at many churches, Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities, many gatherings for SOR, and to many individuals. I spent time in Hilton Head, Ohio and New York City and will be back in NYC in mid December. I have meetings and interviews lined up for just about every minute that I’m there (thanks to our amazing NYC crew).
I am continually amazed at the favor and support we are receiving in the US and in Rwanda. So many people are coming along side of us. We are so very grateful for everyone that is giving of their time, resources, prayers and finances. We are truly blessed and our dream of freeing women from prostitution is no longer just a dream; it is happening every day. With almost no money, and in a short amount of time, we have already gotten 103 women and 243 children out of prostitution and on their way to mental, physical, spiritual, and financial health.
I hope to be updating this blog weekly from this point forward and I’ve have asked that our other staff members do the same. My hope is that we will be able to keep you informed regularly about all that is going on, both in the US and in Rwanda. Thank you to all of you giving so much and selflessly serving the Sisters. We appreciate you, and so do they.
Sincerely,
Jared
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
SOR Children’s Day-Trip to Gisenyi
At 5:30am on Sunday 29th April, as the sun crept up from beneath the horizon giving birth to a brand new morning, thirty-three of Sisters of Rwanda’s children stood outside the Treasure Centre, eagerly awaiting a Belvedere bus. The thirty-fourth child – the oldest – had already left on a motorbike-taxi with two American girls in order to catch the 6am Atraco departure.
We began to get a little anxious as 6am rolled around and still no bus. But turning, we breathed a sigh of relief as a shiny white bus cruised up the street past Amahoro Stadium towards us. A surge of thirty-three children forged their way towards the door in a chaos of screams. I enforced a semi-orderly line and counted them as they climbed up. Jane, my teaching partner and our Director of Education, was the last to arrive; struggling to find a motorbike at this early hour.
Excitement filled the vehicle and we were soon on our way - first past Kacyiru and Nyabugogo, and then out and up into the winding wilderness of hills that is Rwanda. The meandering rivers were laced with low clouds that hung deep in the morning valleys. The fun of Tom and Jerry whirled before us on the television screen, followed by a slap-stick film in which the men kept getting hit or burnt, or quite simply fell from the top of skyscrapers. In fact, the characters engaged in the craziest affairs and the children’s laughter proved they were pulling entirely the right moves.
Three sheets of paper baring the title “Day Activity Sheet” were handed to each of the children, and an explanation given for the procedure to be taken in completing it. But the sheer excitement and wonder of the day seemed to push this task far from their thoughts, and thirty-three sets of paper became either scrumpled or lost as the day progressed.
“What is this?” – “It is a hill. - It is a house. - It is a cloud. - It is a river. - It is grass. - It is a tea plantation…”
Things were pointed out along the way as we passed them: women carrying large sacks on their heads, men riding heavily-laden bicycles. Or rather until they began throwing up that is – the twisting roads causing havoc in their stomachs. We managed to buy some small plastic sachets and they collected their vomit there within.
By the time we arrived in Gisenyi it was already almost ten o’clock – one hour late. We headed for the Scout Centre where forty children from PASSEVU - another NGO – awaited us. We shook these forty sets of hands on our way in. We began the day with a name-swapping activity, but being so numerous, it was given up as an impossible mission. Instead we organized ourselves into four groups mixed between the two sets of children, each group headed by one or two adults. Once the Treasure Hunt activity had been explained, off ran the separate groups excitedly in search of the answers to the twenty clues. My shoe broke just ten seconds into this activity and I was lucky that one of the girls was sweet enough to offer me her shoes in exchange for my own.
People go to this place to pray to God
People go to this place to buy exercise books, pencils, pens…
People go to this place when they are sick
People go to this place if they need their shoe repairing
People go to this place only if they are Muslim…
The aim of the game was to visit each indicated location within one hour – we had a lot of fun running through the town, led by the more knowledgeable children of Gisenyi. It was an adventure and we roused a lot of attention in the process; unfortunately some of that attention leading to negative effect – at some unknown moment, my wallet containing SOR’s money being stolen from my shorts pocket. Very disappointing.
Back at the Centre once more, exhausted from all the rushing around, the children of PASSEVU performed some Kinyarwanda songs and dances for their fellow Rwandese. Everyone was glad for the pause and delighted by the performance – I however missed the whole spectacle; stuck instead on the back of a bicycle scouring the town pointlessly for my stolen wallet.
I rejoined the group as they scuttled along to a restaurant situated between the Scout Centre and Gisenyi’s largest mosque. We gratefully sucked soda through straws, quenching our thirst, and then contented ourselves on a brimming plate of local food: rice, spaghetti, chips, cooked bananas, beans, and tomato soup-sauce. Very satisfying.
We skipped now back through the town and down towards the shores of Lake Kivu. Removing our shoes (mine now fixed), we padded along the hot sand and down to the water’s edge. PASSEVU’s children wore swim-suits and swam around in the water; our children, non-swimmers, happily paddled their shy ankles in the cool water. Activities that had been prepared soon became forgotten as our children became more and more confident, dipping themselves in this huge bath.
As they became more at ease in this mass of water, so their bodies became more naked and more wet! Soon they were all splashing around merrily in their underwear or even their birthday suit, their smiling faces shining with joy at this new experience; screaming out for me to take their picture.
One hour and a half – and about a thousand photos – later, we began dragging them out of the water, obviously a troublesome act now that they had decided they wished to remain there. The hot sun dried their soaking garments as we walked slowly back towards the Scout Centre and our impatient bus driver. We were thirty minutes late, and then another thirty as we found the classroom containing our sweaters and exercise books locked. One child climbed in through a missing window pane, as the others yelled their commands through the glass. Finally a key was retrieved and all our items reclaimed; our bus reloaded with children, and our departure made.
Thirty-three glowing children sang out at the top of their lungs as the giant volcano of Goma (Congo) and the sparkling waters of Kivu slipped further and further behind us. Halfway home, the thirty-fourth child managed to escape from his parked Atraco taxi and rejoin his friends in our own bus. Just twenty minutes from home, as we descended on the twinkling lights of Kigali city, we all had to disembark from our bus and climb instead into a replacement coach; ours experiencing the beginnings of a mechanical problem. This new bus was equipped with a television that worked perfectly, unlike ours which had died during the morning’s journey.
We were met at the Treasure Centre at 8:30pm (one and a half hours late) by a crowd of eager mothers. Just one glimpse at their jubilous children was enough to convince them that the day had been a success. More than a success in fact: this day had been a milestone in these children’s lives.
Tonia Kaufman (co-Director of Education, Sisters of Rwanda)
We began to get a little anxious as 6am rolled around and still no bus. But turning, we breathed a sigh of relief as a shiny white bus cruised up the street past Amahoro Stadium towards us. A surge of thirty-three children forged their way towards the door in a chaos of screams. I enforced a semi-orderly line and counted them as they climbed up. Jane, my teaching partner and our Director of Education, was the last to arrive; struggling to find a motorbike at this early hour.
Excitement filled the vehicle and we were soon on our way - first past Kacyiru and Nyabugogo, and then out and up into the winding wilderness of hills that is Rwanda. The meandering rivers were laced with low clouds that hung deep in the morning valleys. The fun of Tom and Jerry whirled before us on the television screen, followed by a slap-stick film in which the men kept getting hit or burnt, or quite simply fell from the top of skyscrapers. In fact, the characters engaged in the craziest affairs and the children’s laughter proved they were pulling entirely the right moves.
Three sheets of paper baring the title “Day Activity Sheet” were handed to each of the children, and an explanation given for the procedure to be taken in completing it. But the sheer excitement and wonder of the day seemed to push this task far from their thoughts, and thirty-three sets of paper became either scrumpled or lost as the day progressed.
“What is this?” – “It is a hill. - It is a house. - It is a cloud. - It is a river. - It is grass. - It is a tea plantation…”
Things were pointed out along the way as we passed them: women carrying large sacks on their heads, men riding heavily-laden bicycles. Or rather until they began throwing up that is – the twisting roads causing havoc in their stomachs. We managed to buy some small plastic sachets and they collected their vomit there within.
By the time we arrived in Gisenyi it was already almost ten o’clock – one hour late. We headed for the Scout Centre where forty children from PASSEVU - another NGO – awaited us. We shook these forty sets of hands on our way in. We began the day with a name-swapping activity, but being so numerous, it was given up as an impossible mission. Instead we organized ourselves into four groups mixed between the two sets of children, each group headed by one or two adults. Once the Treasure Hunt activity had been explained, off ran the separate groups excitedly in search of the answers to the twenty clues. My shoe broke just ten seconds into this activity and I was lucky that one of the girls was sweet enough to offer me her shoes in exchange for my own.
People go to this place to pray to God
People go to this place to buy exercise books, pencils, pens…
People go to this place when they are sick
People go to this place if they need their shoe repairing
People go to this place only if they are Muslim…
The aim of the game was to visit each indicated location within one hour – we had a lot of fun running through the town, led by the more knowledgeable children of Gisenyi. It was an adventure and we roused a lot of attention in the process; unfortunately some of that attention leading to negative effect – at some unknown moment, my wallet containing SOR’s money being stolen from my shorts pocket. Very disappointing.
Back at the Centre once more, exhausted from all the rushing around, the children of PASSEVU performed some Kinyarwanda songs and dances for their fellow Rwandese. Everyone was glad for the pause and delighted by the performance – I however missed the whole spectacle; stuck instead on the back of a bicycle scouring the town pointlessly for my stolen wallet.
I rejoined the group as they scuttled along to a restaurant situated between the Scout Centre and Gisenyi’s largest mosque. We gratefully sucked soda through straws, quenching our thirst, and then contented ourselves on a brimming plate of local food: rice, spaghetti, chips, cooked bananas, beans, and tomato soup-sauce. Very satisfying.
We skipped now back through the town and down towards the shores of Lake Kivu. Removing our shoes (mine now fixed), we padded along the hot sand and down to the water’s edge. PASSEVU’s children wore swim-suits and swam around in the water; our children, non-swimmers, happily paddled their shy ankles in the cool water. Activities that had been prepared soon became forgotten as our children became more and more confident, dipping themselves in this huge bath.
As they became more at ease in this mass of water, so their bodies became more naked and more wet! Soon they were all splashing around merrily in their underwear or even their birthday suit, their smiling faces shining with joy at this new experience; screaming out for me to take their picture.
One hour and a half – and about a thousand photos – later, we began dragging them out of the water, obviously a troublesome act now that they had decided they wished to remain there. The hot sun dried their soaking garments as we walked slowly back towards the Scout Centre and our impatient bus driver. We were thirty minutes late, and then another thirty as we found the classroom containing our sweaters and exercise books locked. One child climbed in through a missing window pane, as the others yelled their commands through the glass. Finally a key was retrieved and all our items reclaimed; our bus reloaded with children, and our departure made.
Thirty-three glowing children sang out at the top of their lungs as the giant volcano of Goma (Congo) and the sparkling waters of Kivu slipped further and further behind us. Halfway home, the thirty-fourth child managed to escape from his parked Atraco taxi and rejoin his friends in our own bus. Just twenty minutes from home, as we descended on the twinkling lights of Kigali city, we all had to disembark from our bus and climb instead into a replacement coach; ours experiencing the beginnings of a mechanical problem. This new bus was equipped with a television that worked perfectly, unlike ours which had died during the morning’s journey.
We were met at the Treasure Centre at 8:30pm (one and a half hours late) by a crowd of eager mothers. Just one glimpse at their jubilous children was enough to convince them that the day had been a success. More than a success in fact: this day had been a milestone in these children’s lives.
Tonia Kaufman (co-Director of Education, Sisters of Rwanda)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Our Treasured Children
Below is an account of a recent field trip that our English teacher, Tonia Kaufman did for the children of Sisters of Rwanda. Tonia is from the UK and has been doing a tremendous job teaching English at the Treasure Center, as well as helping out with daily operations. And she’s an excellent writer as well!
******
This Saturday, 3rd February, 28 children from the Sisters of Rwanda English class – virtually the entire class, excluding two children whose father did not agree to their participation – went out for the afternoon.
I was amazed to see that under the right circumstances these children could all, not only arrive on time, but actually arrive early! By 2pm they were all seated excitedly on the grass outside of the Treasure Centre. At 2:30pm Jane (the English -Kinyarwanda translator) arrived with a minibus taxi and, wild with anticipation, the crowd of children piled in before we’d even had the chance to collect in their consent forms, signed by their mothers. One mischievous boy – not one of our students – had managed to sneak aboard. After sending this impostor out of the vehicle, off we drove to Hotel La Pallise in the Kanombe district of Kigali - not more than ten minutes drive from the Treasure Centre here in Remera.
On arrival at the hotel, we walked through the leafy gardens until reaching our own private area of table-clothed tables and chairs, congregated beneath a canvas roofing. The children sat in silence, not quite knowing what lay in store for them on this special day. As we waited, we reviewed what we had been learning in this previous week’s lessons: “What is this? This is a boy. What is his name? His name is Dusenge. How many boys are there here?” etc. I could see that they had fully grasped this subject and were ready to move onto something new in the next lesson.
After some time, the servers as well as the hotel manager arrived to feed these 28 unsuspecting children. But before they had had the chance to distribute any of the food onto the white china plates; the rain fell in a wild and dramatic downpour.
We moved the tables hastily towards the middle of the canopy; the servers holding up their olive-green tablecloth as a shield against the intruding torrent. Some of the rain was squirting in through small holes in the roofing and table-cloths were worn, wrapped over heads and shoulders, to protect against this new blistery wind. I lead a lively rendition of the “A-B-C-D Alphabet Song”: over and over we sang it, each time a little quicker, giggling as we went.
Finally the rain subsided enough for us to relax in our seats. The plates were handed around: each one offering a skewered kebab and two halves of a grilled potato. The children were very happy as they munched away, dipping their food into the dollop of mayonnaise that had been plopped onto each of our plates. Jane and I were lucky enough to eat too in the absence of two of our students.
The food was nice and, by the children’s glowing faces, they too had enjoyed it. I cannot explain the luck that we then had: the rain ceasing completely. What perfect timing! 28 of Kigali’s children then sprinted enthusiastically towards the playground that lay hidden on the other side of the trees, across the stream. It was not that pleasant a walk though through the swampy grass to join them.
For one hour, they swung and spun and slid on the circus of yellow and green metal, screaming out to me “Teacher! Teacher!” as they played. They all wanted to be in front of the camera and to be pushed by their extra-curricular “muzungu” English teacher. They had a lot of fun – especially pushing me up higher and higher on the swing, until I actually felt rather scared!
Just before leaving the park, when they no doubt believed that their day could get no better; out came 30 bottles of soda. They all wanted a passion fruit juice when they realised that that was their teacher’s choice. Kids; aren’t they adorable! We took them for a brief peek at the kiddie swimming pool, which had been my original choice for this afternoon’s excursion. They all agreed that they would love for that to be their next outing – whenever Sisters of Rwanda can find sufficient funds to take its children out again.
After relocating our briefly lost child, Umutoni, back into the minibus we climbed. The ride home was a jubilous affair: 28 Rwandese children, singing out in their native language, songs that celebrated their joy and their love of God. The people outside looked on in wonder as we passed them by on our merry way home.
Tonia Kaufman, Sisters of Rwanda English Teacher
******
This Saturday, 3rd February, 28 children from the Sisters of Rwanda English class – virtually the entire class, excluding two children whose father did not agree to their participation – went out for the afternoon.
I was amazed to see that under the right circumstances these children could all, not only arrive on time, but actually arrive early! By 2pm they were all seated excitedly on the grass outside of the Treasure Centre. At 2:30pm Jane (the English -Kinyarwanda translator) arrived with a minibus taxi and, wild with anticipation, the crowd of children piled in before we’d even had the chance to collect in their consent forms, signed by their mothers. One mischievous boy – not one of our students – had managed to sneak aboard. After sending this impostor out of the vehicle, off we drove to Hotel La Pallise in the Kanombe district of Kigali - not more than ten minutes drive from the Treasure Centre here in Remera.
On arrival at the hotel, we walked through the leafy gardens until reaching our own private area of table-clothed tables and chairs, congregated beneath a canvas roofing. The children sat in silence, not quite knowing what lay in store for them on this special day. As we waited, we reviewed what we had been learning in this previous week’s lessons: “What is this? This is a boy. What is his name? His name is Dusenge. How many boys are there here?” etc. I could see that they had fully grasped this subject and were ready to move onto something new in the next lesson.
After some time, the servers as well as the hotel manager arrived to feed these 28 unsuspecting children. But before they had had the chance to distribute any of the food onto the white china plates; the rain fell in a wild and dramatic downpour.
We moved the tables hastily towards the middle of the canopy; the servers holding up their olive-green tablecloth as a shield against the intruding torrent. Some of the rain was squirting in through small holes in the roofing and table-cloths were worn, wrapped over heads and shoulders, to protect against this new blistery wind. I lead a lively rendition of the “A-B-C-D Alphabet Song”: over and over we sang it, each time a little quicker, giggling as we went.
Finally the rain subsided enough for us to relax in our seats. The plates were handed around: each one offering a skewered kebab and two halves of a grilled potato. The children were very happy as they munched away, dipping their food into the dollop of mayonnaise that had been plopped onto each of our plates. Jane and I were lucky enough to eat too in the absence of two of our students.
The food was nice and, by the children’s glowing faces, they too had enjoyed it. I cannot explain the luck that we then had: the rain ceasing completely. What perfect timing! 28 of Kigali’s children then sprinted enthusiastically towards the playground that lay hidden on the other side of the trees, across the stream. It was not that pleasant a walk though through the swampy grass to join them.
For one hour, they swung and spun and slid on the circus of yellow and green metal, screaming out to me “Teacher! Teacher!” as they played. They all wanted to be in front of the camera and to be pushed by their extra-curricular “muzungu” English teacher. They had a lot of fun – especially pushing me up higher and higher on the swing, until I actually felt rather scared!
Just before leaving the park, when they no doubt believed that their day could get no better; out came 30 bottles of soda. They all wanted a passion fruit juice when they realised that that was their teacher’s choice. Kids; aren’t they adorable! We took them for a brief peek at the kiddie swimming pool, which had been my original choice for this afternoon’s excursion. They all agreed that they would love for that to be their next outing – whenever Sisters of Rwanda can find sufficient funds to take its children out again.
After relocating our briefly lost child, Umutoni, back into the minibus we climbed. The ride home was a jubilous affair: 28 Rwandese children, singing out in their native language, songs that celebrated their joy and their love of God. The people outside looked on in wonder as we passed them by on our merry way home.
Tonia Kaufman, Sisters of Rwanda English Teacher
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Back on the Scene
Well it’s been about 2 months since we last had a chance to make a post. It’s been a crazy couple of months too. I’ll briefly recap a few of the things that have gone on.
A Visit to the US
I went back to the US on December 15th and stayed until January 17th. It was my first time back since I came out here on March 13th 2006 and it was quite a culture shock going back. I really hadn’t imagined how different it would seem to be back in Nashville, TN after being gone almost a year. The cars, the traffic, the people, the gifts, Christmas, the hustle and bustle, the food, and just every day life. Everything was so different. And to be honest, I could not wait to get back home to Rwanda.
However, I had a great visit with my family and friends. Christmas was great and I enjoyed catching up with everyone. I did a few speaking engagements on behalf of Sisters of Rwanda and they all went quite well. I spoke at The Tennessee Women’s Prison, Fisk University, The University School, Mercy Ministries, Virtuous Artist Ascension Church, and Belmont University. I spoke on what we are doing with Sisters of Rwanda, gave some of my personal testimony as to how I got to Rwanda, and spoke much about business vs. aid issues. The responses from all of the venues were great and I was pleased to see people being moved and interested in what is happening at SOR.
I must say, my favorite venue was Mercy Ministries. I was quite intimidated to go and speak there actually. I have known Nancy Alcorn (Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Ministries) since I was about 12 years old. I’ve followed what she’s done with MM since that time and I’ve been continually impressed. I also know her to be an excellent public speaker, and I am a novice at best. It was also the first time that I was speaking to a group that is similar to the women of Sisters of Rwanda. While they are not generally former prostitutes, they are a group of women that have been dealt a bad hand and most all of them have been abused. So it was a new dynamic for me to be in as far as telling the story of Sisters of Rwanda.
However, it ended up going really well. I was so blessed to be there among all of the women in their program. They were so welcoming and it was quite an emotional time for everyone. I think I got choked up about 4 different times. I could see so much in the eyes of these young women. It was that same mixture of pain, heartache, and desperation, mixed with joy, determination, and the desire to take control of their lives and follow their dreams. It’s the same look I see in the eyes of our Sisters. I felt so many different things at that time, but most of all, I felt at home. Like I was supposed to be there. It was an amazing experience. And to top it off, Nancy presented up with our largest donation to date. I had no idea that they were going to make a donation to Sisters of Rwanda. It wasn’t even on my radar. So when they did, I was really taken by surprise. And it was a great surprise to have! I’ve since received (just yesterday) a thank you note from Mercy Ministries with signatures from all of the women there and a letter with feedback from many of them. I think it was the most thoughtful and beautiful gift we have ever received. I am so honored and blessed to be connected to what them. This is definitely the beginning of a long friendship between both of our organizations. Thank you Mercy Ministries for all that you do!
Our Current Projects
We’ve begun to take many of our thoughts and ideas from theory to application in the past few months. It’s certainly been a learning process. The first guy I hired to help teach the Sisters pottery skills ended up being a bit of a loose canon and ended up stealing money from us and smashing the first batch of pottery. And I was in the states during this fiasco, so that just made it more difficult. I did however handle the situation when I came back, I gave him a scolding, but still went pretty easy on him considering. We did get one good teacher out of the deal though. So that was a blessing in disguise. He’s proven to be exactly what we were looking for, gentle, kind, honest and an excellent teacher. So now we are moving forward with the pottery project, creating different kinds of vases, and should be ready to take some finished products to market sometime next month.
We are also moving forward on a new project. We will be opening Ubutunzi Salon in the next few months if we are able to get the funding. The mission of the salon is to create an atmosphere were our customers are “treasured” and treated like royalty. Customer service in Rwanda is something that people just don’t think or care about. People just don’t value the customer here. They often treat you as if you are a nuisance. However, in Ubutunzi Salon, we will be treating each person as if they were the president or a king or queen. I really do feel like this salon will encapsulate the whole “treasured” them that we are trying to get across to this city. We are excited about the creation of the salon and seeing our vision come to life.
We hope to also start the jewelry project here in the next couple weeks.
Registration
We received a letter from the Mayor of Kigali (Mayor Kirabo) in later November of 2006 that granted us permission to operate in Rwanda legally. However we are still going through the rather arduous task of finalizing everything and obtaining our official papers as a legal non-profit entity in Rwanda. Furthermore, we just started the process, after much debate, of registering as a 501(c)3 non-profit in the US. This is another long process. Fortunately our US team and Lawyers Without Borders are helping us to get this process going. LWOB is also accepting donations for us as we share some of the same initiatives in Rwanda. They will also be providing tax write offs for donations made out to SOR until we have our own 501(c)3 status. Our hope is that by year end (2007) we will be 100% on our own and have all of our legal papers both here and in the US.
Cool News
We were fortunate enough to be tracked down by a new media group called 80 Percent Angel a few weeks ago. The group is put together by a group of young journalists, videographers, photographers, etc. They are headed up by a young couple by the names of Parker and Kasia. They are excellent people and we feel very fortunate to have hooked up with them. They came out and shot a few hours of footage of the sisters and our SOR staff. They then produced about a 10 minute promo video that will be available online and on DVD. We can then use this on our website so people can get a good look at what we do. We can also use it to give to churches and bands and other groups that want to promote our work here. This will be a tremendous tool for promoting us and we are extremely grateful to 80 Percent Angel for picking us out of so many worthy organizations here in Rwanda. We are honored. And we have gain some new friends in the process as well. Thank you Parker and Kasia!
Education
In January we were able to send 26 children to school, many for the first time. These are all children of the Sisters that are now attending primary and secondary school. We are really excited about this happening and so are the Sisters and their children. A good friend of SOR’s, Susi Duerr was able to raise all of the funding (and more) for the school fees program in her home town of Velburg Germany. She has raised all of the funding for the children to attend school, for their uniforms, and even for extra food for the families. It’s been amazing to see all of that come into fruition. Thank you Susi!
Additionally, one of our interns, Tonia Kaufman, has done an amazing job of assembling and teaching an after school English program. She is teaching about 30 children and 40 adults English now. It really is amazing to walk into the Treasure Center now and here the sisters and the children greeting us in English! Tonia has done a wonderful job with this group and she is also interviewing the Sisters for us. She is an excellent writer and you will have the privilege of reading much of her work here shortly on this blog. Thanks Tonia!
In Closing
So we have lots of projects going on and things are going well. We are currently working on our marketing ideas and ways to get the word out about SOR. Lots of people ask how they can help, and honestly, the best things to do are to help advocate what we are doing at Sisters of Rwanda, and to donate funds. In reality, if we had money in the bank account, we could carry out every initiative that SOR has. Project capitol is one of the biggest things we have a need for right now. Once we have funds for expanding the projects, we can create more income for the Sisters, and that always the goal.
Stay tuned for lots of stories and thoughts from our Sisters of Rwanda staff and the Sisters themselves.
A Visit to the US
I went back to the US on December 15th and stayed until January 17th. It was my first time back since I came out here on March 13th 2006 and it was quite a culture shock going back. I really hadn’t imagined how different it would seem to be back in Nashville, TN after being gone almost a year. The cars, the traffic, the people, the gifts, Christmas, the hustle and bustle, the food, and just every day life. Everything was so different. And to be honest, I could not wait to get back home to Rwanda.
However, I had a great visit with my family and friends. Christmas was great and I enjoyed catching up with everyone. I did a few speaking engagements on behalf of Sisters of Rwanda and they all went quite well. I spoke at The Tennessee Women’s Prison, Fisk University, The University School, Mercy Ministries, Virtuous Artist Ascension Church, and Belmont University. I spoke on what we are doing with Sisters of Rwanda, gave some of my personal testimony as to how I got to Rwanda, and spoke much about business vs. aid issues. The responses from all of the venues were great and I was pleased to see people being moved and interested in what is happening at SOR.
I must say, my favorite venue was Mercy Ministries. I was quite intimidated to go and speak there actually. I have known Nancy Alcorn (Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Ministries) since I was about 12 years old. I’ve followed what she’s done with MM since that time and I’ve been continually impressed. I also know her to be an excellent public speaker, and I am a novice at best. It was also the first time that I was speaking to a group that is similar to the women of Sisters of Rwanda. While they are not generally former prostitutes, they are a group of women that have been dealt a bad hand and most all of them have been abused. So it was a new dynamic for me to be in as far as telling the story of Sisters of Rwanda.
However, it ended up going really well. I was so blessed to be there among all of the women in their program. They were so welcoming and it was quite an emotional time for everyone. I think I got choked up about 4 different times. I could see so much in the eyes of these young women. It was that same mixture of pain, heartache, and desperation, mixed with joy, determination, and the desire to take control of their lives and follow their dreams. It’s the same look I see in the eyes of our Sisters. I felt so many different things at that time, but most of all, I felt at home. Like I was supposed to be there. It was an amazing experience. And to top it off, Nancy presented up with our largest donation to date. I had no idea that they were going to make a donation to Sisters of Rwanda. It wasn’t even on my radar. So when they did, I was really taken by surprise. And it was a great surprise to have! I’ve since received (just yesterday) a thank you note from Mercy Ministries with signatures from all of the women there and a letter with feedback from many of them. I think it was the most thoughtful and beautiful gift we have ever received. I am so honored and blessed to be connected to what them. This is definitely the beginning of a long friendship between both of our organizations. Thank you Mercy Ministries for all that you do!
Our Current Projects
We’ve begun to take many of our thoughts and ideas from theory to application in the past few months. It’s certainly been a learning process. The first guy I hired to help teach the Sisters pottery skills ended up being a bit of a loose canon and ended up stealing money from us and smashing the first batch of pottery. And I was in the states during this fiasco, so that just made it more difficult. I did however handle the situation when I came back, I gave him a scolding, but still went pretty easy on him considering. We did get one good teacher out of the deal though. So that was a blessing in disguise. He’s proven to be exactly what we were looking for, gentle, kind, honest and an excellent teacher. So now we are moving forward with the pottery project, creating different kinds of vases, and should be ready to take some finished products to market sometime next month.
We are also moving forward on a new project. We will be opening Ubutunzi Salon in the next few months if we are able to get the funding. The mission of the salon is to create an atmosphere were our customers are “treasured” and treated like royalty. Customer service in Rwanda is something that people just don’t think or care about. People just don’t value the customer here. They often treat you as if you are a nuisance. However, in Ubutunzi Salon, we will be treating each person as if they were the president or a king or queen. I really do feel like this salon will encapsulate the whole “treasured” them that we are trying to get across to this city. We are excited about the creation of the salon and seeing our vision come to life.
We hope to also start the jewelry project here in the next couple weeks.
Registration
We received a letter from the Mayor of Kigali (Mayor Kirabo) in later November of 2006 that granted us permission to operate in Rwanda legally. However we are still going through the rather arduous task of finalizing everything and obtaining our official papers as a legal non-profit entity in Rwanda. Furthermore, we just started the process, after much debate, of registering as a 501(c)3 non-profit in the US. This is another long process. Fortunately our US team and Lawyers Without Borders are helping us to get this process going. LWOB is also accepting donations for us as we share some of the same initiatives in Rwanda. They will also be providing tax write offs for donations made out to SOR until we have our own 501(c)3 status. Our hope is that by year end (2007) we will be 100% on our own and have all of our legal papers both here and in the US.
Cool News
We were fortunate enough to be tracked down by a new media group called 80 Percent Angel a few weeks ago. The group is put together by a group of young journalists, videographers, photographers, etc. They are headed up by a young couple by the names of Parker and Kasia. They are excellent people and we feel very fortunate to have hooked up with them. They came out and shot a few hours of footage of the sisters and our SOR staff. They then produced about a 10 minute promo video that will be available online and on DVD. We can then use this on our website so people can get a good look at what we do. We can also use it to give to churches and bands and other groups that want to promote our work here. This will be a tremendous tool for promoting us and we are extremely grateful to 80 Percent Angel for picking us out of so many worthy organizations here in Rwanda. We are honored. And we have gain some new friends in the process as well. Thank you Parker and Kasia!
Education
In January we were able to send 26 children to school, many for the first time. These are all children of the Sisters that are now attending primary and secondary school. We are really excited about this happening and so are the Sisters and their children. A good friend of SOR’s, Susi Duerr was able to raise all of the funding (and more) for the school fees program in her home town of Velburg Germany. She has raised all of the funding for the children to attend school, for their uniforms, and even for extra food for the families. It’s been amazing to see all of that come into fruition. Thank you Susi!
Additionally, one of our interns, Tonia Kaufman, has done an amazing job of assembling and teaching an after school English program. She is teaching about 30 children and 40 adults English now. It really is amazing to walk into the Treasure Center now and here the sisters and the children greeting us in English! Tonia has done a wonderful job with this group and she is also interviewing the Sisters for us. She is an excellent writer and you will have the privilege of reading much of her work here shortly on this blog. Thanks Tonia!
In Closing
So we have lots of projects going on and things are going well. We are currently working on our marketing ideas and ways to get the word out about SOR. Lots of people ask how they can help, and honestly, the best things to do are to help advocate what we are doing at Sisters of Rwanda, and to donate funds. In reality, if we had money in the bank account, we could carry out every initiative that SOR has. Project capitol is one of the biggest things we have a need for right now. Once we have funds for expanding the projects, we can create more income for the Sisters, and that always the goal.
Stay tuned for lots of stories and thoughts from our Sisters of Rwanda staff and the Sisters themselves.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Visiting the Sick
On Sunday we went to visit some of the many Sisters that are sick. This is always an eye opening experience for all of us, no matter how many times we do it. It’s a reminder to me of the reason we are doing what we are doing. Whenever I start to get down or discouraged, I make myself take time away from all of the office work, meetings and telephone calls and go down and spend time with the Sisters. There could not be a more motivating experience for me personally. Seeing the innocence in their eyes and the joy the feel from a visit from one of us is enough to motivate me to press through any obstacle that comes up.
This past Sunday we went to visit one of the Sisters that has been with us since day one. Her name is Rosa and she’s 39 years old presently living with full blown AIDS. She has three young daughters, one of which is also a prostitute with a baby. When we came to visit Rosa there were 13 other Sisters in the room with us, and it was no large room. It was raining and fairly cold outside, for Rwanda anyway. Rosa was sitting on a small stool, wrapped in a blanket and she her hands were shaking. She kept a cloth over her mouth for fear of breathing on us and infecting us in some way. She has absolutely nothing and survives off of the little bit of money here daughters and neighbors bring to her.
We were there with a two other close friends of ours as well. It was Joseph, Everest (pastor from Burundi), Martin (Kenyan pastor from Kampala, Uganda), and me. There were quite a few languages and nationalities represented in the room, but most of the talking was in Kinyarwanda, as usual, with a little Swahili here and there. The more we talked, the more comfortable everyone became, as always. It’s so hard to imagine Rosa being a prostitute at all. She is such a sweet person and her smile and laughter is what I remember most from that day. We left her with 5000 RWF ($9) for medications and food. It’s the least we could do and part of our commitment to the Sisters.
After visiting Rosa, we went to visit the home of one of the younger Sisters. She was sitting inside a very small room with two small beds and a chair. There were two girls laying in the bed, one girl standing and two boys hanging around inside. I would imagine they were all from 15 – 20 years old. The girl that we were visiting had been beaten by a client last week to the point where she could no longer walk. We helped pay for her medications last week and she seems to be healing up well, though slowly.
The room was small, damp, and smelled of alcohol and cigarettes from the two boys hanging out. From what I could tell that was not from the Sisters, but who knows. Virginia also joined us for this visit and talked quite a bit. She’s really becoming a respected leader in the Sisters community now, which is precisely what we are trying to empower her to do. I’m excited about seeing her grow in that role. I think the other Sisters will be inspired by her success and she will serve as a great example of what this program for do for all of the Sisters.
In the following weeks we are going to be posting the stories of Virginia and Rosa. We want to do all we can to let people into their world. And we also want to get more and more stories from the Sisters and get their thoughts and dreams posted here. Our staff members will also be posting stories. It will take some time for sure, but it’s a very important dynamic to what we are doing.
This past Sunday we went to visit one of the Sisters that has been with us since day one. Her name is Rosa and she’s 39 years old presently living with full blown AIDS. She has three young daughters, one of which is also a prostitute with a baby. When we came to visit Rosa there were 13 other Sisters in the room with us, and it was no large room. It was raining and fairly cold outside, for Rwanda anyway. Rosa was sitting on a small stool, wrapped in a blanket and she her hands were shaking. She kept a cloth over her mouth for fear of breathing on us and infecting us in some way. She has absolutely nothing and survives off of the little bit of money here daughters and neighbors bring to her.
We were there with a two other close friends of ours as well. It was Joseph, Everest (pastor from Burundi), Martin (Kenyan pastor from Kampala, Uganda), and me. There were quite a few languages and nationalities represented in the room, but most of the talking was in Kinyarwanda, as usual, with a little Swahili here and there. The more we talked, the more comfortable everyone became, as always. It’s so hard to imagine Rosa being a prostitute at all. She is such a sweet person and her smile and laughter is what I remember most from that day. We left her with 5000 RWF ($9) for medications and food. It’s the least we could do and part of our commitment to the Sisters.
After visiting Rosa, we went to visit the home of one of the younger Sisters. She was sitting inside a very small room with two small beds and a chair. There were two girls laying in the bed, one girl standing and two boys hanging around inside. I would imagine they were all from 15 – 20 years old. The girl that we were visiting had been beaten by a client last week to the point where she could no longer walk. We helped pay for her medications last week and she seems to be healing up well, though slowly.
The room was small, damp, and smelled of alcohol and cigarettes from the two boys hanging out. From what I could tell that was not from the Sisters, but who knows. Virginia also joined us for this visit and talked quite a bit. She’s really becoming a respected leader in the Sisters community now, which is precisely what we are trying to empower her to do. I’m excited about seeing her grow in that role. I think the other Sisters will be inspired by her success and she will serve as a great example of what this program for do for all of the Sisters.
In the following weeks we are going to be posting the stories of Virginia and Rosa. We want to do all we can to let people into their world. And we also want to get more and more stories from the Sisters and get their thoughts and dreams posted here. Our staff members will also be posting stories. It will take some time for sure, but it’s a very important dynamic to what we are doing.
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