Friday afternoon, April 25

Greetings,

We were going to go to Burundi tomorrow until Monday but the trip has been called off. There is fighting AGAIN by rebels near the capital, Bujumburo, and the rebels are in a forest we would go through. Probably would be okay, but better to be cautious.

Today there was an incredible event with AMAHORO. On the last Saturday of every month, Rwandans are expected to spend the morning doing community work -- such as pickup up any trash. Richard and the AMAHORO leaders decided to have the AMAHORO children do their own community work. Last month and today they made bricks. Last time to build a wall for a family where one had fallen down, and today to build a kitchen for one of their families, a woman (HIV+) and her three children. There must have been 125 - 150 working, carrying water from below, digging mud, squishing mud with bare feet, hand over hand carrying blocks of wet mud to put into frames to dry. Next month they will go back and put up the walls. The children started at 7:00 AM and went home at 12:30!
(The event was today because we thought we'd be on the bus to Burundi tomorrow.)

We had visitors at the AMAHORO event! Three women who know about AMAHORO from the Global Fund for Children. They asked great questions, especially when we went into the living room of the house. They appreciated being there rather than in an office.

The next visitors were people from the Rotary Club of Kigali, the folks who helped get us the vehicle. After them came three newspaper journalists and, finally, a TV crew. They said we would be on TV tomorrow. I think they were all impressed by the idea and the hard work of the children.

Here is another child's story: Let's call this girl Elishia. Elishia is 17 and in the equivalent of the 8th grade. Her dad died just before the genocide, and her mom shortly afterward. She was infected at birth and lost her mother when young. She now lives with her older sister in their uncle's home with his wife and children. She says her uncle is very nice to her, and his children share with her. Elishia is having a very difficult time in school, partly due to time lost when ill. She even spent an entire year in the hospital. She is often distracted when she should be studying. She has many worries, and here is one: A music teacher came to her class and said, "Why are infected students here? They are going to die, so why are they in school?" After that Elishia believed it was true. Finally she told her uncle who reassured her and said the teacher is probably crazy. But she wonders about her future. She is in a boarding school and needs to go to her clinic once a month to be checked and to get her drugs. The authorities of the school have told her she has to show her health papers. The clinic won't release them. Emile, an AMAHORO leader will accompany her to school to sort it out.

Each child I talk with has a different story, and all are difficult. Elishia, like the others, has drawn a picture of a time in her life. She drew a time when she was happy -- when her mother was with her.

I have finally gotten to the bottom of the contradiction between the government policy of universal primary education and the fact that we are providing the funds to send hundreds of children to school who would not otherwise be there. It's complicated. Maybe next time....

Susanna