Will keep this short but we had a bit of a day off as we were invited to a Christmas party for Hope and Homes for Children (http://www.hopeandhomes.org/) who help shift kids out of orphanages and into homes. This involves tracking down family members and working with them to get them to a position, both financially and psychologically, to take care of the child. A truly awesome thing I want to talk about again later on. It was a great day and the women who runs it here is AMAZING. We got to talk to her afterwards and she told a story of how she took in 13 kids from her family who lost their parents in the 1994 genocide. At the time her husband and her had one child of their own and now have five. It sounds like all of the kids are either at or finished or planning to go to university! Talking with her was one of the highlights of the day. She also had great things to say about the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, especially from a women's point of view (she is studying gender politics in her spare time).
Before all that we helped pack bags with things like toothbrushes, soap, books, pens etc. to give to the kids. The party was somewhat of a reunion for kids and families who have been placed in the scheme so far (about 35 as it is still only being piloted). The Mayor was there also to announce he is excited to extend the scheme to other orphanages in the city. It was a great day and nice to meet some very happy and healthy looking kids who all agree that home-life is better than orphanage-life.
Anyway just wanted to write that down before I forgot. I'm not sure when I'll next be online as we have a busy couple of days ahead including another Christmas party, or two! Yay!
Oh yeah the title of this post relates to the crappy cheap bags we packed everything in. The other volunteer and I both felt a little stink giving such useless things away as presents. Indeed we broke two while packing and I saw a kid break theirs just picking it up and opening it. They were obviously a cheap bulk buy from somewhere *ahem* *china* *ahem*. They had a label saying "Sports" but unless the kids play something as docile as chess, and even then in places they don't have to travel for, then there is no way they are going to last the first day of school.
Before all that we helped pack bags with things like toothbrushes, soap, books, pens etc. to give to the kids. The party was somewhat of a reunion for kids and families who have been placed in the scheme so far (about 35 as it is still only being piloted). The Mayor was there also to announce he is excited to extend the scheme to other orphanages in the city. It was a great day and nice to meet some very happy and healthy looking kids who all agree that home-life is better than orphanage-life.
Anyway just wanted to write that down before I forgot. I'm not sure when I'll next be online as we have a busy couple of days ahead including another Christmas party, or two! Yay!
Oh yeah the title of this post relates to the crappy cheap bags we packed everything in. The other volunteer and I both felt a little stink giving such useless things away as presents. Indeed we broke two while packing and I saw a kid break theirs just picking it up and opening it. They were obviously a cheap bulk buy from somewhere *ahem* *china* *ahem*. They had a label saying "Sports" but unless the kids play something as docile as chess, and even then in places they don't have to travel for, then there is no way they are going to last the first day of school.
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