At the end of this post I will be making a request.
April 15, 2011.
This is the day when my friend Elizabeth told me she was
making a ministry trip to Rwanda. WOW! What a surprise. I was so happy for her,
but I wondered how she was going to pull it off. Her life is pretty busy.
Elizabeth is the mother of a handsome teenage boy and a
beautiful teenage girl. She is a yoga instructor. She teaches Bible Study every
Sunday after Church. In addition, she is my hair stylist at Solace, the salon
she owns and operates.
You should have seen the excitement in her face when she
told me about her plans.
A group of 20 people from all over the United States would
be traveling to Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, for 10 days in early June.
They are all volunteers with an organization called Africa New Life Ministries.
Elizabeth had sponsored a young girl in Rwanda about two
years ago. She had been writing her and sending her pictures and gifts ever
since then. Finally, she would get to meet her.
Her excitement was palpable, her words so heartfelt. It was
emotional. My eyes began to well up with tears of joy when she shared her plans
with me. Without realizing what I was doing, I reached up and unhooked the
clasp on my necklace. It had been a gift to me from someone special. The chain
slid from my neck into the palm of my hand. I leaned over, looked Elizabeth in
the eyes and placed it in her hands with instructions to give it to her
“African daughter” from me.
Elizabeth was absolutely beaming with pride, her eyes were
twinkling as were mine.
I was so happy for. I felt foolish telling her that the only
thing I knew about Rwanda was what I learned from watching the movie, Hotel
Rwanda.
I fell in love with Rwanda at 9am, June 18th,
2011.
This is the morning Elizabeth excitedly thrust her pictures of
her trip to Rwanda into my hands. It was at precisely this
moment that my relationship to humanity changed.
The pictures of the children took my breath away. I got to
“meet” her African daughter who was wearing my necklace around her tiny neck.
What an amazing world we live in. My heart touching her daughter’s, all those
miles away…
I felt as if I could see into the very souls of these
children. I caught a glimpse of all the happiness and all the pain they have
carried through their young lives. It is difficult to imagine what it has been
like for them and their families.
The trip was truly transformational for both the volunteers
and the children. The level of participation on both sides was inspiring.
This is a picture of Elizabeth explaining "Bubbles" to some of the boys.
September 6, 2011
I saw Elizabeth this day. She was absolutely glowing and had
that familiar twinkle in her eyes. Within seconds she shared the news of her
impending trip to return to Kigali. This time she was taking along her two
teenagers! What a grand trip it will be. They will be traveling with the same
organization, Africa New Life Ministries, and will be there for 10 days as in
her previous trip. Her children think it will be cool and they are spreading
the word via Facebook!
They won’t be leaving until November 16th but
Elizabeth has already begun to pack.
As always, when I left we gave each other a huge hug. I told
her that at my next appointment, October 17, maybe I could bring in something
else for her to give to the children.
September 10, 2011
As usual, I am at Starbucks in the morning for my daily
caffeine fix. From out of nowhere, I
suddenly had this idea of something I wanted to do for Elizabeth’s trip.
My idea is to make jewelry for the kids in Kigali. I am
going to make the jewelry out of used Starbucks
gift cards.
This is the request
I am making:
I would LOVE for you
to take part in this project.
I am asking you to
participate and to invite others to join us too.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it:
1) Go to your local Starbucks.
2) Buy a $5.00 gift card. (That’s the least amount of money
you
can get on a card.)
3) Use this card to buy something for yourself or a friend.
4) Save your used card and mail it to me by October 3, 2011.*
5) Have all of your friends to do the same
.
It’s as easy as that!
All it will cost you is $0.44
cents, the price of one postage stamp
If you want to make it really cost effective, collect the
cards from your friends, send them all together and split the price. Imagine how you will feel when you and your friends
create a magical difference in a child’s life for perhaps only $.05 cents or less.
Can you imagine the impact we will make on these children?
YOU can make a huge difference in the life of these children
in Rwanda. This is your opportunity to bring a smile to the faces of these
impoverished children.
I invite you to do this. I invite you to have your friends
join in with you.
This is your chance to generously contribute to something
truly magical.
Thank you for who you are and for who for who you continue
to be for all people in the world. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.
Together we can make it happen.
Much love, gratitude and respect to you all,
Kimberly ♥
* Mailing address to be confirmed and posted here later
today.
A few statistics about Rwanda:
Flag Description:
Three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width),
yellow, and green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the
blue band; blue represents happiness and peace, yellow economic development
and mineral wealth, green hope of prosperity and natural resources; the sun
symbolizes unity, as well as enlightenment and transparency from ignorance
|
Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated
800,000 people in the small East
African nation of Rwanda.
Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people
were killed. Estimates of the death
toll have ranged between 500,000 and 1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the
country's total population.
Rape was the rule and its absence the exception. Rape was
systematic and was used as a weapon by the perpetrators of the massacres.
Estimates were that between 250,000 and 500,000 Rwandese women and girls had
been raped. The females who survived the genocide were direct victims of rape
or other sexual violence.
70% of all sexual assault victims in the Rwandan genocide
are infected with HIV.
The Special Rapporteur on Rwanda estimated that between
2,000 and 5,000 pregnancies resulted from war rape (between 250,000 and 500,000
Rwandan women and girls had been raped).
These children are now approximately 16 years of age.
The US was reluctant to get involved in the "local
conflict" in Rwanda and refused to label the killings as "genocide". Then-president
Bill Clinton later
publicly regretted that decision in a Frontline television interview.
Five years later, Clinton stated that he believed that if he had sent 5,000
U.S. peacekeepers, more than 500,000 lives could have been saved.
Official Name:
Republic of Rwanda
Capital City:
Kigali (pop. 965,398)
AREA:
land: 24,950 sq km (9,633 sq miles, slightly smaller than
Maryland)
population: 11,370,425 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.9%
15-64 years: 54.7% 65 years and over (2011 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.7 years (2011 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 64.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 58.02 years (2001 est.)
Fertility rate:
4.9 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 70.4% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy, beginning with primary:
total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2009)
|
References:
Established 2001 Africa New Life Ministries exists to break
the cycle of poverty in Rwanda by providing education, spiritual insight and
basic necessities to poor children and families.
