Cheryl Rainey: Steps Forward....

Wow….I can’t EVEN believe it’s been OVER a month since my last post, but welcome to my world these days… days fly by at a rate that I can’t believe and when the end of the day does come, we are so tired, all we can do is fall into bed… no joke… I’ve never worked so hard in my life to have things continue to be so hard…

Since my last post, we are trying to settle into the compound!! (Actually called the Musanze Opportunity Center) Not an easy task given the size of the place and the fact that the cutest boy in the world keeps letting people move onto the campus. Now, don’t get me wrong… that’s all fine and dandy, and we love everyone that’s here, but we are having a hard enough time keeping water, power, internet and cell service… ME worrying about everyone else does not, I repeat, does NOT help my stress level. So far, besides ourselves and Katie (and Josh for the month he was here), we have, Charles, a British guy who is working with Caleb King on some hydroelectric projects, Katie Jo, a college junior, who is working with the OneEgg.org folks, Nolan, a twenty something filmmaker here for a project and then sometime in the next couple of weeks, Bill and Susan Boyd will be here. All of a sudden, six houses occupied. Honestly, no one else can move in… we are flat OUT of all resources, like furniture, until our containers start to arrive in August… But, we have been very honest with everyone that we really aren’t ready for folks, so it is what it is… but it’s still hard for me, Miss Hospitality, who wants to make everyone all comfy and cozy. Ummm, yeah… that is SOOO not gonna happen for a titch of a while!!

So, everyday is filled with just whatever doesn’t work that day! We didn’t have internet (or reliable internet) until just this week… power outages have been a pretty constant issue, and we have now been without water for four, going on five days now… let’s see… oh, and we now have 20 employees, not four, for which we have a sit down lunch every day! Washers and dryers and refrigerators have blown up (but fixed by the cutest boy in the world), and the creepy crawlies are still an issue! The goats are all doing fine, although not producing the amount of milk we thought they would, and Frasier Crane has become a stalker… pecking on our doors when he wants attention or is hungry. Man, are we ever havin fun now!! When we DO have things functioning, we are doing our best to teach and train… a learning experience for us all!! But, on the up side… the yards and gardens are taking shape, signs are getting painted and the men and women on this campus (our employees) are learning what it is to be REAL men and women… not what the culture of Rwanda tells them. Men are respecting the women and the women are gaining confidence in themselves and their abilities. It is AWESOME to watch the change! We did just have our first “Big Dinner”…a Mexican feast for 20… minus the cheese dip, but I was tired of not tasting Mexican, so we just FIGURED IT OUT!! AND… we had our first taste of the goat cheese from Lucy’s milk (a week’s worth) …Katie’s pet (pardon the pun) project, and she FIGURED IT OUT!! SOOOO YUMMY!!

We were able to take 3 days and go up to Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda on a safari with both Josh and Katie… although what we were told was a 5 hour drive, turned out to be 12, but it was great, and actually spent our 26th anniversary there on May 4th.

It was SO great having Josh here, but even THAT ended up somewhat stressful, in that on Mother’s Day, of all days, he and Russell decided to go for a bike ride and on the way back down the hill to home (while they were RACING), his fender came off, rotated under his wheel, causing him to lose control and go down. He was hurt pretty badly… lots of cuts (some major) and bruises, and he clearly injured his right knee. He refused to go to the hospital, so RR and I proceeded to try to fix him up, but he did go into shock and for a few hours, it was pretty scary… but we all stayed calm and got him comfortable, but for the last week he was here, he was laid up on our couch and left here on crutches and looking like a mummy because he had so many bandages. THANK GOD he had on a helmet, since it was completely trashed, and CLEARLY saved his noggin from any injury at all (WEAR HELMETS PEOPLE AND MAKE YOUR KIDS WEAR HELMETS), but, he is getting better (and in Germany now) and will have an MRI when he gets back to the states. All Rainey’s are now officially banned from bikes here in Rwanda – honestly!!

We got Josh on the plane out of here on the 14th, and later that morning, Russell and I got on a plane to Cape Town, South Africa… we haven’t had more than 5 minutes alone in so long and were both so fried from all the stuff leading up to and moving into the compound (and frankly, I had HIT THE WALL), we just flat took a break, and was it ever JUST what we needed. We worked our way through the South Africa wine country… did nothing but relax and rejuvenate and drank a little wine here, there and everywhere (although we did hit up a bunch of home depot type stores to try to get as much electrical equipment as we could to help the power situation). The highlight of the trip was a helicopter ride (Valium anyone??) from the waterfront of Cape Town down to Cape Point and back up the other side, and around Table Mountain… a spectacular hour long flight… and a way to see that area like none other. So… 10 days in the South African wine country… lots of good food and wine (sushi three times -woot woot), and all relaxed to get back and face the next four months here in beautiful downtown compound land… except… it took us two days to get home due to some scheduling changes and conflicts of the airlines… but, an extra overnight in Johannesburg, and it all worked out in the end…

Katie was glad to have us back, I think, as she shouldered all of the burden while we were gone… and again… every day is just a “OK, God… whatcha got today kinda day” …the consummate planner in me is learning to take it as it comes (although I am not giving up easily), and realizing that this is a marathon, not a sprint… all lessons I find difficult, BUT I'm giving it up to the ONE who knows all, sees all and loves all… sometimes it’s just for me to follow, not lead, not ask why, just follow… I’m trying my best… sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I am making headway… I THINK, in that area… and we really are making progress here on the compound… baby steps, but steps forward, nevertheless… so I'm always thankful for steps forward!! Here's to continued steps forward……

Till next time… enjoy the photos!!