I'mmmm Baaacckkk!!

Well… has it ever been a LONG time since my last blog or what! I won’t bore you with all the details of WHY I haven’t done a blog post in seven months – ok… maybe I’ll bore you just a little, but needless to say, it’s been some CRAZY months!

When I last left you, we were trying to get the “Campus” (that’s what we are calling it now – not “Compound”but “Campus” and as hard as I try… beautiful downtown compoundland is still my name of choice) whipped into shape, and I must say things are coming along swimmingly.

We were also celebrating the fact that the two containers left Little Rock, and we were praying for them to arrive by mid-August… ok… we are now rethinking OUR definition of mid-August, and the shipping company’s! Clearly their calendar and ours are different… like THAT matters… they showed up here mid-October. Another lesson learned. Whatever they say… double or triple it! The shipping company did agree to hold them under lock and key until we got back in country, which we did on Monday night, and they TELL us they will be here on the campus by late tomorrow or Tuesday – we’ll see! And I just pray the under lock and key was a promise kept as well!

The campus does look great though. If you remember, I left TCBITW here for two weeks, and came on home without him (because we just KNEW the containers were going to show up in that two week time frame – ha!). Well… he went a titch crazy with the paint cans! We now have, not only Rwandan flags painted on some roofs, but also the biggest American flags as well. He did abide by my request to paint the tops of the residential houses a nice green color – most of them. He painted one yellow and one bright blue! At least all the rainbow buildings are at the front of the campus and to his credit… everyone else seems to love all he’s done… me?, I’m still adjusting! But all the flowers we have planted have really taken hold and the campus is bursting with color, as are our gardens. We are still trying to convince the Rwandans though, that lettuce does NOT need to grow to 4 feet tall and produce flowers on top. They simply DO NOT grasp the concept of picking something when it is “so small” as they say! Same is true for the basil… it’s all a learning curve, and well, I guess lettuce and basil are pretty steep ones!

Getting back into the swing of things here has been a non-issue really (other than the jet-lag, and man oh man does jet-lag ever play a number on this old broad). Being home in Little Rock this fall was such a complete blur of craziness – for so many reasons, and I had someone tell me, “it sure doesn’t seem like you’ve been home four months”… well, that’s because I’ve only seen you TWICE! And that’s just the way it was… we were on the go from the minute we hit the ground. We worked harder on Rwanda in the states than we do in Rwanda - or that’s at least how it felt!I hadn’t been home three days before Russell calls to tell me that the Minister of Education was in Little Rock to meet with some of the Rwandan Presidential Scholar students, and that I needed to pretend I was him (Russell) and attend everything that was related to his visit, and help him understand what all we were doing here… ok, sure… at this point, I don’t know my name because of the jet-lag. I was getting up at 3 am and wanting to go to bed at 3 pm, but I smoozed and introduced and mingled and explained till I was blue in the face… guess it worked! He told someone he liked “that woman” that lives in Musanze. The week after he got back he became the new Prime Minister… that’s me, Cheryl Rainey, “that woman” that lives in Musanze, with friends in high places J. Maybe I should smooze in a jet-lagged state more often!

A few weeks later we also hosted the Rwandan Minister of Infrastructure, who spoke at the Clinton School of Public Service, the Rwandan Ambassador to the US, and the Rwandan Commercial Attaché to the US for six days. Oh, the details and planning that went into THAT as well. They met with everyone from the Governor to top business leaders. A very successful trip and on a subsequent trip to DC, we met with the Ambassador and Attaché again. To none of these meetings, might I add, was I able to attend in my yoga pants, fleece pullover and trail runners – my dress of choice when back in the states! SUCH a bummer! I own exactly one nice pair of black pants and boy oh boy did they get worn out… and as time went on and those breakfast, lunch and dinner (not to mention in between coffee and after dinner dessert) meetings started to catch up to me on the scale… sheesh… 15 pounds people – FIFTEEN pounds… that’s what I gained in 4 months! That is just plain ridiculous – I was VERY thankful those black pants have a little lycra in them. But, hopefully, as has been in the past, it won’t take me long on the “African diet” to lose it all plus some! HOPEFULLY! But at least I brought back several pairs of new yoga pants!

All that to say… we spent much of our time casting the vision of the Musanze Opportunity Center (MOC), and we have had the incredible support of our entire board who puts as much time and effort into all of this as we do… our goal is to raise a million dollars by next April. We have a nice start, but if any of you hit the lottery…we have a backhoe and other construction equipment we could sure use over in these parts!

We did get in a few get-away trips. RR spent some time in Jackson Hole backpacking with Josh, and I spent a few days in Destin with Brit and her husband, Kelly. We also spent a weekend in Naples, FL with my very bestest, Kathleen, and her husband (after she spent a few days in LR with me), and I went straight from there back to Destin to spend a week with my mom and dad! I did a girls weekend with my “Wolf Pack” girls in Memphis, and as previously mentioned, RR and I spent a few days in DC in meetings and hiring an Executive Chef for the MOC. He and his family will be moving here in late spring. I also got in a trip to Vegas with my mom and sister, and Josh was able to come down from Jackson to meet us, so that was nice! Christmas was great this year, since Josh’s girlfriend of four years, Kathi (who is German and lives and goes to school in Germany) was able to come to LR for 10 days. First time all six of us have been together, and it made my heart soar! That honestly is the still hardest part about living here… being away from family and friends!

But, it’s been awesome getting back to baby Elizabeth, who isn’t a baby any longer. At 19 months, she is walking and talking (in English – YAY), and as stubborn as ever – that’s my girl! All of the staff is making great strides in English, although we are still working on getting some phrases out of their vocabulary. For example, instead of “little by little” they say “slow by slow”, and for “last night”they say “toooo night”. It cracks us up! And the teaching continues!

Our car is finally in the process of getting fixed because we lugged six trunks – most of them with car parts – back with us! The funny thing is, when the mechanic went to do a“test drive” yesterday, one of the tires was flatter than Flat Stanley, and off he goes… while three guards were watching… I literally chased him down to stop him! You know it’s bad, when I am the one giving car advice – EEECK!! Frasier Crane is fine and dandy and still stalking people… and I mean… follows you around and spreads his wings when you don’t pay him attention! But, his plumage is really getting beautiful!

In the next seven months we have LOTS of visitors coming and people moving in… Frances, a Canadian teacher, and the new head of our English Institute, and her husband are now on campus. We have a chiropractor that is trying to get that going here in Rwanda moves in next week, and then we have some folks that will be joining us for a few weeks or months at a time. We have several different sets of business folks coming and Fellowship Bible is sending a mission trip over in June… SOOO, things are hoppin here at the MOC and, God willing, will continue to do so.

In closing, I would like to say that if I didn’t get to see you much (or at all) while we were home, I am truly sorry. I even got a few “oh, hi, I’m Brittany… are YOU my mother?”from my very own child! I never would have imagined that this “let’s move to Rwanda to help as best we can, for a YEAR OR TWO” thing would have turned into such a large scale, over the top, will only happen if God shows up BIG TIME, kinda project, but it has, and the only thing Russell and I know to do is to be as faithful to that as we can. Anything other than our very best just isn’t acceptable. I hope that next fall we are able to find more of a balance between work and down time. I honestly don’t know if we (or at least I) can keep up the pace we kept this fall… but, since we are all in, I’ll let you know how that goes! And if you didn’t get a Christmas card and letter this year… don’t feel slighted… for the first time in 27 years, I didn’t get one out… THAT is how busy I was! Oh, the shame!

I’ve included some new photos of the campus (and the rainbow roofs), along with Elizabeth and Frasier. We would LOVE a visit from any and all that want to come! Our door (or gate as it were) is always open – not really, it stays closed and locked, but we’ll keep the lights on for ya!

The Campus with the new green roofs

Mama Bear's new pink/green minky blanky - thanks to my kids!

Ahhh...William Sonoma Hand Soap & Lotion

A little taste of home along with the other comfort items - I just love the "Gone to Wal-Mart" sign - I wish!

Our living room/dining room area

Our Bedroom - tent included!

The front of the campus with the Rwandan flags painted on the roofs!

The flower bed in front of our house!

Yellow Roof!

Frasier Crane!

Our ornamental lettuce!

The biggest American flags EVER!

The peppers are looking GREAT!

As is the califlower!

That would be the "Frasier Crane look"!

My favs - the hydrangeas

And this would be the "Elizabeth look"

Mt. Muhabura as seen from our house!

Mt. Sabyino as seen from the north side of the campus!

And WHAT is a Southern girl to do without her Tervis Tumblers??

Bulk, Bugs and Goodbyes....

Well…at least I’m not a month since my last post. We continue to try to get the compound running at a smooth pace. I would say we are making progress, although we are still figuring things out. Some things are coming more easily…some things are still a continual struggle. The water situation has been much more consistent, thanks to some ingenious engineering by TCBITW. Power and internet still come and go (internet less so thanks to some battery back-ups), although I have determined if I have to live without any one thing…power and internet are MUCH easier to do without than water!  

Our two 40 foot containers got off from Little Rock this week…can I hear a big WOO HOO…come mid-August (please Lord, mid-August), we will have a plethora of things we either can’t get here at all, or are so expensive (and cheaply made), they aren’t worth buying. We have everything from generators to furniture to toilet paper (and DO NOT EVEN JUDGE THAT DECISION) coming in bulk, and oh how grateful we will be for all things large and small! I have to give a great big shout out to some folks without which the containers would not have gotten off (much less with all the things we need)…the whole wolf pack (Braswell’s, Chapman’s, Greenwood’s and Woodham’s). They did everything from coordinating the shipment to runs to Sams, Home Depot, etc. at the last minute. Russell’s mom and dad, Roy and Salliejane, who lent the use of one of their garages as a staging area, and had to put up with daily UPS arrivals and being there on pick-up day to make sure everything made it. That saved us a lot of time and money not having to have a separate storage area for all the container stuff, not to mention the hassle, for them, of having stuff piled up for months and months. My mom and dad, who put up with Josh, his bum knee and his friend, Coop, who got into LR right in the middle of all the hoopla.  And, last, but not least, Brit and her husband, Kelly, who have been a continual source of help with us living here…They are always willing to do WHATEVER they have to do to make sure we get what we need, when we need it! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…we simply couldn’t be doing what we are doing here without the STRONG support of both our families and all of our friends.  We would be half as productive (and let me just say that half as productive and we might as well not be here) and A LOT more stressed (and people, I could not TAKE a lot more stressed) if it were not for that support. Words honestly can’t do justice to how thankful we are for them all!

One thing we are still trying to get a grasp on here in beautiful downtown compound land is the creepy, crawly bug situation. About two weeks ago, I popped up with 47 bug bites (yes FORTY-SEVEN…I counted every last one). The biggest, itchiest bug bites EVER…to the point that I did a round of steroids, didn’t sleep for days on end and was pretty much M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L. E!!! Here’s a hint…buy stock in Benadryl…I will personally see that you make money on that investment! So…after a few days and the steroids kicking in…itching subsided and bumps begin to disappear…but we still don’t know the creature that caused such a plague on my body…the Dr’s. King suggested several things…African Ju Ju Chiggers, and bed bugs were discussed…I don’t know if the African Ju Ju Chigger is actually a pest here, but apparently they do have chigger like bugs, and well, I did all the research on the dreaded bed bug, and all I can say is EWWWWWWWWWWWWW…..I immediately went to work to try to find out if we, indeed, did have the little things, and let me just interject here, that we, in fact, have bed bug specific covers on our mattresses and all the pillows, and Katie and I tore those things apart looking for tell tale signs, and well, there simply were not any. AND, TCBITW has yet to experience one bite, so I am leaning towards the African Ju Ju Chigger! All’s well for two weeks and then BAM…yesterday – 10 bites! DANG IT!! At least it’s not 47, but still miserable, although no steroids this time...can’t exactly stay on those for long periods of time, but see above about Benadryl investment – just sayin. If anyone knows where I can get a black-market supply of the twenty year banned, DDT, please send it my way…I’m willing to try just about anything….oh, to just have Orkin or Chem –Lawn!

We also said goodbye to Katie Rainey last week. Bittersweet for us all, and beautiful, downtown compound land is simply NOT the same without her. She was a joy to have for four months and we hope that it isn’t the last we see of her! She completes degree number two in December, so she will have a little more freedom after that! Her house will be waiting on her, should she decide she wants another go over here. Christine, Chantal and Jan Viere gave her a “surprise” going away party (photos included). It was very touching and sweet, and reminded me, yet again, why we can’t take our presence here lightly. The staff and people we work with do become attached and when we leave, they still don’t trust that we will, indeed, be back, even when we assure them that we will. We tend to think of what we do here as a project; they see us as their lifeline to a better future. Oh, the pressure of it all!! With her leaving, we also said good-bye to Lucy, Blanket and Charlie (since she was their primary caretaker, and thanks, but I don’t do the whole goat thing). We donated them to the deaf school just a kilometer up the road from us, and they intend to use them to teach the Orphan head of household kids how to care for livestock and use the milk for the deaf boarding students.  We wanted to make sure they went somewhere they didn’t just end of on the bad end of a shish kebab! And since I start my volunteer work there next week, I can keep an eye on them!

So…we continue to just plod along, doing the best we can….each day a different (and sometimes the same) challenge, but step by step, little by little, we are making progress! Prayers please, for the expedited arrival of the containers! We seriously don’t need any Atlantic hurricanes or Somali pirate takeovers of freighters….

Till next time….

Jan Viere, Christine and Chantal....

Christine and Katie..

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!!

Our newly painted sign...

Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

Sunrise over Lake Edward - QENP, Uganda

Here kitty, kitty - QEPN, Uganda

African Kob - QENP, Uganda

Water Buffalo - QENP, Uganda

Hippo - QENP, Uganda

Our 26th - May 4th

Wine Tasting @ The Big Easy - Stellenbosch, SA

Room with a view - Zorgvliet Winery - Stellenbosch

Zorgvliet Winery - Stellenbosch

Klein Oliphants Residence B & B - Franschhoek, SA

Gardens of same...

Cape Point from the Air

And the same...

Table Mountain and Cape Town Waterfront from the air

Me riding shotgun...

Add here we go....

And a big thumbs up to our pilot, Stephen...

Frasier Crane and the Peanut Gang.....

Ok….so what can I say about the last couple of weeks….”whew” comes to mind….

It started with another bout of malaria for me….dang…me and those skeeters…uggg!!  This time around the aches were bad, but not as bad as the first time, but man oh man, the fatigue that comes with malaria stayed with me longer than last time….I felt like my whole body was encased in cement….BUT…Russell , Katie and Christine took good care of me, and by the time Josh arrived on the 16^th, I was mostly good to go….I really just had to suck it up and well, the following is why:

Our final acquisition of the “Musanze Opportunity Center” or  “compound” as I refer to it, is complete…I realize “compound” sounds more prison like than opportunity like, but what can I say…old habits die hard…a seventeen cottage property, in which I mentioned our negotiations of a few posts back, and to get REAL details, you need to read Russell’s blog (www.musanzeinc.com), which details what we are going to accomplish with this property…as well as an aerial view...BUT, what I will say is, it was a FIGHT to get a holt of  (yes, I said “holt of”) the keys, even after having a signed lease from the Minister of Infrastructure…the folks (ok, one folk) at the local level, with sticky fingers, was not going down without a fight, and well, let’s just say he’s never come across the Raineys!! Nuf said!!

Now…those of you who know me, know I am an obsessive/compulsive sort  and I DO NOT LIKE CHANGE…something I should have SERIOUSLY considered when marrying the cutest boy in the world 26 years ago…but…as is the Rainey way (as Josh said…we ARE jump in head first kinda folk), instead of taking a week or two to move from the house we were living in, oh yeah, we attempt to do it in just TWO days…NOW…most of you are probably thinking, what’s the big deal…moving from one SMALL house to another (I have now downsized from a Little Tikes kitchen to a Fisher Price kitchen)…ok…THIS is the problem…the houses in the compound have not been lived in by any humans for over a year…so the non-human sorts had taken over (bugs and such…and let me just say officially that African spideys are definitely bigger than their American counterparts). SO, in these two days, we not only had to move EVERYTHING, but also CLEAN every house we were going to occupy, which was only three, but dirty does not EVEN begin to describe what they were! EEECCCKKK!!! Christine said she had never seen a muzungu clean like I do…and between Katie, Josh, Russell and I, along with Christine and Beatrice, we got the three cottages mostly habitable, although I will say, we have a ways to go! We ARE though, sleeping in our own beds and under skeeter nets…the rest will fall into place…I THINK!! I can honestly say there were a couple of days that I was SOOOO tired, I thought I wouldn’t make it to see another day…and even told Josh….I’m SURE your next mother will be young enough to handle these situations with your dad!

So…we get all our crap from one house over to the compound (in the pouring rain might I add), and in the MIDDLE of all the malay, we had promised Katie that once we got the keys, she could get a goat to attempt to make goat cheese…turns out, you need either a pregnant one or one that has just had a baby, and if you don’t understand why…maybe you should head back to eighth grade sex-ed class…well…we had the word out with one of the locals that we were looking for a goat to milk, and lo and behold, he calls THE FIRST DAY we were moving…. he had a mama and one month old, twin baby boy goats….

OK, let’s recap…a three acre compound with seventeen houses, along with other structures, not cleaned or yard work done in over a year…ME, freaking out over the change, and THREE goats, whom were aptly named Lucy (the mama), Blanket (Katie named him) and Charlie (Brittany named him)…notice the Peanuts theme (because, unfortunately, Katie’s dog, Linus, had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago, so these names are for Linus). Blanket, we have found, is the adventurous one, Charlie, is a mama’s boy…thus far, Katie has gotten a total of 6 ounces of milk, mainly because the night guards hear them cry and put them with their mama, so they nurse, and secondly, we haven’t had time to build a milk stand yet…which we understand will help. And of course, because we didn’t know where the goats “came from”, Katie decided we needed to give them baths, ya know, just to get them clean before she started the milking process…we took “goat roping” to a whole new level…yep…Katie and I bathing goats…and man, are they “slippery when wet” little suckers….the Rwandans thought FOR SURE we had done lost our minds…to which I would have to agree…

Then two days ago, a friend, Bill Boyd, who is a vet, and who is planning on moving onto the compound with his wife, Susan, sometime later in the summer, called and said he had a rescued African Crested Crane, that needed a home with room to roam…okie dokie then…bring him on over we say – and now you can tell we have TOTALLY lost our minds…and by the way…he has been named Frasier…Frasier Crane.

So yesterday…I am working trying to get houses in order, things organized, cook our first meal here in the Fisher Price kitchen, and Josh walks in my door and says, “Mom, the goats are on your front porch, and they are taking a poo”….EXCRUSE ME??? I thought he was kidding, but sho nuf, there they were…I happened to be headed out the door with a laundry basket under my arm, so I grabbed Lucy’s rope and DRUG her (she did NOT want to leave my front porch), as Blanket and Charlie followed….are we having fun yet????  A photo is worth a thousand words, so one is included…

THEN, Katie and I realize we hadn’t seen Frazier Crane all day…we look and look…no Frasier Crane, but we aren’t too worried, until later in the afternoon, Katie comes running in and says she found Frasier Crane stuck in a drainage collection hole that we didn’t even know was there…he clearly fell in, and couldn’t get out, and the last thing one of the vets told Katie when they left Frasier Crane with us was this: “don’t get too close, if crane’s feel threatened they go for the eyes and can take an eye out quick”. PERFECT!!! So…as soon as Russell and Josh got back (they had run into town), we started “Operation Rescue Frasier Crane”, which consisted of lowering a ladder into the muck, but because there was SOOO much muck, Josh had to hold the ladder, while Russell descended into the hole, which was probably 8 feet deep, with his sunglasses and rubber boots on (as not to get an eye taken out), and a blanket in hand (as per instructed by my BFF, Kathleen, who lives in Naples, FL and knows all things birds). Apparently, when you cover a bird with a blanket, it actually calms them down. So, picture it, Russell on a ladder, with a blanket, descending into muck, to try to cover Frasier Crane to grab him (but not just by the neck – don’t want to snap the little feller’s neck), which he does and is able to hold his neck and scoop him and additional muck up and out of the hole…and yes, we got it all on film, along with some pics, which I have included.

So…let’s recap again…I, Cheryl Rainey, live IN AFRICA, IN A COMMUNE (ok, not really, but might as well be), with THREE GOATS, an AFRICAN CRESTED CRANE, LARGE AFRICAN SPIDEYS (and other weird, awful, flying bugs…. AND, EVERYTHING needing repair….wow…THIS is what I always dreamed my life would be!! Yep…I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to be ME???

But…for all the cranky moods, and stress we have had over the last few days, we are still blessed beyond belief and are providing employment to an even larger number of people, and in the months and years to come WILL make a difference in the community of Musanze…and this project is clearly bigger than just the Rainey clan…we couldn’t have gotten here without God, and HIS sacrifice FOR US!! Nor will we get anywhere without HIM, or the countless people that have and will come along side us and after us, to help and sacrifice along with us!

I’m hoping the next few days will be a TITCH less adventurous than the last few, but I doubt it….I’m also hoping the goats stay off my porch, and that Frasier Crane stays on dry land…till next time…hugs and love….

Cottages on the north side of the property

Cottages on the south side of the property

FINALLY...THE KEYS!!!!

Lucy, Blanket and Charlie (the Peanut Gang) visiting my front porch and leaving a little somthin somthin

View of one of three of the volcanoes we can see from the property

Home Sweet Home - Our House - You think the yard needs attention??

Poor Frasier Crane - Stuck in the hole

The beginning of "Operation Rescue Frasier Crane:

The scoop up and out....

The Hand Off

Free at LAST!!!

Who wouldn't want to be ME???

JUST.BE.GRATEFUL!

Yesterday the country of Rwanda commemorated the 17th anniversary of the genocide. Approximately a million people died in 100 days. That was 1994. The whole country was shut down yesterday and even for the next week, businesses will close 3 hours a day to allow their employees to remember and grieve what was lost with the friends and family they have left.

In 1994, my kids were 7 & 9…in 1st and 4th grades…I don’t remember the exact spring break trip we took that year, but since we always got a two week spring break in Jackson Hole, we almost always hit a beach resort of one sort or another…usually the Caribbean or Mexico. My rule was… we live in the mountains, so we don’t vacation there. I VERY vaguely remember news reports of the happenings here that year…and I’m sure I thought…oh, how terrible, and then went on to the fun activity of the day…not giving it a second thought.

Our gardener, Beatrice, remembers today, April 8th, very specifically, as it was the day her father died..on April 9th, her mother…she and her brother were brutally beaten, but somehow survived. She was 18. Christine’s mother-in-law was home alone with her three children. Christine’s husband, Simon, was 15, his sister 11, and his other sister, less than a year old. When their home was attacked, they cut off his mother’s right arm and killed her daughter that she was carrying on her back, as most Rwandan mothers do. Her 11 year old daughter was also killed…she and Simon survived, she, just barely. Cyiza was 18 years old. He joined the RPF, President Kagame’s army, and fought to stop all the savagery. Christine herself was lucky. Her grandparents moved their family to Uganda when Christine’s mom was just 9 months old during similar problems that occurred in 1959, so she and all her siblings were born in Uganda and they lived there until Christine was 9…her mother and father moved their family back to Rwanda in August of 1994. Her parents wanted to come “home” to help rebuild the country of their heritage.

So yes, Christine was 9. She and Brittany are the same age. My daughter was playing on a beach in the Caribbean, not a care in the world. Christine was getting constant reports of family members that had been murdered, beaten or raped.

Seventeen years later, living in this country that has been through so much, I find myself getting frustrated on a daily basis…usually more often than not, about how slow or unorganized or, honestly, how hard it seems to get Rwandans to understand or “get it", whatever "it" is . Things that take 5-10 minutes in the US, take 1-2 hours here. Sometimes I question why we are here and are we really making a difference. Yes, God called us here, but do I REALLY have to follow through…sometimes (most times) it’s just seems SOOOO hard!

Then I look at the people around us…the people we have contact with every day…the people we have the most influence on…Beatrice, Christine, Cyiza, Ronald…these people that have lived through unspoken hardship and tragedy and MY life is hard…REALLY?? And when I look at their precious families, I realize that yes, we are making a difference. Are we changing a country, I don’t know about that…are we changing the lives of the people around us, I believe we are. Am I being changed most of all…ABSOLUTELY!

So today, when your husband doesn’t pick up his socks, or your kids are driving you CRAZY, or your parents are either doing the same (driving you crazy), or needing your help more than they did a year ago…Thank God that in 17 years in April,, 2028, you won’t be remembering this day or month in horror. Be grateful for what and WHO you have!  JUST. BE. GRATEFUL!! I know I am!

Just Jump....

Well… we have settled back in, and are REALLY enjoying having our niece, Katie, for the next four months… she will be helping with some writing that we need on various projects, as well as starting a writing project of her own. We also have Sebastian, a German young man, who has been helping us with website design. He’ll be here until mid-May. Josh arrives mid-April for a month, so we’ll be surrounded, once again, by a house full of kids! Hey… keeps us young, and we’re loving every minute of it!

Katie exploring Musanze...and her new friends!

A few months ago, we became aware of a non-occupied “compound” or campus that was previously occupied by the German road building company, Strabag. It has been a year since anyone has lived there, but consists of 17 small, one bedroom/one bath bungalows, each with a kitchen, and living/dining area, along with a commercial kitchen/dining building and a laundry facility. It’s set on 3 acres and is located just a few miles to the north of where we now live on the road that takes you to Volcanoes National Park. Of course, the cutest boy in the world didn’t have to think 2.3 seconds before he was making plans with all the things we could do with and on the campus. So… wheels started turning and negotiations began, and well, we are now the proud new renters of this campus. We are still waiting on a “move-in” date. Everything has been approved at even the highest level of the government, but as with everything here, even THEN things move slowly, so we make contact with the “powers that be” every day, and pray that we will soon get the green light and have keys in hand so we can open this base of operations to serve the people of Musanze. I will save all the plans we have for one of my future posts, but needless to say, it’s gonna be the bomb!! Photos will also follow in a future post...

I have also started tutoring Christine’s other two children two days a week in English and math… ok… English right now… we’re having to start from the beginning since they are getting so little in the public school they attend. At what point I ever thought I was going to be able to be an ESL teacher, I’m not sure, but I’m just taking it one day at a time, and know that eventually we will all be better for the experience. They will hopefully be able to speak English, and I will not have gone batty trying.

Fanny, Tonto, and Elizabeth

Who ME??

Today, I watched a guy pruning a VERY large tree in front of our house… he was doing so with nothing more than a machete. He was simply standing on one branch, and chopping at the ones above him. He then started chopping on the branch he was STANDING on…. and I was thinking… DUDE… not good… I then thought how much like that we are with God… we find ourselves, in life, standing on the very small side of a very big branch, and instead of reaching out in faith for God, we chop away until we HAVE to reach out for Him in desperation, or worse, we never reach for Him at all, which surely keeps us on the small side of life just waiting for our branch to break. Why is that… why don’t we trust that God is there for every step we take, why do we continue to chip away at our lives, expecting some different outcome? Do we REALLY think we’re smarter than GOD? Clearly, I often do… but today, watching the chop master dude, I pictured myself just walking, one step at a time, to the end of that branch, knowing that God was there… waiting to catch me, should I fall… or jump. That’s what this move and our life here in Africa has been and still is… taking one step at a time to the end of the branch and JUMPING! Did God catch me… He sure did! Do I have that much faith with every step I take… I sure don’t… am I trying to have more faith… I sure am! My prayer is that we can all just JUMP… because when you jump… and God catches you… life is NEVER the same.

Chop Master Dude...