Rwanda - Day 7

January 29
Well last night wasn't so good for Elina, she had a root canal done and it is infected.  Last night she was hurting so bad that Jemrose at 2:00am had to catch a motor scooter into Kigali to go to a 24 hour pharmacy and get her some antibiotics. I must of been pretty tired cause I heard none of this movement.

This is Dieudonne, the boy in the chair, and Elina - the day before her emergency night

This is Claudine

This is Faustin playing on my Blackberry phone, games



These are all of Jemroses children names:

Dieudonne, Innocent, Elina, Jane (Jeanne), Claudine, Marie Claire, John Paul; Jean Paul (JP), Eric, John Peter, Faustin, Sunday (Jean Claude).  I only have 5 of them in pictures.

I got up at 6:45am and made some toast and tea and sat out on the front porch and listened to the birds. 
When Jemrose got up and told me what had happened I knew this would be a long day.  We caught a motorbike to the bus station to catch the bus towards Bugesera, where the church was located.  Also one of Jemroses sons goes to school across the road from the church, John Paul.  We got to the bus area and climbed on a bus always watching our watches.  The bus didn't move and no one else came to get on so we decided to catch another motorbike to the church.  We were a bit late but caught the last of the worship....I felt at home, safe and warm.  It was so great.  I could of danced in the isles.  The message was wonderful too.  I just relaxed and prayed for strength for Jemrose after last night.
After church we walked up to the school to see John Paul.  We found him preaching at the school.  That was also very cool.  The students were so sweet.  You could feel Jesus everywhere.  John Paul is in his senior year there then he will go to the university if his test scores are high enough.
After this we walked to the bus stop to catch a mini bus.  We went back to the bus area close to the house and took a bicycle ride down to the house.  These guys don't have helmets but do all the same driving tactics as the motorbikes.  So I was in my jumper and had to sit sidesaddle.  It was actually fun.  You go slower and they swerve a bit more to miss the holes and bumps.
When we got home Jemrose made us lovely sandwiches with croissant, Avocado, tomato cucumber and pepper and a cabbage salad and Mayo.  YUM!  I have to tell you I am allergic to citric acid... when I eat tomatoes here or for that matter anything so called fresh I break out with sores in my mouth, canker soars.  Over there I never got one and I ate the stuff all the time.
Jodi came and picked me up so we could go out to the handicap orphanage and deliver some of the goodies I took over there.  We had Emmanual with us and his helper.  Emmanual is going to the university and Jodi found him a sponsor through her organization.  We drove out of town for quite awhile.  The only wild life I actually saw were two monkeys and by  the time I found my camera they were gone.

There are 11 children living here.  One was in the hospital.  We gave them enough color books, crayons, stuffed animals, wooden cars and a couple soccor balls for all 11 children.

Emanuel is on the far right.  The girl standing up had her arms macheted off during the Genocide, if I remember the details all right.

After our visit here we went to Emanuel's house and left all the calenders I brought.  He makes the beads and sells the necklaces and such to help pay for his tuition and things he needs.



This is Emmanuel in his house holding some of the calenders I gave him



On our way home from the orphanage we got a flat tire.  At first there were only a few people watching but by the end we had a crowd.  The gentleman in the pink shirt finally changed the tire and got us on our way.  I slipped him some franks---cant tell you how much, but it was a big number on the paper money for helping us.  I was so grateful for his help and calmness.

Jodi trying her hand under the car, to get the jack situated right.

We had the crowd gather, I stood watch as the tire got changed.  That's why I have a husband, just for these moments.:)

These next pictures were taken on our way to and from the orphanage.



This is a trumpet tree. 

They have goats in Rwanda... I took alot of random pictures of goats.

A young man hauling roofing material on his bike

These are fish ponds.  They raise a white fish, tolopia

One of the buildings we went past.

A Catholic Church

A young man pushing his bicycle up a hill with alot of weight.  Could be charcoal, some sort of veg., beans or rice.

There is a natural fence line here.  The make them out of this tree that will make a fence.  Its very cool looking.  Its like a succulent plant of some sort.

This is the only picture that looks like I was really in Africa!

When we got home from out trip the kids had dinner ready for us.  What great kids.

Jemrose got home a little later and we were all in bed by 9pm. 

Farm News:

Today the weather is rain.  I went out at 7am and cleaned the milk parlor while the girls fed our 4 babies - 2 lambs (freezer meat) 1 new sannen buck, and supplementing a boar doe kid.  Then I headed off to the processing plant to put my feta into buckets and into the cooler for 5 days.  The chevre I hung is looking good.  And this afternoon I will turn the Grande Rosa over.  House bound today... Our car is getting a new engine, our bulk tank is holding the temperature _ after spending a large amount of money and having to have the guy come out about 5 times. 

Danyel has an interview on Tue for a job at the Feed Store in Longview, keeping my fingers crossed.  Ali is going to be working on her drivers license - cause if Danyel gets the job Ali will be doing markets until she leaves for college in Sept..

David is at the first Proctors Farmer's Market this year.  We haven't got our health permit so we cant sample our cheese.... the usual no money thing.  We will get it this week so in two weeks we will be back sampling.  David is bearing the elements - rain, wind, cold to sell our cheese.  He will stop on his way home this afternoon to drop off a cheese order to a restaurant in Olympia.

No more babies born last night.  So we will be  watching those Nigerians very close... we are putting the baby monitor up there in the barn so we can hear them.

Have a great day and stay dry and look on the bright side:)

Rwanda - Day 6 - + sad news/farm

Janaury 29

This morning I got up at 8am, maybe I have adjusted.  I had a couple cups of tea some toast and some watermelon.  Jemrose bought it the other day at the market.  Rwanda is starting to grow them, but they are very expensive.
Today is  a National Work Day.  Its the last Sat. of every month.  From 8am - Noon each community does a project.  No one travels.  If your out the police will stop you and ask why your not helping your community.  If you must go somewhere you must be back before 8am.
It is usually warm here, and there has been a smog hanging over the town until about noon.  I didn't take many pictures yesterday. 
Jemroses other son is here visiting, John Paul.  He is a senior in high school.  He is studying to be a doctor and he is also like a pastor on campus.  You must study very hard because you have to past a test in order to get into the next level of school.
School in Rwanda isn't like ours.  Jemroses children go away like to boarding school.  They get holidays off and come home then.  Jemroses children seem to get sick stomachs when they are away from home.  Its because the food and water they have to drink at the schools.  You have to pay for these schools.  You can go to primary grades for free.  But the middle and high school costs your family money.
Jemroses foundation helps pay for the schooling and all the school supplies that these kids need.  She helps them stay on task and is their support.
The girls braided my hair so I would look nice for Church tomorrow.  This took all morning to do.  But if I say so my self I think it turned out great.



At 2pm Jemrose, Faustin and I left for the town.  First we walked about 3 blocks mostly up hill to the market and we walked on the outside of the market.  There were lots of fruits and veg. as well as fish and chicken.  It was very busy and congested.  It really looked like a big farmers market.  We caught a bus that would take us to town.  Now let me explain about the bus routes.  There is no posted schedule and there are no arriving times or leaving times.  Its when the bus is full. 

The bus on the left is one of the mini vans.  The people on the right are waiting for buses.

Now this first one was a mini van, there are three bench seats and then where the walk way is another seat flips out.  They sit 5 across each seat and the seat next to the driver will hold two people.  There is a guy who calls out to the people waiting for a bus telling them where his bus is going.  Every time we stop half the bus gets off to let someone else out... it was crazy.  One note, I was the only white person on the bus - every time I took a bus.  You pay for your ride just before you get off.  I don't know how that guy keeps track of everyone but he never missed a beat to collect that money.  This first bus took us to another stop where Faustin got off and took another bus to go see his mom in another part of Kigali.  We took another bus that took us to the heart of Kigali.  Where  we got out and walked through town.  We needed to find and exchange place so I could get some franks for my American money.  The exchange that day was 6.1 to our dollar.  so I exchanged $100.  Sure got alot of money back. 

Me and the Elephant at the Mall which is behind me

After this we walked to this mall and went in, through security.  We took each others picture with the elephant.  Then we went up stairs to a restaurant and had an ice tea and a piece of chocolate cake Ala mode.  It was my first spending money in Rwanda.

The security

Jemrose and the elephant at the mall

Then we walked back to catch a bus, or mini van.  We made it to with in about 10 blocks of the house.  So we caught a scooter or motorcycle with helmet back to the house.  The boys driving the motorbikes went slow cause I was new to all this.  This whole trip was about 5 hours long today.  When we got home the kids were cooking dinner and we ate at about 8pm.  Then prayer and to bed.  I was tired and ready to go to sleep.  It will be an early morning tomorrow to get ready to catch a motorcycle to Church.

The Farm News

Our baby Nigerian Dwarf passed away this morning.  It was so sad.  This was Willow's first baby.  We will continue to milk Willow and start adding her milk to the bulk tank for now.  Eventually after all the mom's have their babies we will save the milk to only add to my chevre recipe.  Yum!

Today I was a busy lady... as usual.  I got up at 5:30am with David.  He left for Seattle to sell at Pikes Place and check on our restaurants to see if we had any orders for this next week.  We are getting ready for the Farmers Markets to start opening.  Proctor in Tacoma starts this Sat.  Olympia starts next week.  So today I washed my cheese cloth so I could hang the chevre that I made yesterday.  I checked on my feta it will go in the cooler tomorrow for 5 days.  Then I made 36 gallons of milk into 5 rounds of Grande Rosa and got it pressing.  I also packaged about 70 packages of Chevre for the markets this weekend.  Then to the milk parlor to clean the bulk tank and hose as well as the milking system for this evening milking.  I set it all up for the girls.  Now I am making potato soup for dinner.  I will hit the bed early tonight. 

I really hope  your enjoying the Africa trip - I enjoyed myself and learned alot about this country.  Some extra info about Rwanda is that its considered the cleanest country in Africa.  Pretty cool.

Rwanda - Day 5 and New Nigerian Baby born

January 27
When I got up this morning, Jemrose and one of her daughters was heading off to the market.  The market is like our farmers markets.  Open stalls and there is lots of veg. and fish and chickens.  It is very noisy.  The vendors are trying to get your attention and show you their food.  What I have heard if your a white person there is a higher price they charge you and if your Rwandes its a lower price.  They think all white people have money.... wonder where they got that idea? 
Jodi picked me up at 8:30am which this time she was on time.  She had errands to do.  The first thing we did was move some of her stuff from a storage shed to where she is stying at the moment.  It is very hot today... don't know the temp. but its much warmer that the days before.  I have my frozen water bottle and a few slices of bread in a baggy to snack on today.  I also keep putting my sunblock on.  After moving her stuff... which was an adventure cause one of our tires went flat and we had to  have it pumped up.
Then onto the Sanctuary.  But first we pick up Zivlana,( I am sure I didn't spell her name right) she is a Russian lady who works with plants and agriculture and her specialty is banana's.   On our way to pick her up Jodi took me over some of her shortcuts..... I was holding on for dear life.

This is the sign to where Jodi's Sanctuary is



  So Jodi wants her to check on her bananas and check out the rest of the agriculture at the Sanctuary.  When we got there Jodi and Zivlana went to check the agriculture out and instruct the worker guys to start implementing her suggestions.  I went and checked on the chickens and looked at the goats.  Then I found a wicker chair to sit in the shade with and read my goat books.  Its very quiet here and peaceful.  I do notice at my feet a large amount of ants, so I had to move my chair a few times.

Zilvana is sitting in the middle.  The other ladies are from the Women's Co-Op

Later that afternoon we had a meeting with the women's-co-op.  I was to explain how much work it takes to do a goat dairy.  Our main idea was to weed out the ones who were not going to take this task seriously.  So that I could train the core group about dairy goats and milking.  And again the biggest issue was they didn't want to buy goats for themselves, they wanted Jodi to do that.  And Jodi said no way.  Emiy, Jodi's right hand helper, translated for us and then translated for the women. 

This lady was such a sweety.  Her baby was very cute.  All the mom's that have babies on thier backs carry umbrella's to shade the babies from the sun.

This lady decided to lay down with her little boy at the meeting.

Here is alittle bigger shot of the women from the co-op

 We will meet again in a few days to see who comes back for the real deal.

We left the farm about 5:30pm.  The conversation on the way home was how do we get the women to see that this is a good idea.  We came up with the co-op buys the goats and that way each women would only have a very small investment.  The co-op would then own the goats so it would make the money from selling the milk to Jodi.  This way the co-op could pay each lady back her investment in order to make another investment.  So to make their money back quicker we thought Jodi could buy the baby does back from them since their goats would of been bred by the Sanitaries Sannen buck.  Jodi would agree to pay the price they paid for the adult goat for the baby goat... thus they would make their investment back in 7 months.  And if they had a buck kid they could sell that at the market and again make their investment.  So on Monday we will present this idea and see what happens.
Today Jodi payed her employees their salary.  Then we dropped Silvana off at a bus stop.  And the went to Jodi's house so she could change clothes so we could go to a birthday party and a Rotary Club Meeting.  (I was upset that we didn't have time to go let me change into clean clothes for this party). I had on my holey jeans, a t-shirt. I went and tried to stay away from people cause I smelled like sweat and goat. I went and got a glass of wine and sat in a corner. Jemrose came with Bobby , a friend.  And they came and sat with me and visited.  Later Jodi came over and sat too.  It was a nice party.  They had BBQ some goat and then made a bunch of traditional food.  I met some business men and women at the meeting.  It was a nice house and nice people.  I got home about 11:45 and was very glad to hit the bed.


FARM NEWS: March 29
  Our first Nigerian Dwaf baby was born.  Mom's name is Willow and we think the babies name will be Alder.  Willow had the baby last night and we found her this morning all cleaned up - but she was weak so we brought her in the house and milked Willow so we could get some colostrum down the baby.  I looked at my tube for tubing my reg. sized kids and thought it might be to big.  So today I will run to the vets and get a smaller tube that will fit these guys.  I like to give them a tubing if they are alittle weak so they get a good start.  We are feeding it a little colostrum from a bottle.  I am making Chevre today and packaging up cheese for the weekend markets.  Our car broke this week and we are having to have a new engine put in it.  It should be ready by Friday this week if all goes according to plan.  The goats are milking great and things are sort of running smooth.

+-

My trip to Rwanda - Day 4

January 26
Got up today at 6:45am.  Jodi picked me up at 8:30am and we met Gashumba, he helps the women's co-op get organized and teaches them how to run the co-op.  What this entails are alot of talking and explaining sessions with these women.  They are smart believe me, they just have to be reminded over and over how it all works.  One of the things the women thought and kept bringing up at our meetings was that Jodi would give them goats.  They are so use to organizations giving them things they assumed that this was the case with the Sanctuary.  This was repeated over at each meeting we had that this was not the case.  I think in the end it became clear to them. 

This is the co-op womens group we worked with at one of the meetings we had later in the week.



After the very long meeting we came back home to Jemroses house and had lunch and then Jodi left to do more veterinary work and some of her errands.  I have another headache, don't know if its from the heat or elevation here.  I took some aspirin and went and laid down.  When I got up I went on the computer in Jemroses office and wrote to David and got to talk to all my children in the States.  So many questions and so many people on at one time it was crazy.
Jodi came back for dinner and then went back to the house she is staying at.  Jemrose had company this evening.  A husband and wife and three cute kids.  I gave them each a color book and crayons to entertain themselves while we visited.  They didn't speak English or not well, but Jemrose understood what they were saying.  These people are so sweet and kind.  I love the Rwandes people.  Today was kind of a relax day for me as I was home most of the day.  So I didn't take pictures
We  said our prayers and went to bed by 9:15pm.  Before I got to go to bed the oldest son had to catch a gecko that scampered into my room.

Faustin is teaching me Rwandes:
I am not spelling this right but it helped me sound the words out:
Azuro dkigiza - Good Night

Rwanda Trip Day 3

This morning I was up at 6:30am and got to see the sunrise while eating my toast and fresh pinapple and cup of tea.
Jodi came at about 10am to pick me up.  She had Carlesa with her, she is the wife of the Dutch Embassy.  She is a really sweet lady.  And I must assume she loves adventure.
I must tell you about the roads here.  They are like going up into the mountains 4wheel driving.  They have thier paved roads and there are a lot of very nice dirt roads, but I starting noticing that Jodi loves taking the short cuts - which are roads with huge holes, sometimes ruts as deep as the tires are.  And sometimes the car is almost on its side... but she assures me, she knows how to drive them.  And I have to say she did too.
She took Carlesa and myself on one of those such roads this morning, I think to see if we were awake and had our energy juices running.  We actually went and picked up a puppy that had been caught running around and Jodi was going to take it to the Sanctuary.  The pastor that was holding it for Jodi was very nice and he was also helping the farming with the Rwandis people and he already had 3 dogs and didn't need another one.
We went out to the Sanctuary with the puppy.  It was along day looking over everything.  When we got there Emey took the puppy and put it into a quanteened pen.

The building in the background is the Office building thour right now it is housing chicks and chickens.  Being outside all day I got my first sunburn, though not bad it reminded me to put my sunblock on. 

So we took a tour of the Animal Sanctuary.  This is her rabbit and guinie pig pens.  Eventually she wants the rabbits to be in the pen that surrounds the little pens, running free.  They have snake wire around this pen to protect the rabbits from snakes.  I must mention - I didn't see any snakes while there.  Thank you Lord.

This is the chicken coop.  It is split into several differnt area's for the differnt ages of chickens.  On the side of the building are outside pens for the chickens to go into.  There is chicken wire in all the windows.

The building on the left is the goat barn and he one on the right is the chicken coop.  Her field is about half of the field area you see behind the barns.

This is the inside of the goat barn.  The open area is for the tree, it has weaver birds living in it.

Me and the Banana plants.  you can see a flower with the banana's growing on it. Jodi has quite a few banana plants.

This is the new well that was dug just before we got there.  It will water the plants and animals quite well.  The people that drilled it said the water was good water.... but I wouldn't try it (its not boiled and filtered).

This is one of the goats Jodi bought last year.  And Jodi brings them fruit scraps and this one sure likes it.

These are her other goats.  These are does.  The building to the right is the milk parlor and feeding area.

This is the new green house.  Jodi wants to grow some more exotic fruits and veg. in here.  This should open up a new market for sales.  This green house is huge.

This is the pinapple field.    We picked 2 pinapples this day.  It is the first harvest off of this field.

So they have water and fresh fruit... Ya!

This is the womens co-op's field of cabbages.  They tilled this field by hand and they carry water from the new well to water the plants.  The field is a bit of a distance from the well.  These are some hard working women.

After the agruiclture tour we went back to the main housing area and there were her two cats resting in the sun.

 Ater this tour we decided to head home.  Carlisa didn't want to leave the puppy, so we took it back to Kigali and she is going to adopt it.  But before we get very far we stop at a little bar type place and have a soda  and get a bottle of water to go.  This place had pool tables and tables and chairs and a counter area to order your drinks.  It sounds like a bar now that I think about it.  We sat outside at a table in the shade and took the puppy with us.  Carlisa bought the drinks and it was a very quenching drink.  Thanks Carlisa!

When we got back to Jemroses house I took a nap and Jodi took Carlisa home. 

We had beans and carrots and potatoes with peanut sauce and rice.  Dinner was cooked by the three girls.  It was very tasty.  I took a shower today, in cold water.  Dont cringe yet.... thier water isn't anything like the NorthWests water temperature.  The water was cool but it sure felt good.  Everyday I did sponge baths and made sure to wash my feet, face, neck and arms.  When I would wash my hair there was so much red dirt in it the whole shower area turned brown. 

Today I saw my first geco, climbing on the wall.  I saw many geco's during my visit.  They never were on the ground and they eat mosqitoes.  Jemrose said when they moved to this house there were no geco's.  So they prayed for them to come....and they came.

                                                                   This is a baby one. 
I also saw a hug cockroach on the wall outside.  I didn't take a picture but it was almost the size of my hand.  Ick!
One side note is that just before sunset we shut all the windows and pull all the curtains.  No mosqitoes get in this way.  I also never did use the bug net... there were no bugs yet!
Bed was sweet tonight.

Rhonda in Rwanda - Day 2

January 24
I got up at  6:45am.  The time difference is I think about 10 hours so its really evening in Winlock.  I left my cell phone on and charged so I would know what time it was at home.  I also had my alarm set to milking times at home so I would be reminded what my family was doing back in the States. 
I ate breakfast of two pieces of toast and butter, with a small banana and two cups of tea.
So before I start telling you about my day, I want to tell you about where I was staying.
Jemrose had moved into this house in November, so had only lived here a few months when I showed up.  Deodonie- the oldest of her children, cleaned his room out so I could have his room and bathroom.  I am sure I havent spelled his name correct.  That was very nice and I was very comfortable.  this is a traditional bed for Rwandes. 
I need to share about the house that there were locks on all the doors, with keys - to be used. I am not talking about outside doors, I mean every door in the house.  For instance the kitchen had three doorways and each had a door and a key.  And all the doors were locked every night and anytime we all left. And bars on all the windows.  There are no screens on the windows.  I believe this was due to the attacks that have happened in the past years of Rwanda.  This house is payed for by the organization that Jemrose is part of.  ROY PROJECT, its out of England. I will put the information on later for her project.  Jemrose is from England and has the accent to prove it.  She speaks pretty good Rwandes and knows the customs too.  Jemrose has 9 foster children from the ages of 17- 27 years old.  She sees them as her own children.  She teaches them their traditions and cultural ways of doing things as well as helps them stay in school and get into a school.  I look forward to going back to Rwanda to see her and possibly to help her anyway I can.  I too have a heart for the children that are displaced, as we were foster parents here in the states for almost 8 years.

Back to the house:  This is the front room and dinning area.  When you enter the house you have a different pair of shoes, so as to not bring in the clay dirt.  They dust and wash everything down almost every day.  Even the outside of the house, the windows and bars, and the sidewalks and all the floors.  The couch and chairs were bought by the ROY PROJECT.  Before the couch it was plastic chairs.  The hutch in the back held our dishes that we ate on.

This is the kitchen.  The stove in the corner is propane.  We didn't use the oven, but did use to burners to keep things warm.  We rarely used this sink as the one outside was the dish washing station usually.  There was a refrigerator not wider than the stove and about 2 times taller.  It had a little freezer.  You can see the bars on the window too.

This is the back yard area to say.  The dish washing sink is on the left bottom.  There is only grass in the front yard.  The rest is cement.  The building you see is the storage and cooking room. The blue bucket is a hand washing station.  And they have a food storage room that isn't in the picture but it is past the sinks and table on the left.  They stored potatoes, fresh veg. and rice and beans and then more cooking dishes in there and it locked. The silver table is a charcoal stove.  There are three burners to it and where the black holes are is where the ash goes.

This way of cooking is traditional for Rwandes.  And the children cooked for me on it each night.  Oh the food was wonderful.  I even got to cook on it one night when I made them as close to Taco's as I could get.

This is the front porch.  I ate breakfast here every morning.  It was so peaceful and relaxing.  I remember thinking I am really in Africa.    The sun shone each day and averaged about 80 degrees.  The red fence in the top picture is a secured gate.  We had to lock it when we went out and came in.  It had a gate so we could just open it and not the big doors, which are for cars to enter.  There is a wall all the way around the house and yard and is very secure. The birds would sing to me.  I tried to get a picture of them but they are very small and my camera was not very good focusing in on them... before they moved.  We also had a bearded dragon (lizard)
in the far corner our the yard.  Jemrose got a picture of him.  I could never get one.

This is the picture hanging on the wall of Jemroses house it is the King of Rwanda, along time ago.  He was a Tutsi.

Now onto my day:
Also time really isn't a factor here, anyway Jodi would tell me a time she would be by to pick me up but it was always an hour or two later.  So watching the clock did no good.  Jodi has a jeep in Rwanda.  Jemrose doesn't have transportation.  O.K.  back on track.  She picked me up and we went to another persons house in Kigali, to make tomato sauce.  Jodi's foundation sells the sauce to a pizza restaurant.  Last year she grew all the tomatoes on the Sanctuary property.  This year the blight took out the tomatoes, so she is having to buy the tomatoes at the open market. 

These are some guys that work for Jodi, they are washing the tomatoes and cutting them in half and then they will use a industrial wizzer ( giant mixer) to smash the tomatoes.  Then we took the tomato sauce to the restaurant.
After this Jodi had two meetings with her employees to catch up on the last months while she was gone to the States.  After this we went to pick up a stray dog and take it to the sanctuary and then Jodi will find it a home.  Then Jodi brought me back to Jemroses house and I got to visit with the children there.  I had for lunch: a special bread - its like indian bread- it was so good and some fruit and cold water.-
Electricity is very expensive there, so the lights are not used often and then made sure they are turned off promptly.  So the Internet is the same.  The kids had the Internet on, so I brought up facebook and showed them pictures of my family and all the snow we had just had.  I got to show them all my goats too.   While I was on facebook, I left notes for my daughters to tell their dad all is well and to tell him Hi.  I was on the Internet the whole three weeks about 6 or 7 times.  After this I went in and took a nap.
Jemrose and I got some alone time and I shared how David and I met and how God moved in our lives. We shared our relationship with God.  We both were in agreement too.
Jemrose shared with me about the Genocide that took place over 15 years ago, 1994.  Each year on, I believe April 7, the whole country morns the loss for 100 days.  Jemrose shared how her children react to this event.  It was very sad.  Some of her children lost their whole families and were chopped with machete's themselves.  It is all very disheartening.  I really have issues with government now - cause they knew about what was happening and turned a blind eye.  Some countries even sent over the machete's to help with the massacre.  How rude!!!!
Before I came over to Africa I had to put together a picture book for my goat class.  But I didn't put any writing under the pictures so that we could have someone put Rwandes words to describe what it was they were looking at.  I gave my book to Jodies right hand man, Emey, who also did all the interpretations for me.
I have gotten alittle color on my cheeks from the sunshine here, already. I have lost track of time. My watch is set at Blue Rose Dairy time and then the clock in the frontroom here is Rwandes time.
Driving here is crazy. The scooters and motorcylcs go where ever they want and the cars do about the same. I shut my eyes when we come to the intersections. Cars and trucks and scooters all mesh together.
We had chips (french fries) for dinner, beans with eggplant, avacodo and spagetti noodles and some sauce.  They like to drink warm water, the children.  But I like cold so they keep some in the refrigerator.  They boil thier water and then run it through a filter.  I am trying to drink lots of water and stay away from the soda pop.  Jemrose and the children put a water bottle in the freezer each night for me, so I can take the water with me when I go with Jodi.  Jemrose drinks lots of tea and I love that.  When I make a hot cup and don't have time to drink it I put it in the refrigerator and have it later as ice tea.  It sure quenches my thirst.
We all sat in the frontroom and prayed before we went to bed.  All the doors were locked and its very quiet out.  Its dark and I look forward to shutting my eyes.

Blue Rose Dairy Goes to Rwanda- Intro- Day 1,2,3

I want to start off with an apology for not getting this started when I got home.... Our computer was turned off due to lack of finances and that's the nut in the shell on that. 
Now onto the Intro:
This adventure started about 4 years ago at Pikes Place Market.  We met Kathleen Harrison, she spoke with us about how to make cheese and then went onto tell us about Kenya and her Project.

Kathleen Harrison, PhD
Founding Director, HARAMBEE, NFPwww.projectharambee.org

She is helping women with AIDS.  We got to talking and she told us she had a goat program, where her organization would buy the milk goats and the mom's would milk the goats instead of breast feeding their babies.  She also teaches the women to do crafts and then she helps them market their wares.  She is an amazing women to do this on her own with no pay and alot of hard work.  We thought it would be great to teach the women how to make cheese with their extra goat milk.   We just needed to figure out the logistic of doing that.  We had to plan around my birthing of babies, milking schedual and of course cheese making and our farmers markets.  So we kind of thought winter here like Dec. Jan or Feb.  Well the year came and went.  The next year I got my passport all in line and thought I might go then, but that wasn't the case.  Instead I met another lady working in Africa, Jodi Garbe.

Jode Garbe, DVM, JD

Managing Director

Rwanda Wildlife Sanctuary

& Science Education Center

(RwandaSEC/RwandaNOW)

in Rwanda 250 788740 428

in US 206 283 9167

www.rwandanow.org

She spoke at our grange, Hope Grange -Winlock Wa., about her being a veterinary for the Silver Back Gorilla's in Rwanda.  She shared about her vision of starting an animal sanctuary and veterinary clinic.  So we started talking about starting a goat dairy so she could make cheese to sell to the hotels.  This would help support the non profit sanctuary.  Jodi is working hard also to accomplish this goal.  She has the property now and is working towards building the sanctuary.

So that is a brief pre... to the trip.

 Then I had to find someone to make cheese while I was gone and that came to Taneka and Mark.  She makes goat soap and other items like deodorant and lip balm and hand lotion.  All great products.  Mark had an interest in learning to make cheese so they came over in the Summer and put their hand to task.  Its was alot of fun and they learned to process very quickly.  So about 2 weeks before I left they came over faithfully and made cheese and I gave them more free run of the processing plant each time.  The day I flew out Mark made his first batch of cheese by himself and I was in Seattle and he Now we jump up to just before the trip... Shots. I had to have 3 shots and take a pill once a week for malaria. I hate shots, but each shot didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. So it ended up not being as traumatic as I thought. only called me a few times just to check if he was doing it right..... he was.

Now we jump up to just before the trip... Shots. I had to have 3 shots and take a pill once aweek for malaria. I hate shots, but each shot didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. So it ended up not being as traumatic as I thought.   Then I was told by someone that I didn't need to take clothes over - because clothes were cheap there and I could just buy them there.  A few days before I was to leave I talked to Jodi and she said no way thats is not good info.  So I had to repack my suitcase to take clothes for me.  I had several people give me gifts to take over there and give away.  Bob Gurassio made me 20 wooden cars, he lives in Clatskanie Oregon.  Dick and Bev Nieces sent me 20 color books, and crayons to take, from Eastern Oregon.  My mom sent me stuffed animals and some matchbox cars to take over.  I had a teacher for Olympia bring me soccor balls and socks to give away over there.  So I took 3 suitcases filled with goodies and my clothes.

I have to throw in a big thank you to my husband and two daughters for taking over the farm and keeping things going when I was gone.  My daughters also had friends come over and help on occasion. 

Well on January 14 Jodi emailed me and told me that our flight for January 18 had been canceled and we would have to leave on the 21st instead.  One other note is that Harambee, NFP paided my airfare ticket to get to Rwanda, Thank you Kathleen and your wonderful group for such an awesome experience.  Anyway I started packing my bags and making lists. 

 On January 17 it started snowing.  Not the usual kind where it snows 2 inches then melts and freezes and then melts some more.  Oh no someone told the Weather Man I wanted to fly out to sunny weather, his response was Not on My watch.   We are in full kidding now, which means that we have heat lamps all over the barn in every pen... its cold out.  We had about 44 does kid before I left for Rwanda.  We sold all the kids we needed to before I left so that the girls didn't have any extra work to do while I am gone.  Mark came over today to packaged some restaurant cheese orders and made some chevre.  When we got up we had 10 inches of snow on the deck.  Which usually isn't a big deal except Mark needs to come do this stuff so he feels comfortable about doing it on his own.  It doesn't look like anyone is going anywhere today.  I am hoping  on Thur. the rain starts so by Friday I can run to town for the few last items I need - like bug spray, suntan lotion, garden shears for trimming goat hooves, socks, and maybe a pair of tennis shoes.   Today I took my second malaria pill and Friday the 13th I had my yellow fever shot and Mengacal (spelling may be wrong) shot to the tune of $216, the malaria tablets were $96... talk about sticker shock!!!  Tomorrow they are saying we will get more snow... ICK!

January 18

Well this morning I woke up to 25 inches of snow on the ground.  Power went our at 3:30am and came on about 9:30 am.  We milked at 10am and was done by 11am.  David had to use the tractor to clear trails so we could get around the farm.  We did chores later than usual 6pm.

January 19

Well the power went out today about 9:15am and came on about 8:30pm.  We had to milk goats by hand twice.   We used the BBQ to melt snow to water the goats.  We moved our Nigerians to the barn we couldn't even see them in the snow.  We had to move the cow to a pen because a limb fell over her pasture fence and the snow was shocking her.  911 got called twice today.  Once was a butt call.  The sheriff came out to see if were were alright.  The second one was because Ali drank bleach by mistake... she is fine.  We had freezing rain today too, tree limbs snapped everywhere.  We had a couple of trees break off and  some big limbs fall to the ground to.  It never got more than 33 degrees today.  Cant wait to see what tomorrow brings.  Had about 1/2 inch of Ice cover everything.

January 21

Well the day is here.  I got up at 5am- cleaned the kitchen a little and David had already loaded my 4 suitcases.  We stopped at Walmart to get batteries for my Ipod and camera.  I also got some pepto tabs and calamine lotion.  WE also had to get locks just for the suitcases that were airport approved.  Then off to Pikes Place.  We sold cheese all day.  We did very good so I took an extra $100 dollars with me.  David took me to Jodi's mom's house where she was packing her stuff to go.  David left me with Jodi cause he had to be back in Seattle the next day to sell cheese and needed to get home.  I took my motion sickness pills 2 hours before we were to take off.  We repacked my suitcase to get everything she had extra to take.  I put the locks on all my suitcases and then put the four keys in different places.  Jodi's mom made us sandwiches to take.  Jodi's brother took us to the airport.  The plane leaves at 11:45 for Washington DC.  I will be taking motion sickness pills every 4 hours till we get to Rwanda. 

We got into Washington DC at 4:40am.  We went to the NCO and I took a nap.  I feel better.We leave NY at 10:45am  We have to go back through security to board the Ethiopia Airlines. This was the airport that I was the most scared about.  Its huge... but the signs are big and its actually easier than I imagined to find my way around.  We ended up having to run to our airlines.  The train wasn't so bad either.  Thank the Lord, I think he was watching over me... no I am sure He was.

When we boarded this plane they gave us slippers and each seat had a monitor that we could watch our choice of movies, listen to music, watch the flight information, play games.  I chose Romancing the Stone for my movie.  They also brought us pillows, and blankets and eye covers along with toothpaste and toothbrush.  This is a huge plane.  There were hardly any passengers and so Jodi and I got 3 seats to ourselves, so we could stretch out and sleep.  We will be traveling 6314 miles to Addis Abeba and we will be traveling at 601 mph at an altitude of 6000 ft.  Thought you might like a little extra info. 

Jodi taking a nap.  This is one long flight.  Looking out the window is only clouds.  We are over the ocean.  I took another motion sickness pill.  They served us lunch: chicken with red sauce - rice and peas.  Cheese and crackers, cheesecake, green salad with Italian dressing.  Hot Tea and water.  It was very good.  This is so hard to do nothing on such a long flight... when I have so much to do.

We are now 5274 miles from Addis.  We are flying past Athens Greece now.  We went across the Mediterranean Sea.  We have been on the plane for 9 hours.  Every once in awhile the plane shakes.  I am now watching another movie, The Sound of Music.  We have about 1 hour till we are there.  They serve us breakfast: cheese omelet, tomato and hash browns, roll, crescent, jelly, coffee, water.  And I am stuffed.

I cant tell you if its night time or morning.  I think its just before sunrise.  I can see the red sky on the horizon.  We have landed...January 23.   We went out the back door of the plane and walked down the stairs and boarded a bus.  It took us to the main terminal and we then boarded a smaller bus and went to a smaller terminal.  We went into the lounge and waited for our flight to leave.

I will be sitting beside the window for this last part of the flight.  I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very good so I wont bore you with them.  We landed in Kigali where we again walked down the stairs and walked to the terminal.  We had to fill out passport paperwork again and I got my passport stamped.  The weather is warm and very nice here.  

Jodi had some friends meet us to take me where I will be staying.
I stayed with Jemrose Walker and her 9 children.  She is a foster mom helping these children through their school years.  Right now there were only two boys and 3 girls home. .  Jodi stayed for awhile.  I went and layed down and took a nap, but when I got up I had a headache so I layed back down for a while.  Think its jet lag.  I unpacked my suitcases and organized my stuff.  Staying here will be wonderful.  They don't have hot water so they heat up the water and put it in a large thermos for me to wash my face and sponge bath.  The first thing I learned was their way of greeting you... its always giving you a hug and then a hand shake.  They call me Auntie, which they call all the women that come into their house to stay.  She cooked dinner for me, Pea's with celery, potatoes, rice and bread and I had water, they had pop. After dinner the kids washed and put away the dishes. We prayed in the evening before we went to bed. It was very nice
I have to say I miss my family... I am so far away.  But the adventure is about to unfold.
I went to bed and slept very sound....

More tomorrow......