Diamonds, Gold and Orphans

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

 

   Here in the mountains of Rwanda the early mornings and nights are cool.  Last night as I was resting in my warm bed I listened to the children with their tight coughs below me.  There were many unsettling noises, sounds and cries coming from the little ones through out the night.  It seems to be a place of no peace.

 

   We could not use the foot path to school this morning.  It is shorter and takes less time but the rains have made it too dangerous.

 

    This week I have been asked to teach 428 orphans and their teachers English.  After a short meeting with the headmaster and all of the teachers, I stepped into my first class.  We start the day with the long and short vowel sounds.  At quarter to five and ten classes later the school day ends.

 

     After school we start our walk up the mountain to the village of Muhoroko.  It is here at the Catholic Parish that I have a room.  It takes a little longer going up than it does coming down J  We are not alone though.  There are many children behind us.  I am told they are "sticking to me".  Some of them walk great distances back to their village.  The children use to receive two meals a day at the school but because of low funds it had to stop.

 

   Many of the orphans go home to an aunt, grandparent or someone willing to oversee them with in their village.  It is a poor area.  Many here can not afford salt or even a candle for a light at night.

 

   As we walk I observe the diamond mine and all the earth around it that has been moved. The village of Ngorerero is now called a miners village.  It has brought

many men in the area some much needed work.  It has also brought sorrow as three

men have died while working here.  We walk a little further and Alex points to another area close by. Here they have found gold.  Another mining operation will start soon.

 

   After some food and a short rest I visit with the 70 orphans here at the Catholic Parish.  They sit quietly all around me as I share the Bible story with them.  All ages look on with amazement as I hold onto a colorful picture of Daniel in the Lions Den.  The picture is passed around and each one studies it carefully.  It is getting late but still all want prayer. So a line is formed and one by one I pray for them.  

 

   As I am leaving their room a small frame little girl wraps her arms around me.  She looks up into my eyes and says "I will never forget you"….my heart broke.  As I walked through the darkness of the night back to my room her words echoed through my heart.

 

Lord, I thank you for the tears

It means I have a heart

 "I will never forget you"

The heart within her is every bit the same as mine

The need for love, for a touch

The need for a hand to hold.

The need for a kind word.

Yet trapped so severely in a world, a small world

Every day the same

No windows to view a future

A forgotten child…………

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