Road to Rwanda.....Mototaxis

 As I got off my mototaxi this morning after arriving at school, I paid him my 500 rwf (about 40 cents) and thanked him.  He then said, "God bless you."  This was a young Rwandan mototaxi driver blessing me.  I was touched. I realized that I have probably not explained a major part of why we can continue to live in Rwandan into our dotage.  Transportation is a major life challenge no matter where you live. If it is a car, you need gas, maintenance, insurance, place to park, licensure, safe driving venues, etc. (USA, Senegal, Zambia) If it is public transport, you need accessiblity, low price, frequent occurences, safety, etc. (Taipei, China, Panama) ( If it is a bicycle, you need parking space, safe driving lanes, reasonably close proximity to places for you to bike to, and if possible.....gears. (Beijing)  But in several places we have lived motorscooters and also mototaxis have been the best option. (Taiwan, Indonesia, Rwanda).   It means that I...

Road to Rwanda----French Fries (or chips as the Brits say)

  You know how as a missionary you always use up whatever you have? Well we have struggled for years to reheat left over french fries from eating out. And although reheating sprinkled with a bit of water in the microwave is OK, it is not spectacular. But today!!! we put the french fries into the food grinder and got hash browns...which we don't ever make/get here! We are both quite pleased. Follow me for more food tips that no one else needs.

Road to Rwanda----Back to School

    School starts Wednesday, August 20.   I will teach 6 th grade language, 9 th grade World History, 10 th and 11 th grades AP Comparative Government and Politics, and a Digital Media Course in Christian Storytelling.   The last course, specifically, is a bit laughable.   At 72, digital media is not exactly where I can shine.   But I want to share our school, Virunga Valley Academy.   I want to showcase our students in hopes that we can facilitate their attendance in a foreign university.   I also want to use it to recruit teachers to our school.   (All overseas schools struggle with filling their roster.   Praise the Lord that we have 6 new teachers this year, and they are not just bodies filling spots, but rather are excellent educators which will be a blessing to our community: 4 from Kenya, 1 from Uganda and 1 from Ghana). Students also need exposure to subjects involving technology like this and listed on their transcripts to...

Road to Rwanda----Every Day Happenings

  I have not written in months and months.   For one thing I am tired teaching.   I still LOVE it and am not going to quit, but it takes more energy every year….not because of the kids, but because of me. Another aspect is the longer you are in a country, the more things just become “normal” and you don’t realize people might find them interesting.   Take last night for example.   Three of us teachers in the secondary school were taking the 8 high honor roll kids out to fancy eat, as we have each quarter all year.   The instigator of this has tried to make each quarter a bit more posh.   (He decided not to pursue the most expensive restaurant in the city which would have ended up costing almost $1000 USD for the night) but had identified a nice place.   Then the fun begins.   He had made detailed arrangements earlier in the week to have a venue outside of the bar (remember these were MS/HS kids) that would be set up elegantly.   He als...

Road to Rwanda----Spiritual Emphasis Week and War in Goma

 I want to write first about our Virunga Valley Academy Spiritual Emphasis Week. I felt moved this summer to start praying about having a spiritual emphasis week at VVA.  God worked it out, as always.  Mark Little Elk, a Native pastor, from my home area in Minnesota, contacted me about maybe visiting.  I passed it on to our Director and Mark will arrive next Saturday for 11 days.  I am so excited...and so are the kids.   Mark writes on FB: " I'm going to Africa! I fly out at the end of the week and will be there for 11 days. I will be teaching at a school in Rawanda for their spiritual emphasis week. I will lead three assembly times along with having devotion times throughout the week and talking about Naive American History in a social studies class. "To maximize my time I will also be teaching archery and training archery instructors so they can start their own archery program. Please pray for my travels and that there would be no issues getting the ...

Road to Rwanda---Christmas '24

  God’s richest blessings this Christmas Dear Friends, Family, and Dearly Loved, Merry Christmas!!   We have been blessed beyond measure this year!! Mainly because we have continued to be able to work and live here in the beautiful country of Rwanda and teach at Virunga Valley Academy-----look it up on your social media!   And in praying about our Christmas letter I feel like, rather than writing about our family…which overall is doing very well….I want to talk about the struggles faced by this country in which we live. First, I want you to know that Rwanda is listed as the safest country in Africa, the most densely populated country in Africa, and our town is one of the best places to see highland Silverback mountain gorillas.   We live very comfortably on our social security check. Every day (with consideration for the clouds and mist) we see the 5 incredible volcanoes that surround our town of Musanze. However, the struggles are also real.   We were j...