Day 2

Day 2
August 7

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn, largely because we are jet-lagged, but also to catch an 8 o’clock plane to Rwanda. The airport in Nairobi was insanely busy, there was a huge line out the door and down the block for Kenya Airways. We were 45 minutes late for our flight by the time we got through immigration but thankfully the plane waited for us.

We were greeted in the Rwanda airport by at least 8 church members. It was a very warm welcome, lots of hugs. We loaded all our bags into some cars and drove into Kigali and our first stop was a hardware store. The construction team needed around 112 bolts and we were able to find 12. We decided they would have to place them very strategically.

Lunch was a buffet of typical Rwandan fare. Tristan and Matt were the eating champs by far, stuffing down more food that should be humanly possible. The pineapple was perfection.

After lunch it was farewell time and the construction team gathered their luggage for their two hour drive to Ruengherytown where they will be putting a roof on a church. The cyber-café and medical teams drove about 15 minutes to Remera, to see the compound where they will be working. The hill down to the church was steep enough to make San Francisco proud, riddled with potholes and comprised of red dirt. The vans that cart us around are like trusty burros as they grind us up the hill. I had visions of losing traction and plummeting down the long hill. These proved to be unfounded worries.

Remera Compound looking toward where the optical team works:


The kids love to have their photos taken and then swarm the camera to look at the photo:


Looking out across the valley:


This was a wonderful time to meet some of the church members and see the area.

The compound where we will be working has several buildings: a pharmacy where the medical team will see optometry patients, a sanctuary, a large primary school building and the cyber café. Thy cyber café was rather barren except for twelve beautiful desks and chairs which will soon become workstations.

Some of the children in Remera:


This is Gary talking with Vincent, who acts as part translator, part planner, part organizer and all around good guy.



After spending a few hours in Remera, the cyber café and medical teams went for tea at a nice hotel in Kigali. We are staying at a large facility named ALARM. The rooms are large and clean and the showers are warm.

We are all very tired and are struggling to catch up with Rwanda time. Please pray that we can get good sleep and be refreshed and ready to work tomorrow.

Jess summed things up pretty well this evening when she exclaimed, “I love Africa!”