Our last day in Rwanda :( :( :( :(

The morning was spent shopping. The widows brought some of their homemade goods and had them laid out for us in the morning. I am not sure the reasoning behind it, but until 11:30 am, all residents were not to go outside of their village. It was a time to focus on cleaning their home and helping out their neighbors. A few of the widows spent the night before at Solace so that we would be able to shop in the morning. I spent most of my money with the widows and got lots of interesting gifts - a beaded mug, a crocheted bag, pair of earrings, a beaded necklace, cards decorated with banana leaves, and beaded coasters. I also got a stuffed elephant for my neice and a stuffed traditional African woman doll for my other 2 nieces and nephew and a set of baskets that I plan on using to start collecting money for next year's trip.

Looking back over the week, we have met many people and heard numerous stories of survival, but I don't remember many names. This morning, we got joined at breakfast by Feston, a very nice young man who also shared some of his story with us. He faced severe abuse from his father as a child until he ran away. He talked of being homeless, hungry, and feeling hopelessness. While trying to put himself thru secondary school, he reached a point where he thought he would have to drop out, then met a Korean missionary who offered to pay fo the rest of his secondary school education. Then, he received a scholarship from the government for university and has just finished his studies and became a teacher/translator.

I got the opportunity to talk to him for a few minutes and told him that I was not ready to go back home. He responded with, "Then why don't you stay?" I had to explain to him about taking out loans for school and a car and needing to pay those off before I can make the move permanently. It is not like that in Rwanda. If they do not have the money for university, they don't go. I do plan on coming back next April though.

We also went to one of the city markets as well, but I had already spent most of the money I had and felt quite intimidated by all the people trying to get you into their store. I had wanted a nice shawl, but didn't have enough. Now that I know the pricing for them, I will plan better for them next year.

After sending off the Solace Choir (they were heading to a performance), we had to also leave as well for the airport. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone.