Made it Rwanda....... 'Land of a Thousand Hills'

Driving from the capital the couple of hours to our town was a beautiful drive. The roads are great and the rolling hills are beautiful. You pass by houses and huts along the side of the road and passing through little towns, but in contrast to the poverty you would see in a place like Mexico, no matter how poor it is, things are amazinly clean. Even the dirt roads off the beaten track look swept.

The town we're staying in has an internet cafe, so that is how I am getting online now. I'm still learning the dial up via satellite phone connection to use in my room. The compound is just up the hill from town and has beautiful grounds. We've each got our own rooms, which look about the size of dorm room and ours all have private bathrooms. Normal toilet, sink and shower, but with just cold water. They order hot water every other morning or so delivered in a bucket. I've got a tv that gets 2 channels but one was the tour de france - isn't that funny! I have a table and chairs, and so far the electricity has been on all day and all night.

I really like the Major - he is from Nigeria and has a big personality. We are going to meet the mayor tomorrow and then go to the village to see progress on the community center we're building. We're waiting on funding for the 70 homes, and then we go full steam ahead choosing contractors and drawing up paperwork for the government to approve and sign. Our translator is a young lady and she does everything with us, down to breakfast through dinner which is around 7:30 p.m. each night. We've also got a land cruiser and a driver - which is great.

The weather is gorgeous, probably high of 80 during the day, with a breeze and then 70 later in the day - Emmanuel (Major) said they usually take walks around the compound after work and before dinner because it is so nice in the early evenings. The three of us have our meals together delivered to Emmanuel's room - which is nice. I think there may be other Americans or Brits staying with us and the nuns, but I'm not sure yet.

Its good to be here and now know the unknown and I am delightfully surprised. I've been so exhausted from the travel that I just wasn't sure how I was going to feel. The beauty is an inspiration as well as the story of Rwanda's road to recovery and healing. I feel as thought the time may fly by if we actually get the funding we're expecting as there is a ton of work to do.

More later - going to bed for the first time since Monday night - yahoooooo!!