Amakuru!

Today was our first full day in Rwanda. We were quiet busy, and we did so much! 

When I first woke up this morning, it was unbelievably humid out. I felt as if I was walking around in a wet towel for the first part of the day. But even though my body felt sluggish and tired, my heart felt joyful, blessed, and excited for what was to come. 

Today we were awfully busy, and started off the day of events after breakfast was completed.  First was our tour of SOS. We spent a majority of our time meeting the staff at SOS, and really getting to know the surroundings. Rwanda is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could freeze Rwanda in my mind, bring it back to the United States with me, so I could see the same sight every morning when I wake up. Honestly, breathtakingly beautiful. Rwanda is known as the land of 10,000 hills. Although it is so beautiful, the altitude also makes walking up these beautiful hills quite…fun? I can't wait to see how well my lungs work as soon as I am back to a "normal" altitude. 

Once we were done with meeting the staff, we met the house Mommies and Aunties. SOS believes that it is very important to provide orphaned children with a family setting, and having a woman who acts as the mother is one of the ways they do this. We were able to sit with them in their homes, and talk to them before moving on to our next activity. 

The next part of our day was my FAVORITE part of the day. We walked down the road to the Primary School. As soon as the children say us, they ran over!  Shouts of "Muraho" and "amakuru" filled the air, and the students all swarmed around me with hugs and smiles. I felt the tears of happiness start to flood my eyes, but I managed to choke them back and smile at all the beautiful children surrounding me. Automatically, one little girl clinged to my hand, and wouldn't let go. My heart automatically fell in love with her, and at that moment, I knew that leaving these children is going to be one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. 

After we were done with the primary school, we also visited the tech school that we will be working at. It was awesome to talk to some of the students, and I am very thrilled to see what the relationships we build will be like. We then came back for lunch, and had the afternoon to really relax and enjoy ourselves. 

Side note…. my favorite food so far? Passionfruit. I LOVE it, and wish that I could bring a ton of it back with me. I could honestly eat it all day. 

Tomorrow we will be venturing into town, and I can't wait to write all about it. Hope all is well, and I will try to upload some pictures as soon as I can! 

Love you all,

Leah :)