The land of a thousand hills and a million smiles

Awoke this morning to the sound of birds, chickens, hammers and the distant mooing of some cows; over the years these have become my favorite sounds, rooting me back into my heart and enlivening my soul. I have arrived in Rwanda a country that only a little over a decade ago experienced one of the worst genocides since the Holocaust, the Rwanda that stands before me though is one of generosity, hope and incredible resilience. Walking down the red dirt roads tonight I am greeted by each person on the street, children run up to me holding tight to my legs with the sweetest smile and a truck load of machine gun armed soldiers stop their truck and jump out to welcome me, something amazing is happening here.

Today throughout Rwanda was community work day, a day where each first Saturday of the month every citizen is required to work with their neighbors to clean up their communities, build roads, gardens and also meet with the community to hear what issues need to be addressed. This is amazing, and am wondering why we do not do this in the United States, wouldn’t it be great if we each created our own community workday!!!! Anyway I have arrived safely in the land of a thousand hills and feel like a kid on Christmas morning being back in the continent who has taught me how to love, live, forgive and be in continual gratitude

Thank you to everyone who has helped to support this project, wish you could all be here to experience the amazing spirit of these people.