Hi all,
I am trying my best to be better at updating this blog, but I admit I am struggling! Life has become so "normal" here that I struggle to figure out how to communicate it back to you folk.
Another of my struggles in communication is maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the women in the program. So, I'll do my best to let you know what's happening, but please forgive me for my inability to go into a great deal of detail. If you would like to hear more and are wanting to be a prayer supporter, please feel free to contact me and I am happy to provide you with that in a less public forum.
As I mentioned to you, we recently hired a counsellor. And let me tell you - I think she is the absolute best! Her English is pretty good, but she mostly speaks in Kinyarwanda so I don't always know what she's saying, but there is something about the vibe she gives off that just gives me such comfort. She is an older woman which I think is beautiful because she can be a sort of maternal, caring figure for the women. She tells me how much she loves being a counsellor, and I love having her. She has been working with the women on some basics and foundations for counseling, as counseling doesn't really exist in Rwandan culture much. As they continue to get comfortable and get to know each other, she will eventually transition to doing some one-on-one counseling.
Now, as I mentioned, counseling is not usually a part of Rwandan culture, however we are seeing the women really responding to the group sessions. We know that trust is being built we are beginning to hear some more about the difficulty of the women's lives. As heart breaking as it has been to hear, it is a sign that we are creating a safe space where they feel they can share. They settle conflicts and they encourage one another. I am loving the way they are banding together as a group of friends and colleagues. If you have committed to praying for this work, please keep one girl in particular in your prayers at the moment who I will call "L". Her situation has shown me my own limitations in that I do not know the laws and regulations here in Rwanda well, but that has been a great opportunity for our social workers and peer support worker to do research and take it as a learning opportunity, while also working for the best outcome for "L".
And now: I was sent some questions as suggestions for what to include in this blog, so I figured maybe I could take one or two each post to answer. The first question is:
"What are some of the similarities between African, Australian, and American daily life?"
So, Kigali is a city - with traffic, restaurants, and even some skyscrapers (taller than any in Gosford probably!) so, connectivity to the world is the same - I have WiFi at work and at home, and I can use my iPhone out and about.
A similarity to New York/American life is something called "hellofood" which is like Seamless (for you New Yorkers) - it's a food delivery service that delivers for a lot of the restaurants in town for just 1000 Rwandan francs (about $2 AUD/$1.40 USD) we can have anything from chips and hamburgers, pizza, or Mexican burritos delivered to our home by a guy on a motorcycle.
Social life is generally the same - we get together to watch movies, play board games, go to concerts (I went to an outdoor hip hop concert on Thursday night which was great fun!), and go out for meals.
Thank you, as always, for reading. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments, and if you are interested in being part of a closer-knit prayer team where I can share a little more detail, please contact me.
& please consider giving to us here or here.
Much love.
Bronte.
I am trying my best to be better at updating this blog, but I admit I am struggling! Life has become so "normal" here that I struggle to figure out how to communicate it back to you folk.
Another of my struggles in communication is maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the women in the program. So, I'll do my best to let you know what's happening, but please forgive me for my inability to go into a great deal of detail. If you would like to hear more and are wanting to be a prayer supporter, please feel free to contact me and I am happy to provide you with that in a less public forum.
As I mentioned to you, we recently hired a counsellor. And let me tell you - I think she is the absolute best! Her English is pretty good, but she mostly speaks in Kinyarwanda so I don't always know what she's saying, but there is something about the vibe she gives off that just gives me such comfort. She is an older woman which I think is beautiful because she can be a sort of maternal, caring figure for the women. She tells me how much she loves being a counsellor, and I love having her. She has been working with the women on some basics and foundations for counseling, as counseling doesn't really exist in Rwandan culture much. As they continue to get comfortable and get to know each other, she will eventually transition to doing some one-on-one counseling.
Now, as I mentioned, counseling is not usually a part of Rwandan culture, however we are seeing the women really responding to the group sessions. We know that trust is being built we are beginning to hear some more about the difficulty of the women's lives. As heart breaking as it has been to hear, it is a sign that we are creating a safe space where they feel they can share. They settle conflicts and they encourage one another. I am loving the way they are banding together as a group of friends and colleagues. If you have committed to praying for this work, please keep one girl in particular in your prayers at the moment who I will call "L". Her situation has shown me my own limitations in that I do not know the laws and regulations here in Rwanda well, but that has been a great opportunity for our social workers and peer support worker to do research and take it as a learning opportunity, while also working for the best outcome for "L".
And now: I was sent some questions as suggestions for what to include in this blog, so I figured maybe I could take one or two each post to answer. The first question is:
"What are some of the similarities between African, Australian, and American daily life?"
So, Kigali is a city - with traffic, restaurants, and even some skyscrapers (taller than any in Gosford probably!) so, connectivity to the world is the same - I have WiFi at work and at home, and I can use my iPhone out and about.
A similarity to New York/American life is something called "hellofood" which is like Seamless (for you New Yorkers) - it's a food delivery service that delivers for a lot of the restaurants in town for just 1000 Rwandan francs (about $2 AUD/$1.40 USD) we can have anything from chips and hamburgers, pizza, or Mexican burritos delivered to our home by a guy on a motorcycle.
Social life is generally the same - we get together to watch movies, play board games, go to concerts (I went to an outdoor hip hop concert on Thursday night which was great fun!), and go out for meals.
Thank you, as always, for reading. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments, and if you are interested in being part of a closer-knit prayer team where I can share a little more detail, please contact me.
& please consider giving to us here or here.
Much love.
Bronte.
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