Debi's Amazing Journeys Continue: Day 2 met my kids day 2 and 3

wish my students were as enthusiastic!

isombe- Casava leaves

Just finished 2 hour dance class and went on womens tour. Vandeste is 6ft 9. Posting photos but no time to write

July13

We spent a day in Kilgali we saw the childrens street which is closed off to traffic and is decorated as you will see - with superman and bat man paintings as well as words of encourgement all along the way, due to Covid they also have a restatuant row with tables and chairs outside- something they had not done before,

We had the womens tour which highlighted womens entrepreneural underetakings. We were invited to a women home for traditional Rwandan food.

We all had to go for PCR test for the visit tueday to the refugee camp. We also went to he Gizimba orphanage and met with the director Patrick who was hidden during the genocide as a baby. He and Carl are close and as many may recall this is the orphanage that Carl was involved in . It is also where Johhnson was after his mother was murdered.

Johnson paid us a visit and I was able to catch up and give him the gifts I brought,

yesterdday July 12 we started out at 5:00 am for a 4 hour drive south east to the Mahamma camp. We could not take photos so I will try to give a description.

The dancers from Barcelona- Estella, Carols, Chase, Ricardo- gave a demonstration./Mindleaps has an important presence there with 6 trainers and they take only 120 kids. There3 are 56,000! refugees there mostly from Burundi. The camp is only 7 years old. The houses are very small but better than what we experienced in the camp we visited in 2019- which no longer exists due to landslides. Those people now reside in this camp. There were a bout 1000 people watching the kids from Mindleaps dance,

After the performance it was a bit overwhelming being surrounded by hundreds of curious children wanting to touch us, and calling MAZUNGA- which means white person.

The UN Refugee committee has a strong presence as well as Save the Children.

Over 200 babies are bornWEEKLY The ride to the camp was mostly over rough terraine and was not for the feign of heart.

Some of the photos are of my students including Eric. Vandeste the educational director us a whopping 6ft 9! I will be teaching in 10 minutes!

You will also see photos of our group yesterday with the dancers. Also photo of our food in the house where we are staying. a Rwadndan sunset and two young men who walked us home over the dirt stone covered streets in the dark. Jardin makes so much food we invited them to join us.

interesting cultural norm is o refer to an older woman as Mamma and the name of one of their children so I am Mamma Jennie or Mamma Ross. I am not sold on this so to kids I am Mis Debi

if you are wondering- the green stuff is Casava

Bashir, Colleen and me