Friday, January 13, 2012

Day 9- Refugee Camp, Rehearsal

Yeeelloo!!! Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this :)
So today was the first day I actually woke up late. Actually, Eve, Kara and I all woke up late. It felt like a school day all frantically putting clothes on and running around. Ate breakfast real quick and were out the door. We had to go to the Ministry of Rwanda specifically for Refugee camps--where we have to get permission my the government to visit this refugee camp. We were there for longer than we thought so we kids sat in the car just trying to entertain ourselves. I stood outside the car and took in some sun while we waited. At one point I was just fooling around and I pretended to accidentally smash my head into the outside of the van using my hand as the noisemaker. Everyone on the inside starting screaming (especially Tiesha) thinking I had actually hit my head extremely hard on the van. They had me do this several more times so that I had a bunch of Rwandans weirdly staring at me like there was something terribly wrong with me. It was fun.
Drew joined us to have a nice discussion about our thoughts of Murambi Genocide Memorial. We had a great chat and in the end all agreed that this needs to be on the itinerary for future travelers to Rwanda. After quite some time Carl finally came out first lieing to us that we weren't approved to go to the camp. I don't know about everyone else but I totally believed him and his just crushed my heart and 2 seconds later he's like "alright come on guys get in we're going to the refugee camp." He got me good.  
An hour later we were pulling into the entrance of the refugee camp. We were forewarned that we would be swarmed by kids and that we need to remember these people are refugee's mostly from the Congo because it's extremely dangerous right now. These people have nothing and may be born there and never leave. We got out of the van and literally 100 kids surrounded us. I looked closely at faces and kids were completely covered in dirt, their own snot, and dirty clothes. It was hard to look at that. I needed to think of something quick to do for them so they weren't just staring at us. Then...Ah Ha! The Hokie Pokie...So I had the other fellow Americans help me make a circle pushing kids away. We were trapped in the middle of this circle it was pretty crazy but I was more comfortable than I thought I was going to be. Kids were constantly grabbing my hand and if I went for a high five, everyone else swarmed in to get one too. So we did the Hokie Pokie, twice for their enjoyment. They definitely liked it. There were even older kids and mothers and fathers watched on with smiles.
The houses on this camp consisted of cement walls with a tarp or a roof made of something cheap. Their "bathrooms" were literally a cement box with a hole on the cement floor. That was it. Our tour guide was a Rwandan about my age (19) named Clovis who Carl and Drew had already known. He's a very caring and loving guy. We were lead to a school on the camp where we got to meet and sing for the students. One of the Rwandan guys said to me I had a nice Soprano :)  Some of the students spoke English but were kind of difficult to understand. On our walk to the school through the camp there was a huge group of refugees mostly my age and up, down a hill at a different area of little houses looking up at us as we walked. I couldn't help but to yell "Muraho" ("Hello" in Kinyarwanda) to them. They said it back and then I yelled "Amakuru" (How are you?) Everyone yelled back "Ni meza" (I'm fine) with pure excitement and joy. I'm pretty sure all of them were smiling as I walked away. That little moment filled my heart completely. Everywhere we walked we were swarmed by kids. Shabar had kids hanging by his arms.
We got to look in one of the houses--and all it is is two tiny rooms one of them with a very small table and bench and a bed in a little cubby part. Like, thing of the worst conditions---and maybe you'll have an idea.
There are 19,000 refugees at this one camp. It's just crazy.
So before we left we performed our "Rent" songs for them which was cool because we did it on a basketball court looking out at a thousand people, while singing acapella. These songs made so much sense in our lives at that moment in time. Then we started waving and immediately kids ran towards us as we were saying goodbye. Once we got free we climbed into the car and waved goodbye. What an opportunity to be that camp.
What stuck me the most out of everything I saw was how joyful and postive people were in the midst of horrible horrible conditions. I mean, it's all a lot of them know but still--- I am way grumpier and I get upset so easily and I have a great great great life especially compared to what these people have. Once we were in the car and I started dissecting what it was I saw back there it turned into a huge self discovery and people in general discovery.
I was getting emotional thinking that I know that I have a loving blessed family to go home to.
I have a mother and a father.
I am loved.
I have a fridge with food in it.
I have a bed to sleep in.
I have a bathroom with running water and a sink to wash my hands.
I have a home.
I have an education.

That's so much more than any of those people will have.

I really hope that when I go home I can remember what I saw and learned about to change the way I live my everyday life. Being happy with what I have and not wanting more and more. I have everything I need.
Thanks to God.

After this we went to rehearsal at Mashirika where we finally made a foundation of our piece of theater with them!!! Played fun games to warm up, and split into groups to start the creative process.
Thanks for reading :)))
-Julia

2 comments:

  1. Hey jule,It's Dad. I loved reading the last few blogs this A.M. I just made coffee and it's 2 degrees outside. I can't find the degree symbol!! Oh well. Alot of what I read we already talked about but it was nice reading the whole story about the kids at the refugee camp and how much you appreciate your own life. I'm so proud of you. Great idea with the hokie pokie. I could really picture that and how much fun it must have been for those kids. I'm going to try and send this now cause I'm afraid I'M going to do it wrong and since this already took me an hour to type this much I better do a test run and then try again I LOVE YOU DADDY

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  2. Hey Julia, Your dad just turned me onto your blog, what an experience, good for you! It is true, we are blessed to live where we live, have what we have. It sure does open ones eye to the world we live in. Good luck, be safe, see you soon.
    God Bless,
    Gerry S.

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