Saturday Morning

Well, its a beautiful Saturday morning here in Kigali. I just ate breakfast and I thought I would catch up on my blog a little. Yesterday was our first full day here and we ran around taking care of a lot of business. Our first stop was Nakumat- the Walmart of east Africa. We picked up some bottled water, peanut butter, crackers and tissues (I am fighting off a bit of a cold). We also exchanged some money at the bank and tried unsuccessfully to buy a wireless modem since the hotel internet has been unreliable.
Next stop was to meet with Minister of Labor for the region at the source of the Nile. Gilbert was a bit hesitant at first about our ideas and our motives behind making a film about these inspirational kids, but we reassured him that we were not here to exploit the kids, but rather to give them a voice and show some of the positive action that has been taking place. He began to get very excited about it and we arranged to meet the Vice Mayor of the region on Tuesday morning down in Nyaruguru. Unfortunately as a result of the Presidential Inauguration occurring on Monday, many important people in Rwanda are up in Kigali through the Monday. This puts us at a stand still for taking video a little because our contacts are busy with government affairs. But it also gives us a few days to relax, see the sights in Kigali and make plans.
After our meeting with Gilbert, we went for lunch at the restaurant next to our hotel called Mickey Mouse restaurant. Even in Rwanda I can't get away from Disney.
After lunch, Julien met up with us at the hotel. He took us to get a modem for the computer and we set out to find a group called Association Hope. This was a small locally run program that my mother had come to review in 2008. They had left a big impression on her because they were so driven and successful and completely built from the ground up by local people who had a lot of ambition. This small group takes children withdrawn from child labor, many who are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS in the family and teaches them vocational skills like sewing and entrepreneurial and marketing skills. They also teach "life skills" like sex education and psycho-social support.
We found the group but the director Mary was out for the day. We got her number from the Deputy Director, Susannah and gave her a call. She would meet us at her home. So, we drove out to her neighborhood up a bouncy dirt path. After going up and down a few wrong hills we finally found her place with thanks to some local children who knew of her.
She invited us in and we spoke to her about our plans. She was very interested. But we wont be able to see her and the kids until next Monday because we will be down in the southern district for all of next week. Our time here is starting to feel very full and we have only been in Rwanda two nights!
By this time it was getting late. We decided to call it a night and arranged to meet with Julien today to go to an expo. Also, mom and I might tory to get over to the genocide memorial. For now, we are taking the down time to reorganize our bags and get some laundry done.