Ethiopia Bound!

Last week flew by and we spent a wonderful weekend in Kabuje on Lake Kibu. Thursday was busy busy busy. We had our Practicum Fair where multiple representatives from different FH locations presented the different positions for our internships. Then we go on a bus and traveled to two more memorials. It was brutal. I have poor emotional stamina. Two was too much for me in one day. The juxtaposition of the day's events, the Fair and the memorials, made for a very interesting state of emotions. The fair was fun and it was exciting to see all the possibilities of where we could get involved and be a small part in relief or development work. The memorials were heartbreaking. We went to two different churches that people fled to in hopes of finding protection because in past massacres the church was still a safe haven. However, the radios told people to go there so that they would be easier to kill, all being in one location. We went inside the churched where they hung up all of the murdered people’s clothing. There were walls of clothing and tons of shoes and huge scaffolding with tons of skulls and bones. I have never ever in my life seen real human bones. In one day I saw more than I hope to ever see again in my life. Some skulls you could tell used to be babies, they were so small. Some skulls revealed the way they were killed. There we so many with big holes in the skulls and some with machete slits. I am sad when I think about the possibility of a loss of a friend or a family member. I cannot imagine the amount of tears shed over one of these people, much less the magnitude of mourning for the 15,000 people that where killed at these two churches alone.

On a happier note, we went to the lake for a much needed unwinding and processing weekend. For how sad Rwanda’s history has been, it certainly is a beautiful country. We hiked a mountain and saw a ton of bats. I got pooped on. Yep, guano on my hand (one thing I check off my list of things to do. Get pooped on by a bat: CHECK!). We saw the most beautiful view, and it was wonderful having a morning swim across the lake, with Mallory and Megan. The Lord even blessed us with a beautiful lightning show one evening.

Oh yea and they told us our assignments for Practicum. I am going to Ethiopia!! I will be teaching English in Zeway and helping out with Sunday school! I am so excited! They speak Ahmaric in Ethiopia, so that will be another wonderful adventure...learning the language a little bit. I did learn one word already; the word for banana is “moose”. How cool is that?