Thank You

Thanks to everyone who has donated money, toys, clothes and other gifts to me and the people I visit in Rwanda. I really appreciate your support and generosity and I know it's all gone to very good use and has brought many smiles to many faces (mine included!).

Also, huge thanks for the lovely emails and notes I've received over the last month. Your words mean a lot to me and I'm happy to be sharing this life-changing experience with you. :) I've kept all the notes and plan to make a binder - or something - as a keepsake. I say "something" because I'm not a crafty person and may be better off asking someone to make it for me! lol

What's next? Project Bella is in full swing and I have my eyes on 4 orphans who have lost their parents because of HIV. In my opinion, they all deserve an education so I've started the process of raising money to pay for their schooling. More to come soon on this - I need to gather a little more info before making any announcements.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. XO

Meet Lilly

Today I was sent this picture of Lilly, the 3-yr old orphan I mentioned in a previous post. She's so gorgeous and she reminds me why my trips back to Rwanda are important - I'll never forgot little Lilly's hugs and cuddles and I hope to see her again soon. xo

Friday Nov 12 - beautiful babies and moving forward

Today was a mixture of inspiration and emotion. We started the day by visiting Faith Victory Association (FVA) – a non-profit organization started by my dear friend, Dr. Immacullee. FVA is an orphanage, the organization that is helping with counselling for the 15-week social therapy classes that I mentioned in an earlier blog, helps small rural communities set up farming co-ops because families are so poor they often eat once (maybe twice) a day, they’re building a new orphanage, and they provide counselling, support and other services for gender-based domestic violence cases. To me, Immacullee is the Mother Teresa of Rwanda. When I was here in December we spent a half day at FVA with many of the women and children that FVA supports and it was great to see familiar faces and to hear that they are stronger now than ever before. Or, as one of the leaders in their community said, “a year ago we were sorting our issues. This year, we are able to breathe again and move on with our lives.”

While we were there, Catherine and I interviewed a 16 year old boy who is HIV+. His parents were both infected and died when he was a small child so he lived with his grandmother until she also passed away. When he started working with FVA he was very thin, sick, and completely orphaned. Now, he looks so healthy and loves going to school. Despite his illness and knowing that his odds of dying are higher than most 16 year olds, his vision for his future keeps him going. He’d like to attend University in Europe and wants to be a doctor. The only thing he struggles with now is security and ensuring he has enough money (through donor support) to continue his studies without disruption. FVA is sponsored by Dr. Immaculee’s private clinic and donors from around the world.

In the afternoon we visited another orphanage. This one is not run by FVA but Immacullee visits as a physician and has treated many of the children there. For me, the orphanages are the best and worst places in the world. The kids are so much fun and love visitors – they’re not unlike kids anywhere else or from any other socio-economic background. They love to colour, play football, sing, dance, they like music videos, and they love affection – something they don’t get enough of. Immediately after we arrived, Lillian, a 3-yr old who is orphaned because her parents died of HIV (she was at the orphanage with her 3 siblings, none of whom are infected) latched on to me and wouldn’t let me put her down. She doesn’t speak much but she loves to cuddle and rest her head on your shoulder.

This orphanage is the worst I have seen (through my limited experience), but from what I hear it’s in desperate need of good management and a lot of TLC. We toured the rooms, where we found mouse feces on the top bunks – I don’t believe any children are using those beds, where there were often 3 kids sharing one twin bed, where medical supplies are low for ailments most of the children have, and where food supplies are so low they can’t afford milk for the newborns and every day the kids eat beans and cassava for all three meals.

Recently they had 3 small children at Immacullee’s clinic for dehydration and malnutrition and 2 babies were delivered by the police – a boy who is 2 weeks old and a girl that is 1.5 months, named Vivian. Vivian, a gorgeous little girl was brought to the orphanage after police found her abandoned in a bush. As I held her and made gurgling baby sounds she smiled and giggled at the attention. It was so hard not to run away with little Vivian...if I legally could...I would have.

It’s heartbreaking to go into these places and I have such a hard time knowing that some of these children will die because of illness and/or malnutrition, and that most will not get an education. It’s a rough start to life, but as Immacullee told me, “that’s life and you have to do what you can.” I get so emotional at the orphanages but thankfully the kids don’t know why I cry and are often told it’s because I love them and am so happy to see them. That is true.

When we left I felt emotionally drained and took the time in the car to think about how I am going to help. Project Bella will pay for the education of as many kids as possible, but I’m sure there is more I can do…

Since today was my last day in Kigali, I needed to stop at the market to get gifts. I hadn’t been to the open air market before so it was an interesting power shopping experience. The market is open 24hrs but by the time we arrived it was getting dark so it was difficult to see the merchandise in the crammed stalls of beaded necklaces, baskets, shoes, clothes, wood carvings, linens, and just about anything else you can think of. Our friend Alan came with us to help negotiate prices so we wouldn’t get the “mizunga” price and wouldn’t be taken advantage of. Thanks Alan! :)

Before catching my flight to Nairobi – the first leg of my 26 hour journey home, we went to Bourbon Coffee for dinner and to spend time with Immacullee and Sandrali. It’s so nice to have two people that take care of us, provide us with a car and driver, take us to new restaurants, and give us with as many Rwandan experiences as possible. They genuinely care about us and have become dear friends, and family.

Thursday Nov 11 - Speed "dating" with entrepreneurs and a great art show

Traditionally when Dave comes to Kigali for the workshops he sets up 45 minute one-on-one meetings with the workshop participants. I call it speed dating for entrepreneurs! Dave O, Dave H, Catherine, Elizabeth, Betty and I were stationed around the Serena Hotel pool (which is stunning I might add!) for the day. We coached the entrepreneurs on areas like strategy, sales and marketing, customer service, business development, and leadership. It was so much fun, yet used a lot of brain power so by the end of it we were ready for some R&R.

That evening we went to our friend Innocent’s art show at Heaven Restaurant (aka “the American restaurant”). Innocent is from Uganda but his whole family lives in Kigali and he is one of 4 members that started a co-op called Ivuka Arts. He is a self-taught contemporary artist that is starting to get International attention and is one of the artists that donated a piece to Art for Africa 2010.

Wednesday Nov 10 - Bigger Future Workshop and the US Ambassador

It was fantastic to see the Bigger Future workshop – this series is based on Strategic Coach tools and concepts and was brought to Rwanda by a “Coach” client, Dave Ormesher. The one day workshop, which takes place 4 times a year (approx. 90 days apart) provides entrepreneurs with a lifetime of personal and professional growth, strategic planning so they can work on their business rather than in their business, and enables to them confidently focus on the many opportunities that are available to them. In this first workshop series there are approx. 35 entrepreneurs who come from a variety of industries such as architecture, medical, solar energy, construction and development, cookie and cake decorating, law, importing and exporting, and coffee production/farming, to name a few.

What surprised me most during the day was that it doesn’t matter where the entrepreneur lives or what language he/she speaks, they all have the same struggles and concerns. I had the opportunity to participate in the workshop in Kigali on Tuesday and use a tool called D.O.S (dangers, opportunities, and strengths) which is a client focused conversation we use daily at Strategic Coach. The woman I was paired with is president of the local Junior Chamber of Commerce, has two young daughters, and is in her 30’s. She runs a very successful book distribution company that just got a contract with the government which allows her to sells books to various organizations around the country. Her issues of time and money were no different than what I’d here from my clients and/or prospects in Canada – she wants to spend more time with her family, would like to take an annual vacation with them, she’d like to motivate her staff and create a team culture that enables them to continually increase their sales, and she wants to expand her business into provinces around the country. Her dangers – she’s very busy, doesn’t like to delegate to her staff, and she wants complete control over every detail in the business. Sound familiar, entrepreneurs?

Dan Sullivan, the creator and owner of the Strategic Coach program is a genius for designing a program that is applicable to any business owner around the world, and for understanding exactly how they think and act – even before they understand it!
Because this workshop was their last one for the year, at the end Dave asked each of them to provide a testimonial about how the workshops have helped their businesses and/or their lives. Some of the responses we heard – I was able to grow my medical business by 15%, I took time away from the office to spend with my family, I’m thankful for the tools because I didn’t have to struggle like so many entrepreneurs do, and so much more.

After the workshop we were whisked off to the US Ambassador’s house for drinks with him on the terrace. Mr. Ambassador is a very interested man who loves Rwanda and what the Bigger Future workshops are doing for the country. He’s very supportive and appreciative of the work Dave does here. I’ve never met an American politician and I can assure you they are different than Canadian politicians and any others I’ve met through my travels/experiences. The Ambassador is both gracious and tactical. He touches you at least two times- the first is through a handshake and the second may be another handshake, a pat on the back or possibly your arm, he says your name at least once and cross references members of the group throughout the conversation. He also makes a point of going around the group to get “your story.” I’ve been told that he’ll never forget your name or your story so I look forward to testing this next time I’m in Rwanda with Dave and Bigger Future. (Unfortunately my picture is blurry so I'm hoping somone in our group has a clear one)

After our 45 minutes with the Ambassador, 16 of us dined at a great Indian restaurant near the President’s house. Three of our Rwandan friends came with us and none of them had tried Indian before and I doubt they’ll go back anytime soon. At one point I thought our friend Cyusa (chew-sa) was going to blow up because one of the dishes was too hot for him. The next day I asked him how his stomach was holding up and he grumbled and then moved on to another topic!

Tuesday, Nov 9 - Bigger Future presentation and back to Gisimba

I'm now on my way home and have taken the opportunity to update my blog...

The morning as busy with an introductory presentation to 60+ entrepreneurs who registered for or are considering The Bigger Future workshops for 2011. I opted out of presenting this year and instead did logistics for the morning along with help from Catherine, Betty, James and AJ.

After the presentation Dave and I returned to Gisimba to take a photo of the 16 Sonrise School students (including Bella) that started school this past year. Sonrise is a private English school that was started by Bishop John after the genocide. It’s a very good school with a great reputation and allows students to continue their studies in a college or University setting upon completion of S6 (senior 6 or grade 12).

coffee beans, textiles and dining

I've been behind with my blog updates because we've been so busy so I apologize for not adding as much detail to my posts as I'd like.

On Monday I met with foreign entrepreneurs that have moved to Kigali to set up investments. In the morning, our group spent time with Matt and James, both from the US, who run a large coffee distribution company that sells Rwandan coffee around the world. It was incredible to see the process that a coffee bean goes through before going to market and what surprised me most was the difference between a quality bean and a “bean” used for low quality grocery store brands.
The picture above shows the hundreds of women who are part of quality control. They work seasonally and hand pick the best beans, each day going through one full bag of beans.

I also met with a Spanish woman who moved to Kigali two years ago to expand her clothing business. Ines and her partner, Mark, have employed Rwandans in fair conditions and provide them with an opportunity to create clothing that integrates muted colours that are popular in North America and Europe with bright, bold colours and patterns used in Africa countries. The result, award winning clothing that is sold around the world. Ines and Mark have registered for the 2011 Bigger Future workshop series through Global Relief and Development Partners.

While we’ve been here we’ve had an opportunity to experience some incredible meals. As Kigali grows more and more new and trendy restaurants open. We’ve had some traditional Rwandan dishes, but also pizza, Indian food, and a lot of chips (French fries) – since they come with everything!