Time in Kigali Rwanda

Sunday, November 16, 2008

about the orphanages... and a great book!!!!

During our phone call with the Rwanda people on Wednesday we were asking about the orphanages there. They said that there are several orphanages but Gladney will only be working with about three to start with. And, of those three, one orphanage has mostly infants to three year olds, so it is very likely that our girls will come from that orphanage. Because Gladney is trying to get established there, it is not recommended that we connect with the orphanage directly but they are going to keep us updated on things that they might need that we could bring with when we travel etc. They did say that the children in these orphanages that they work with are very well taken care of and the staff are great so our babies will be in great hands till we get to them.

On another note, I am reading a fabulous, but heartwrenching book right now called Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. She survived the genocide by living in a tiny bathroom with seven other women for three months and tells the story of her family and what her village went through during the genocide. It is a great book and really helps to understand what happened in Rwanda and how despite that horrible ordeal you can still find hope and a future with Christ. I would recommend the book to anyone that wants to learn more about the culture, people, and history of our babies.



One interesting sidenote that I read in the book is that people there give their babies a unique last name, in America of course we often give our children a unique first name... but its reversed in Rwanda.

3 comments:

Laurel Greer said...

Hi! It was so fun to stumble upon your blog! (not quite sure how it happened actually!) My husband and I lived in Rwanda for 3 years doing Christian development work (microfinance) with World Relief from 99-2001 and are in the midst of adopting with Gladney from Rwanda (with hopes of adopting a second child after this). How exciting to find another family on this journey. Our family blog is greergang.blogspot.com and our adoption blog is milestomyles.blogspot.com My husband currently works in Rwanda (one of the 13 countries) through HOPE International. I also work with a small group of widows with another organization, all this to say, our hearts are burdened for the country! So exciting to read about your journey!

Tina Harriman said...

This is a great book...you may also want to read Land of a Thousand HIlls....it is amazing and really gives you an even better sense of the culture. We adopted a boy from Rwanda last year, you can check out our blog at www.jpadoption.blogspot.com if you are interested...I'll be checking your blog for updates as I pray for your progress...God Bless! Tina

Leah said...

Hi there! I am interested in your adoption experience. We are just starting the process with Gladney. We have 2 kids, and live in Denver. Would love your advice/perspective. Thanks!
Leah