In the final blog post of the 2017 Vision Trip, Taru summarizes the team’s experiences in, “Murakoze Rwanda: Thank You“.

We came together as strangers 12 days ago, we part as friends whose lives have been greatly enriched by our journey together, experiencing Rwanda and the work of Wellspring. We learned a few words, and how to greet people with a hug and then a handshake. A lot of time was spent in the coaster bus, driven by Placide, our exceptional driver, navigating the incredibly busy streets of Kigali full of motor taxis, bicycles, buses, trucks, cars and of course, pedestrians. He also managed the slippery muddy roads in the hills where schools were located, as well as driving through the Akagera game reserve and up to a coffee plantation in the rain.

Rwanda is truly the land of a thousand hills, the scenery never gets old. There aren’t many flat sections of road, always going up or down. What really amazed me is the stamina of the Rwandan people. They mostly walk long distances, usually carrying something, like jerry cans of water, bags of food, baskets of fruit, firewood etc on their heads. Bicycles are another mode of transport, both as taxis and to carry various loads. Amazingly, most come with only 1 gear.

Children outnumber adults. Schools are bursting at the seams. A primary 1 class we visited had almost 100 children in it. They were a happy lot, attentive and responsive to their teacher. Their smiles and enthusiasm were infectious and we couldn’t help but smile as we entered into clapping along with their songs. They loved having their picture taken hamming it up for the camera.

Thank you Jeff for being our tour guide. Your humour and easy manner put us all at ease. Your knowledge of the country and its history helped our appreciation of every place we visited.

This was an eye opening experience in many ways. Peace and safety reign in the country, the government is stable, reconciliation after the genocide astounding.

Comments as we were wrapping up today included: “Beauty from ashes”, referring to the rebuilding of the country and the reconciliation that has occurred since the genocide 23 years ago. Someone recounted Jesus’ words “What you did for the least of these, my brothers and sisters”, referring to Jeff’s embracing the Rwandan people as his own and how Wellspring is working to improve education for children. “Little is much when God is in it” was another comment, referring to the resourcefulness and resilience of the people. They use and share what little they have, as poverty is a fact of life.

Our lives have been impacted by our experiences and observation of the servant leadership of Jeff and Richard, the program implementation in the schools and the excitement and engagement of community and families at the schools, among many other things.

Richard led us in a final exercise today – we made a teaching aid of the alphabet using readily available materials – rice sacks and markers. We had a great time collaborating on words and pictures to use for the letters that were meaningful to us on this trip. It was a great application of what we learned during the week and a concrete example of how to use what is available as materials.

Going forward, I pray that we will share our experiences with friends back home to help spread Wellspring’s vision: “To be a catalyst for transforming education in Africa and to foster vibrant communities that address poverty in all its forms”.

Murakoze Rwanda, it has been a memorable week. Thank you Wellspring for sharing with us how your vision has already impacted communities in such a powerful way.