Pig Roast!

Pig Roast!

As I was waiting this morning for a moto ride to the Kigali airport, where the fast internet and cappuccino will be my Sunday treat, I stood on the road by the house enjoying the lovely choir singing from the church across the road and watching the locals walk by in their Sunday best.

On the wall surrounding our house a great blue heron perched momentarily with a rat in its beak, looking somewhat stunned that it managed to nab such a large treat. A plethora of flying ants after yesterday’s deluge provided the neighborhood children with tasty tidbits. I always love taking the time to soak in a bit of the day-to-day in our Rwandan neighborhood.

Another week has flown by and as usual it has been full. The mamas had a fantastic training with Adam and Lissy from The Cookbook Project thecookbookproject.org. We greeted two new members to the staff; Brett Hawley who will be the communications fellow for the next year and Emma Uwodukunda RN who will be the manager of the health team. It’s exciting to be here helping Gardens for Health with transitions and growth.

On Friday we had an inaugural meal at the new community dining table overlooking the verdant fields. Under the supervision of Mama Isa, a pig was procured, slaughtered, butchered and prepared for the spit, where Conner was the master pig roaster for the day. The beautiful structure and table, built by Rasta and his team this past week were truly christened with bountiful food and abounding community spirit.

As Julie wrote in the invitation with Porky Pig’s visage “It ain’t all gardens, Folks!” It was a memorable night with the table decorated with candles on banana leaves and the benches filled to overflowing with probably 100 people. It will certainly be the first of many amazing meals and celebrations for this extraordinary community in this special location.

Helen

 Riding home in the back of the

truck after a local training 

 The Mama Chefs during their

Cookbook Project training 

 Cedric gazing in awe of the beast. 

He is just cruising everywhere now

 Mama Isa, Rasta and Julie get

the pig ready for the spit
 

Conner on roasting duty
  

 The table in place under Rasta's masterpiece 

 Ready for the meal

Julie with Claire, Naomi, Media and Annonciata 

Julie cuts the ceremonial ribbon

 with Rasta and Simon Pierre

Helen, Julie and Epiphanie excited

after the dish washing blitz! 

Home sweet home a la Rwanda. . .

Home sweet home a la Rwanda. . .

It’s great to be back amongst the Gardens for Health community.  My airport welcome was very exciting and heartfelt, with Solange and the mamas lunging out of the behind-the-line crowds to give me hugs. On the way home Claire and I sat in the back of the truck and caught up. Warm sultry air with wafts of quintessential African smells was lovely after the long haul from Boston in airplanes. The reunion continued back at the house with Julie and meeting Oliver (new GHC fellow from NYC) and Conner (new agricultural fellow from Vancouver, B.C.). Sharing a delicious candlelit dinner at a new table was very cosy. 

This week I have been immersed in getting back into the old routine, reuniting with old staff members and getting to know new staff members. On Thursday I went to the health post at Ngiryi where the mental health training was officially launched for the first time into the training curriculum. It was rewarding to see that the seeds Alli and I had sown a year ago with our psychosocial support groups finessed into a very effective and clear training by Isa with terrific materials.

Perhaps the biggest news of the week was witnessing Cedric walk for his first time. These steps are huge, as the whole Gardens for Health family has been emotionally invested in his growth. Cedric realized that running was also a possibility! He did not stop all day. 

I am excited to be back and get some exciting projects fine tuned. Planning and helping organize the Third Annual Thanksgiving feast is one of my tasks which is both exciting and daunting since there is a great possibility we will have 1500 people gathering for this celebration! Since my departure at the end of April there have been new transitions and changes (both large and small) which all seem very positive. It’s great to see and be part of the unfolding visions.
Helen
 

 

 Welcoming Committee

Welcome back dinner

 Claire and Annonciata doing mental health training

 Claire explaining ways to beat your drum
for happiness to help with depression

 Mamas do yoga stretching at the
beginning and end of each training


 Cedric discovers his shadow

Murakoze cyane

Murakoze cyane. . .

The dawn chorus of local roosters and song birds has begun. It will be another full day as I wind up this stint at Gardens for Health. Two months has flown by.

The week was a bit hectic with another graduation and enrollments of new children and mamas for the next cycle of training comprised much of the week. I managed to get quite a few good shots with the use of Julie’s great camera…to be posted later.

THANK YOU to ALL who donated for my birthday appeal. The final tally is still being processed, but it will be around the $3000 mark! I am so touched and happy by everyone’s support. The flip chart and training materials fund is officially a reality.

As I said in yesterday’s staff meeting…”Murakoze cyane, tozusubira, not au revoir” (bits of Kinyarwanda, Kurindi, English and French)…”Thank you very much, see you later…not goodbye.”

Julie has this up in her office and I find it summarizes my personal aspirations.

“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” –From  Tuesdays with Morrie 

 I feel so grateful having been part of this extraordinary Gardens for Health community and having had the opportunities here.

Next week at this time I will be in Alaska with Robert and Ian, a difficult concept to get my head around at this very moment, but I am excited.

Helen