Hey everyone! As always, I am bittersweetly home from Rwanda. And as always, as always, I had an amazing time and am loaded with stories and photos. So for those with less time, the fundraiser went off without a hitch and we raised over $10,000 which easily will cover our school fees due in August of this year, and will help with our running costs for a few months as well. As someone, who appreciates anything, this is a huge success. Read below for details on the efforts of the running, new kids, visitors, celebrations, daily life, and the bright future ahead.

Amanda and the kids chilling out and playing Jenga

THE FIRST WEEKEND

The first weekend is all about getting back into the Rwanda groove with everyone. I arrived around 0200 in the morning and was greeted by a fair amount of the kids surprisingly. We talked in hushed voices excitingly but quickly remember we had school in the morning and went off to bed. The next morning I got to see Russell and Amanda make their triumphant return to Rwanda and confirm to the kids that they are people of their word, and that they came back. For kids who have dealt with abandonment in many forms during their short time, these gestures can mean the world to them.

This was not the winning team of the tournament but they took a great picture!

FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

On Friday we had a small space and a lot of kids trying to play as much football as possible. On Saturday, before lunch, we went to town, and in a rush, we bought the first “cup” looking thing we saw and it ended up being a thermos with some glitzy colors. Russell also handmade some yellow and red cards out of paper, crayons, and tape. I labeled the cup (thermos) with medical tape and wrote the UBAKA IGIKOMBE (cup) 2024. Amanda and Russell also donated two small goals for the kids. You can’t imagine how much arguing ensues about if a goal is confirmed or not when the goal posts are two tires, or two shoes, or two stones. We called in five captains to our room and gave them a list and allowed them to pick teams. We settled on 10 minute games with penalty kicks for a decider if the game is tied. Every team plays every team and the top two records play each other in the final. If this sounds like a lot of preparation, it was. However, I encourage you to try to run a football tournament with children of all ages who mix their bits of English with your bits of Kinyarwanda! Anyway, it took about four hours and got pretty intense but never over the line. Alas, we had our winner who got to raise the cup. After thirteen times in Rwanda, this was the first time we pulled this off and it will not be the last.

Everyone not playing at the time had a lot of fun watching, cheering, and heckling

NIGHTTIME

I’ll be honest, on paper, this trip was a little less exciting than last year. Last year, the kids hadn’t seen visitors since COVID and we showed up with seven of us. It was a big thing. This year was a big thing too, but it was on a deeper level. Many of our nights got quiet around 8 PM or so. I remember one night, most of us huddled around a few bunk beds and exchanged riddles, jokes, and stories. I remember another night, we huddled outside on the stoop with the dogs and proceeded to talk for hours. It might sound a litle boring, but we were learning each other in a real, organic way. I love football tournaments, card games, and movies but this was more than that. I went to sleep every night feeling like bonds were growing and it felt great.

RUN THE 1

Tuesday was the run day. Rain was forecasted, which to be fair, it is the rain season in Rwanda right now so it is always forecasted. Luckily for me, the rain never got very heavy, and mostly allowed me to not have to deal with too much sun and heat. Last year we ran around the homes we used to live in. This year, I ran around the streets our kids used to live in. Also, things have changed in some parts, so I found myself scaling Mount Kigali a way I used to remember. I was way off this time, but luckily had a contingent of children to lead my way up the hill. That first leg was almost three hours so I got home and had lunch with Evode and rehydrated. I took off again to finish up the solo run at 4 hours. The kids got home soon after that and they were pumped. We took off for the final leg. The rascals took a backroad way to the stadium that was nice and peaceful, but it took us way higher and for that, I was not appreciative! They sang and laughed the whole way up. We got to the stadium and I realized why Fisto and Francois were so adamant about bringing a football with us. Years past, the stadium was always closed because it’s a professional stadium. I learned that since last year, they have now made a second playing field that is public with quality turf. None of the kids had actually played on it yet and they went wild for it. The stars were out, and all of the lights everywhere made it a wonderful night. Amanda, Russ, me, and another boy made goal posts for the kids and they had a quick ten minute game. Let’s just say, we have a new tradition to look forward to next year. They couldn’t have been happier on the walk back. We ate dinner together with candlelight because the power had gone out. The kids say thank you all the time but these thank you’s were some of the most sincere I’ve heard in a long time.

We took off running after the kids got home from school

A victory photo under the stadium lights. The kids broke into a song I have never heard after the photo was taken.

THE REST OF THE WEEK

Kids are at school most of the day during the week. That gave us sometime to check out things in Kigali. There was traditional painting with an artist co-op, basket weaving with a women’s co-op, a women led craft brewery tasting and tour, and more. At night, we would help the kids study. At least, we tried our best. Math is a big subject for help because it’s math, but it’s also English. The kids past the first three grades receive all of their teaching in English so their math problems are phrased in English. It becomes a battle to learn the math, but also understand the whole question to begin with. We also stopped at a bookstore and got a couple books that had Kinyarwanda and English so we could let them read the English, and they could laugh at us reading the Kinyarwanda. We may or may not have snuck a few games of Twister in there as “studying” English by repeating the orders of colors and which foot or hand were implied. There was also a lot of drawing too.

I love photo. I came home from an errand and found the gang relaxing. It's easy to play a game or take pictures with the kids. Relaxing and letting the kids be themselves isn't hard either but it takes time. Russell and Amanda are really good with letting the kids open up on their own time

NEW KIDDOS

There were a few newbies this year. We had a group of smaller boys starting school for the first time. They were extremely sweet as you can imagine and very much attached to our hips whenever we were around. We also had three new kids who were not currently enrolled due to the school year ending soon. Two of them had stayed with us in the past, but for many reasons, they were lured to the streets again. It took a very heavy tragedy to remind them where they should be. Sadly, a few months ago, eight street kids tragically drowned when they were sleeping in a gutter when it flash flooded. The three kids not in school would been with the other eight but they had been off searching for food. It is just another example of the danger out there for street kids and why we are trying our best. The three not in school, we were tasked with helping them get their multiplication tables down from 2 through 5. If they succeeded a verbal test from Evode, they would get their brand new shoes. I am happy to report they succeeded. They are looking forward to school in September.

Amanda grabbed this photo. It's a great view of daily life with new/young kids. They are always at your side, very affectionate. Russell, Ganza, Myself, and Ravis are watching the inflatable slide blow up.

Emmanuel and Claude are seen here with the clearly ferocious Marshal. Claude, sadly lost his brother in the accident I shared above. They are wonderful kids and will begin school in September

THIRTY YEARS

April 7th marked the thirtieth year since the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. I had never been to Rwanda during the three months the genocide occurred. I can tell you that in the years I have been to Rwanda, I have seen the country grow exponentially. I can tell you that even in 2008, I was floored. Us visitors, took a short trip outside of the city to go to a genocide memorial site. It was extremely heavy but felt important to witness and learn from. I encourage anyone reading to take a look at what happened in 1994. There are many great learning tools out there. Sadly, the holocaust wasn’t the first horrific genocide of modern times and they were pleading for “Never Again” back then. And sadly there were more before Rwanda, and there has been more since Rwanda. I don’t have the answers, but I am sure that not acknowledging them is definitely not the answer.

In the chaos of the party, everyone was trying to get the fathers, mothers, and children altogether for a photo

A CELEBRATION

We always try to do something special for the kids every year before we go. This year we had looked into trying not to find a way to get them to Akagera National Park to see wildlife. Sadly, this year we could not find a reasonably financial way to do it. However, it turned into a win for us. Instead, we decided to invite all of our kids from the past, supporters, and family for a big celebration. We had a big turnout of at least 100 people. Some of the biggest highlights was seeing so many of our “kids’” wives and kids, and hearing their stories about how they are now. Maybe, my favorite part was watching them see each other for the first time in a long time. We also had over a thousand photos from present day and years ago constantly on random on the TV and it was a joy to sit and take them in with everyone. To see the impact as a whole like that was powerful in many ways to everyone. Our current kids got to see that their plans for their futures aren’t just hope. Our alumni, got to be reaffirmed about how far they’ve come. All of us (including you reading this) got the biggest expression of the full circle of Ubaka U Rwanda we had ever seen and we felt it. A few of our young men who are now chefs orchestrated all of the food and cooking. The alumni all got together and purchased gifts for Evode, Becky, and Me. I was so happy to have Russell and Amanda witness and meet the kids because like many of you, they have been supporting them since the beginning too. After the many words of gratitude from folks, the kids put on an acrobat show. Even a couple young men, known for their abilities, jumped and wowed the crowd. After that, a table was brought out, and different pastries, eggs, and Fanta were placed at one end. The whole party was encouraged to lineup behind the table where the person in front got to attempt to flip a bottle a quarter full of water. If successful at making it land straight up, that person got a choice of anything on the table. That was it. It was that simple. Everyone had a blast. I attempted all of my attempts with one of our young man’s baby daughter in one arm. I could care less that I never got one! We also had an inflatable slide. At some point, it nearly tipped for a second when the mothers and children arguably overloaded it. No one was hurt, and now we have a story for years to come. Before our alumni left, they had a meeting and decided that they would all make extra efforts to visit more and help study with our current kids knowing how much Ubaka U Rwanda gave to them and how they want to give back. The very next day, one of our own was there that night, going over math with some of the older kids. He stuck around after and shared some of his testimony with them. We couldn’t have asked more from the party. I could write about it for days so I’ll just say that it affirmed everything.

The young men we have been with over the years, put their money together and got me this personalized Rwandan jersey. They had the new kids join me in front of everyone which I thought was very kind of them

GOODBYES

They are never easy. Amanda and Russell left a day before me so they got the brunt of the sadness. The kids were taking turns thanking them and seemingly being alright. Russell had just confirmed to the kids that they were coming back which is the best part. However, one of our most sensitive and sweets kids stood up to talk and barely got out a word before he began to tear up which caused the little ones and a few others started to go down. After, Amanda and Russell left, we spent time watching videos from the last week and going over how lucky we are that we have such great friends and loved ones. Of course, the next day was my last so we were back at it the next night. The good thing was the initial blow had been dealt. Plus, they are more used to seeing me come and go. The next morning, I cooked their porridge before school and said bye to them separately as they headed for school. There were a few that were clearly trying to keep things together, but everyone seemed to perk up when I told them we would pass by their school on the way to the airport and honk the horn three times so they’d know it was us.

Russell gave the kids a bunch of goofy clothes to mess with and they did not hesitate

THE FUTURE

I’m pretty locked in honestly. I said it last year that I’m trying to figure out how to do this now that I am not doing wildland firefighting anymore and now that COVID is managed. I’m really enjoying this schedule and I hope more people are inspired to join us in the future. We are always going to have running costs and school fees. More importantly, Rwanda, Evode, and those kids are always going to be another family to me. I can’t explain the way I feel connected. I see Russell and Amanda starting to feel it. I have seen others too and I hope they get the chance to return. There are some that I know deserve and would absolutely love to see the fruits of all their labors. I’ll be there next year. I’ll be running again. It’s the least I can do to meet them somewhere for all the things they have given to me. As of right now, I see late April again but possibly late February. If you have made it this far in the blog, you might just be that person that would benefit and deserves to spend time with these amazing people in an amazing country. Please reach out. And as I told the kids before we left, I reminded them to center themselves with gratitude. After the stories are told and pictures shared, gratitude is the most I can offer. I know the world is a crazy place with an insane amount of need. Thanks for making this work. Thank you for having a heart for these kids. We’ll keep at it, and you are always invited.

TURIKUMWE (WE ARE TOGETHER)

SHAUN