Divine. Memorial. Bagel. Market. A summary of Day 3!

Divine: Today started out with a visit to a local widow with 8 children who has been trained to earn a living by making earrings to sell at the market. She has 2 sets of twins and the youngest are beyond cute. The smallest twin girl named Divine was so stinkin cute and tiny. When she got tired she would such the same 2 fingers as JP used to and scratched her head....just like JP! Here's a picture of me with Divine.




Memorial: After visiting Mama Clementine, we went to the Genocide Memorial. I have been there before, but it was before JP became my son. I didn't expect to have the reaction I did. I thought that I would not have an overly emotional response because it was nothing I haven't already seen...but when I entered the part of the memorial that honors the lost children and shares their story. I lost it. One little one is remembered for his last words he spoke to his mother, "Mama, where should I run?" I read those words and heard JP's voice. The last time I walked through this memorial I shed tears at the atrocities that happened to "A" people. This time, I wept because what I was reading happened to MY people.

Bagel: After the memorial we went to the African Bagel Company! This is a business that our friends started to again train the widows in a trade. The widows are taught how to make bagels and cookies to sell at several venues. We had ham and cheese bagel sandwiches for lunch! YUM! The chocolate chip cookies were amazing too. It was a neat opportunity to see another example of how to break the cycle of poverty. Giving our money is a nice gesture but it doesn't solve the problem unless the money is used to train people to be self sufficient. One of the reasons I love their ministry, TENTMAKERS OF RWANDA.

Market: We ended our day at the open market where you have to negotiate the best price you can in a VERY crowded environment where you dont speak the language. It's an adventure! We left with some nice bowls, jewelry and placed an order for Kayla to have a custom shirt made with some fabric we found there!

**Update on Kayla** She woke up this morning feeling MUCH better and by late morning she was back to her old self! She is completely fine now! She took this picture at Mama Clementine's this morning.