Silence

Right now I can hear crickets echoing over the hill we live on. There is also some other unknown bug that is making a chirping sound. The darkness is covering the green and foggy mountain directly in front of our home. I haven’t seen any stars in Kigali, probably because of the artificial light. But I can see the hazy moon. And I am beginning to enjoy the quiet sounds that surround us each evening. We have few vehicles that travel on our road and our compound is large enough not to hear other families nearby. No children playing or people working. Just quiet.

I will never forget what Nathan told me when we arrived at the Nairobi Airport. He stood still in the middle of the hallway and said, “Mom, listen… it is so quiet.” Now that might sound very strange if you consider the fact that there were many people at that moment speaking various languages and people walking with suitcases who were entering stores in the “mall” we were standing in. But then he added, “I mean there are no beeps, rings, buzzes, or electronic sounds!” Leave it to my technology child to recognize the absence of his regular surroundings. Even the stores had no cash registers… only calculators!

But that was the truth even in Nairobi, which was at least 20 or 30 years ahead of the Rwandan airport. Imagine what we hear now. Silence! Maybe you envy me. I have to say I have begun to enjoy life without so many machines. We do have a television which gets in a cartoon channel. The computer is plugged in of course; and even that is starting to annoy me because I am starting to enjoy the different sounds of voices and nature than the squawking machines I am usually exposed to.

Speaking of voices, we had our whole staff over this morning for a meeting. It went really well. I love hearing them talk to eachother in 3 different languages (Kinyerwandan, French and English) and all the time they are laughing and enjoying each other. They all know their roles and they work so hard in some of the most difficult situations. They look poverty in the face each day. Vianney made mention of one particular family today by saying, “They are VERY poor”. Ok, that means something. Vianney is our caseworker and has seen so many people struggling that when he says a comment like that, you have to know that this family is naked, starving and living in the worst possible condition. The family has just received sponsorship, Thank God! And another thing Vianney was talking about this morning… his cow just gave birth today! He was so happy. He has been starting over from nothing after the war ended, and the employment with us is giving his family the ability to be self-sufficient too. I sometimes leave them out of the “sponsorship” talk… but really, all of our staff are being sponsored also in a way. They make our organization successful and without them, 1800 people would not be experiencing a new life today! So I must thank all of our staff and their families! Travis, Astrid, Cyprien, Bosco, Vianney and the volunteers too. Their rewards are in heaven… but I am also hoping to bless them here too!

Here’s to enjoying silence and loving voices again!