Life is good.

Life is good in Kigutu.

Many frustrations and many small victories. Our gardens are coming along well, as is our nursery system. We’re seeding out about a hundred more varieties of trees, vines, shrubs, and veggies next week in preparation for the new moon. Several thousand healthy seedlings are growing now, and we’re scaling up this month. I hope to have 15,000 more bags planted out by the 25th, as well as several thousand veggie starts and at least five more perennial seed beds. The surrounding communities/villages will be pretty well outfitted before long.

I’ve met some interesting people lately in Bujumbura and Kigali. It’s fun to run into like-minds working on development projects. There is a lot of work being done in East Africa; a long way to go though. A very long way. I’m still baffled by the poverty and the extreme lifestyles that accompany it. I’m reminded on a daily basis how little I have to complain or worry about.

I swear I want to adopt half the kids who come through the clinic! Some come every few weeks for checkups, and some pass through once. Some are here for weeks, others for hours. I just want to pick them all up, and kiss their fat cheeks, and run around with them on my shoulders all day. I’m telling you, these little boys and girls are heart-breakers. I hate thinking about what’s to come in their lives. My first reaction is to be sad; then angry; then helpless; then grateful to live in my shoes, and not theirs. Actually, most of them don’t have shoes.

I still haven’t figured out how I am supposed to act/react when a drunken father approaches me in a village out here. It’s easy to engage in joy and cheer with a light-hearted stranger on a path up in the mountains, but for the knowledge that he just drank his wife’s salary and his kids’ food away. I don’t want to be mean, or to invite any bad juju on my organization, but this reoccurring pattern really makes me angry. Rather, I feel really angry when this occurs. But what can I say to these men? What could a Muzungu (rich white guy) say to enlighten these men? What can anyone say? I can think of a whole list of things to say to vent some of my anger about the situation. I guess, like most problems, it takes time and persistence to make a difference. To be honest, these men require more time and more persistence than I am willing or able to contribute at this point.

So there are many sad stories to witness and experience here. There are also many things that are truly beautiful. A beautiful little baby was born in our clinic a few hours ago. Many lives are saved in our clinic. There are people in our community who have survived and continue to survive the worst atrocities imaginable. I have seen the brightest smiles here. There are smiles tucked away in every house and every individual here. Big, bright, shining eyes, with apple cheeks, and white teeth. People wear colors here; not one or two colors, but ten or fifteen all at once. Neighbors know one another, and give what they can to help each other. Women and children here help each other. Our garden is growing. My team is learning. I am learning. I have friends here who care about me. I see blue sky every day. There are hippos, and monkeys, and colorful birds, and nitrogen-fixing trees.

Life is good in Kigutu.