Saturday at Giti

Saturday, we were up early. The fourth Saturday of each month is a civic work day throughout the country. Every Rwandan is required to report for duty to work on civic improvement projects like filling potholes, cutting grass along the roads, shoveling out the gutters along the roads and such activities. Not a bad idea in principle, except that it happens on the Sabbath. Though our church members have derogation from working on the Sabbath for religious reasons in their own villages, a van load of them driving to a different village could be stopped at any police check point and immediately ordered out to be put to work on the spot. The way to avoid this is to travel early, before the projects begin.

Fiona with new friends at Giti

So we were to be on the road to Giti at 7:15. We were a little late but still got an early start. The road to Giti is about 70-80 km, the first half on paved road, the last half on very poor dirt road. Giti is located on a mountain top, and the views of verdant hilly Rwanda on the crooked way up are truly beautiful. Kigali is around 1700 meters in elevation (5600 ft), and I believe we drove up another 600-700 vertical meters from there. Even though we're almost right on the equator, the temperatures are pleasantly cool. In the valley floors we could see a few of Rwanda's many lakes. We bounced our way up to Giti arriving about 09:30 just ahead of a van-load of church members from the village of Remera. They had left over an hour before we did.

Joel speaking during services

On arrival we stretched our legs, and chatted as best we could with the church member adults and children present. Only a few of them speak French, and that often rather approximate, but we could see by their smiles that they were very happy to have us with them. We made use of the services of those few who could translate.

Once the van from Remera arrived, we prepared for our Sabbath service. Hymns were sung in Kinyarwanda and French. Mr. Mundeli said a word of welcome. The small chorale sang special music that had been composed for the occasion. I gave some news of our work and our present trip as Mr. Mundeli our local elder translated phrase by phrase into Kinyarwanda, after which the chorale sang once again. Then I gave a sermon on the principle of Christian conflict resolution based on Matthew 18:15-17, this at the request of Mr. Mundeli. We sang a final hymn and closed with prayer.

Ladies with their spoons

Then Mr. Mundeli introduced to us the families of Giti and Remera, and then I stood and introduced my family to the assembly. On behalf of the Church in Rwanda, Mr. Mundeli presented gifts to Marjolaine: a traditional dinner "plate" woven of leaves, a traditional gourde drinking vessel complete with a drinking straw, and a photo frame woven of banana leaves. In their turns Fiona and Tatiana received purses and photos frames woven of banana leaves. They were typical craft items from the region, so all three ladies were pleased and thankful by the kindness showed. To receive gifts from people who have so little in the way of material things is humbling and thought provoking.

We then presented the last of our wooden cooking spoons to the ladies in the congregation. Faces were beaming far beyond what the small gifts warranted. It must have been the thought behind the gift and the knowledge that they were receiving something from far-off, exotic America that caused the joy. I again teased the ladies about making sure they only used the spoons for cooking and not on their husbands. That joke seems to translate well into every culture....

Marjolaine receives welcome gifts

We all had a soft drink, a rare treat for them brought especially for the occasion. As we were drinking our sodas, I showed a video of our last visit to them, when we had organized an aid project which supplied many of them with free dental care. They laughed loudly to see themselves in the dental chair being treated with their mouths wide open. Several people told me afterward they winced a little when they heard the drill again....

We then had some more time to talk before we said our goodbyes and each left for his house or lodging. The trip down was bumpy but uneventful and we were back in Kigali before dusk. We ordered some food in our room (the charge was an extra dollar each) and we watched the film Hotel Rwanda, which I had brought from home on a DVD hoping to be able to watch it with Fiona and Tatiana while we were here. It had more impact since we had already visited two genocide memorials and had eaten at the Mille Collines where the story takes place. The movie avoids getting too graphic with the horror and just follows the manager of the Mille Collines who managed to save hundreds of people during the carnage by hiding and protecting them at the hotel. It's serious, reflective film.

The congregation at Giti