imbubazi. Rwanda.

Imbubazi orphanage, Rwanda

"a place where you will recieve all the love and care a mother would give" 

We went to Imbubazi after the Best Family but on the way to Noel- this started our stay in Gisenyi :)

You've heard me talk about the Rwandan Genocide, and as I tell people in person the stories of the places we went, I realize more and more how the genocide played a major role in every single orphanage or ministry we visited.  The story of Imbubazi is no different.  After the genocide, 95,000 children were lost or orphaned....Roz Carr, at Imbubazi, has given over 400 of these a home.

Roz was an American woman who "traded in her life as a fashion illustrator and New York City socialite to follow her husband to Belgian Congo".  Her story goes that her marriage didn't last long, but her love of Africa did.  She was the longest living foreign resident in Rwanda when she died in 2006 at the age of 94.  I got CHILLS reading this about her.  That she traded in her life for what was in store for her later in Rwanda.  You see she ran a flower plantation in Rwanda and after the genocide, at the age of 82 (eighty two!!!), she opened her doors to care for the orphans.  

There is a book about her & Imbubazi called "Land of a Thousand Hills" and I LOVE this quote...

"I can only surmise that GOd didn't feel I was ready to have children until I was 82 years old.  Then he sent me forty all at once."  

She never had kids of her own, but she mothered so many Rwandan children over the years.  I can ONLY aspire to live such a life of love & adventure as Roz.  

I told you about these two the day I spent time with them at Imbubazi in Rwanda.

Marissa (in pink) and Sandra in blue!  Marissa wants to be a chef & Sandra a doctor!  They love Jesus, and reading their bibles. Marissas's fave book is Proverbs & Sandra's is Acts.  They both have big dreams and bright futures.  

We took a little tour of the still working flower plantation that is Imbubazi.  It was beautiful!  I had them tell me what their favorite flower was, then I took their picture next to it.  Such a mom thing to do ;)  

I love getting to use my love for photography in THIS way.  Making these girls feel loved & special! 

We took a tour of their home, and the gardens.  They showed me Roz grave, the flowers, the trails, all while pouring out their dreams for their futures.  

puppies!!!

Ok hilarious!  While I was on the tour with the girls, this is what the rest of the team was doing!  There was this choir (dressed in full lavender) shooting a music video that day & they asked the team to join in!  You can imagine my face when I turned the corner to see THIS.  hahaha.  

I talked in this post about the fun we had with the girls that day.  crafting, dancing, singing, playing games.  girls ARE girls.  honestly, it's harder for me to connect with the older girls at orphanages no matter where we are.  I seem to attract the 16 year old boys into my club easily, so the Lord always surprises me when He puts teenage girls in my path.  It's a challenge, but one that is always worth the time & effort.  I wish I could say it is easy, but thankfully the power of the Holy Spirit works through me in those instances.  We really did have a lot of fun!  Here are some pics! 

Oh, and Alison & Merrill and I took pictures of every girl (15) and have passed out & assigned each girl and her picture to a girl in Alison & I's bible study group!  I look forward to praying for these girls by name & hopefully doing some crafts to send to them!  I'll tell you more about that later! 

{check out Alisons blog for the pics!}

Remember when I told you that when we passed out the donations one boy said, "thank you for coming and giving us hope to live again"?  Well this is a picture of us presenting the donations.  Backpacks, sheet sets and sewing machines! THANK YOU to everyone in Midland who dropped off backpacks & sheet sets....now you know where they are ;)  yeah! 

Have I told you yet how much I enjoyed having my SISTER there?  It was amazing to watch her interact, form relationships and fall in love with this country!  I love you Rach! 

if you haven' started yet...please read my good friend Alison's blog.  She is a very talented photographer, writer, crafter, friend extrodinarre!  After this trip to Rwanda she has decided to MOVE there!  She just announced it yesterday, and she also has great posts & pics on our trip.  So head on over to http://sassandcrafts.com/