After a long but wonderful trip to visit Esther's family, we ended the day with deep sleep and were ready for a great day at the Esther Home opening. I knew it was going to be a special day for Mom and was beaming with pride from the early morning. We started our day visiting the mother of my sweet friends Devota and Violate. Devota is a beautiful woman I met last time I was here in Rwanda and we quickly became great friends. She fell in love with my sweet little Glacier while we were here and was such a great "Auntie" to her. She is now married and lives in Indiana and so I get a chance to talk with her often. She was the first mommy to Esther when she came from her Grandmothers in Butare to African New Life. She loves Esther very much and has taken all her efforts to provide her stability here in Rwanda. Violate is her sister and I got the chance to meet her in person for the first time on our trip to see Esther's father. She was the wonderful lady who saw this poor little girl begging on the streets with her grandmother and could see the potential of her. She took her from the streets and saved her life by bringing her to Devota to live in the Kinombe house in Kigali. These ladies will forever be my friends and family and I love them very much. Violate has helped us so many times during this process of adoption and never will I be able to pay her back for her genorosity. During holidays from school the children in the boarding houses that Esther resides with must leave the school and return to their families or friends. Because Esther has nowhere to go, Devota and Violate's mother take Esther in for that time. She has loved her and taken care of her for the last few years and is one of the most loving and kind woman you will ever meet. She has a funny sense of humor and is so welcoming. We got to go greet her when we stopped to pick up the girls for the opening of the Esther Home. She is generally a healthy woman, but as I could see Pastor Emma interpreting for us, you could sense her hearing was not so good. I told her how much Esther loves her and how much I appreciate her taking care of her. You could see tears in her eyes and she told us that her hearing is not so well and that each days her vision is getting worse. She fears soon she will not be able to see and then will not be able to take care of the girls. She also cares for Barbara, her grandchild who lives with Esther. This woman has given all her life to being a great mother, Auntie and grandmother and I could see her heartache as she spoke of this ailment. I was very sad as she reminded me of my late Grandma Mary. I loved Grandma Mary very much and remebered as she started to lose her eye sight, the saddness and helplessness she felt each and every day. My heart was aching and wanted to hold her in my arms and make it all go away. Of course, my dear mother just could not let this go. She too remembers Grandma Mary and the heartache it caused her and extended an invitation to get her to a doctor to see what can be done. The blessings that my mother has shown the people of Rwanda is overwhelming and I can not tell you the new repsect and admiration I have even more for her than before. She is a true humanitarian and just a kind and caring person. So, on Thursday Violate will take grandma to the eyes, nose and Ear doctor here in Kigali and she will hopefully be fitted with some glasses. God is truly present here and we are seeing his work each and every day! Wow!
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