YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Glacier and Norah-the third grade sponsors this girl for school
We all started this day rested and ready to go an experience Rwanda. I am never disappointed when it comes to seeing the children at the New Life Junior Academy. They are all so happy to see us and I was excited to have my cousin Taylor experience this for the first time. It is a great introduction to both the need and love that Rwanda holds and I knew the children would be fascinated by her and very curious. I could sense that Glacier was a little nervous as last time she was here they bombarded her all at once and she anticipated this again. But with some strong reassurance she too became excited. It was a beautiful day and the hour long trip again showed me what a beautiful country Rwanda truly is. The hills were glowing in the sunshine and everything was plush and green. I watched as Taylor was quite and just took it all in. I was so happy to see it all again but even more happy to share it with her. With so much devastation that Rwanda has had, the beauty of its country goes unnoticed by those who have not seen it. The land around them is just as beautiful as the people who live on it.

When we pulled up in the van slowly you could see the children coming from their classrooms. Our friends Mike and Lisa McColm were also there with their team and I was very excited to also see them. As we got out of the van the children started to cautiously came up to each and everyone of us to say hello and to hug us with greetings. I could see their smiles and the joy they all felt because we had come to visit with them. Glacier stood very close to me and the children just stood by her and stared at her. A few came up to greet her and many whispered to me in their best English how beautiful she was. Once in a while a child would be brave enough to walk up to her and touch her hair or try and rub her white skin to see if it will come off and expose the blackness in her, with no luck of course but lots of curiosity. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a large group gathered around Taylor and she was hugging each and every child within her reach. She is a very tall girl and she stood way above them but they managed. I myself could not get enough hugs in. They were all so sweet and I was taken back by their love for us all. It is those times when you forget all about the things in your life that may have been hard and challenging and just focus on the moment. It is always an experience I go back to in those times of sorrow. These children love us as much as we do them. I of course asked about Esther first and was told she was in the city and was not there. I was disappointed and especially was Glacier but I knew that night we would coordinate to see her so I was not worried. After many special moments interacting with the kids we all filed into the feeding hall to give the YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL presentation and give out the 1000 buttons that Fran, one of the team members, put together.

We explained to them the concept of being beautiful not only on the outside but in your mind, your soul and your heart. We also told them about the program that Glacier’s class did in giving each student at St Agatha a button. They all stood up ad tried to get a peek of Glacier while Oma was explaining that the third graders in Oregon also would like to spread the message to them and that they love them all too. At this point they all clapped in excitement as they formed into a line to receive the buttons from our team. We also had our friends on Mike and Lisa’s team help in handing them out. One of the head girls taught Taylor and I the way to say YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL in Kinya-rwanda and so for each child we did our best to tell them that they Are beautiful. Taylor was better at it than me, but each time we said it the children would smile and laugh. I am sure they thought we were crazy and that our accent made the words seem very foreign to them. But they were very appreciative and smiled with great pride when receiving the buttons. We knew we had more than enough buttons, but we could see that there were many more children in line and our surplus was running low. Fran was very upset as she did not want to leave anyone out and so as we ran out we let Rebeka, the leader of the kids, know and she had them all sit down. She then proceeded to speak in a “guilty tone” to them in their language and it was so sweet to see them slowly coming forward with more than one button. Some had taken two and their conscience got the best of them. As sweet as they are they are still children and do the same things our own children do. It was wonderful to see that with such hardship they still had the innocence of little kids about them. What kid do we know that does not try to push the envelope a little? But they all love each other so much and they did not want their fellow friends to go without. Those who did not get one came up afterwards and we were able to make sure every child had received a token of our love. They then did a wonderful performance of dancing and singing for us and even got most of us on the dance floor for some traditional dancing. It was quite a sight I must say, but we all enjoyed each and every bit of it.

The day was getting late and we had just enough time to go to some of the sponsor families’ houses to visit with them. As we were on our way to visit these families it was such a great sight to see little children walking home from school proudly sporting their YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL buttons. This day was a special day for all of us and I think we truly spread the word from so far away that in deed YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!