Day 5, Thursday - Indescribable

How can I begin to describe this day to you. I have waited for this day for 12 years. Tears. Lots of tears. Happy and sad.

The bus arrived to pick us up to go to the park, and we didn’t know it but there were already children on the bus. I looked into the bus and in the back row were four young people who looked like they might be our translators. One of them burst into a grin and started waving madly. Yup, it was Uwezo Jean Paul. I was about the third one on the bus and had to squeeze my way to the back, and grabbed that young man – he clung to me just like I clung to him. The first words I could get out were, “I love you,” and he responded right back, “I love you, too!” Guess what – he can speak a lot of English. Of course we needed a translator for any big concepts, but his English was pretty good in words and phrases.
We got to the park and he wanted to sit by the pool – he has never been swimming in a pool. He was all dressed up in a suit coat and white shirt, pants, and these amazing retro shoes – I hope I got a picture of them and will post them later. We sat under an umbrella and talked and talked. He also had Devotee, the student center health worker, with him. She was pretty quiet but would answer questions and was very helpful. Uwezo, however, once we got started, was quite talkative and told me much about his life and asked me lots of questions, too. He has actually stopped studying mechanics (a trade school program) to return to secondary school. He is in the equivalent of 8th grade. After 9th they have to take the national exam and then if they pass into high school he chooses a course of study. He wants to study linguistics and learn English. He already has a good start! So I pulled out my English-Kinyarwanda “dictionary” I got off the internet, and the French-English dictionaries and Bibles. We looked through the Bible together and he read me Psalm 123, and I read him Psalm 27, explaining that it was Amalia’s favorite Psalm. He was so pleased. He loves Bible class and reading the Bible. I learned he is actually younger than I thought – he says he is 18, and I have to believe him because he would know!
Uwezo has a very gentle, deep baritone voice and he is very sweet. I loved listening to him talk, and looking at his rich dark skin tone. He thought my white skin was pretty interesting and he (and others) were most fascinated with my hair! By the end of the day we were petting each other’s heads. Funny. The translator, Gloria, had to pet my head too. That’s what got the whole thing started – her fellow university student translators asked her if she had touched my hair because they all liked it. Uwezo asked all about Amalia and Dylan and Jay, and I showed him all the pictures I took from all over Columbus and explained what we do in our daily lives. He was genuinely fascinated. He told me all about his family. Neither of his parents are working right now. I can’t imagine the hardship. He is 5th of 7 children, and 2 of his older sisters are married and he has 3 nieces and nephews. There are still 5 children at home. I didn’t ask a lot about their situation economically – I wanted to encourage him, not have him recount to me all the things that make his life difficult. We spent a fair amount of time conversing in English, too, and there were times he would understand what I said before Gloria translated.
There were some kiddie rides at the park, and we rode the chain swings (what are those things called?) and something like the fair’s helicopter ride, only it was fighter jets that made shooting noises! Uwezo had never ridden any kind of fair ride before, so he didn’t mind that they were a bit juvenile for him. Not sure what he would have done with a real roller coaster.
Lunch was a buffet with lots of meat, and spaghetti, and rice, and potatoes, and starchy baked bananas (plantains?). At Uwezo’s request I tried some of the Akabanga hot sauce – like Tabasco sauce! And burned my throat for about 5 minutes. It was awesome. (Hilarious). After lunch they told us we were about out of time – so we needed to give gifts. Uwezo had already given me his gift of a banana-fiber art plaque – I will have to post the picture. Also greeting cards, and one of the famous peace baskets. All will look like familiar African artifacts when you see them, so I will have to post pictures. They are great.
I gave him the duffel bag with housewares, school supplies, and some clothing items first, and he loved them all. When I showed him the key chain from Cummins and the notebook from IUPUC, he loved them, but he especially loved the verse from Psalms that Amalia calligraphied for him. I had some things for his family, too, and he loved them all. But when I got to the CD player he just about cried with joy and threw his arms around me. And when I gave him the computer… he was absolutely speechless. He took a step back and just stared. He finally said that he had never dreamed of owning anything like that. In fact I guess it is so rare for an individual to own a computer, that all the wait staff came up and peered over his shoulder while I gave him the quickest tutorial in history. He said they had computers at his student center, but I had to show him how to use the mouse. Reminded me of when Amalia was 5 and taught me to use a mouse! How different his world is from ours.
We said good-bye, and we both started crying and just clinging to each other, and he got on the bus… and then they told him to get back off again! They were taking the bus in 2 shifts, and he was in the second shift. So we got to spend an extra hour and 15 minutes together. We walked back by the pool and took off our shoes and put our feet in – it was quite warm at this point – and that’s when he told me he had never swam in a pool before. I told him that if he wasn’t all dressed up, I would push him in. He responded, “yes.” : ) We talked a little bit about theology – that was fun. We went back up to the big pavilion, and while we were waiting for the bus, I taught him how to play uno. I think he liked it. But even better was at the end when I taught him how to build a house of cards. (I do have some skills.) He was fascinated. I bet he tries that again.
So then we said good-bye again, and hugged and cried some more, then they told me that I was getting on the bus too and riding back into Kigali with him! We didn’t have the translator that time so we just did our best in English, which wasn’t too bad. Greg Birgy sat in the back of the bus, and his young man that he met (formerly sponsored child, now graduated from Compassion’s program) had already left but he showed us the pictures and notes he got from him, and was nearly crying with joy, and sadness because the day was over. I turned to Uwezo and said, “you see how we sponsors are.” He said “yes” again in his rich baritone and then turned his face away from me. Pretty soon I saw he was wiping at his eyes. I didn’t want to turn and look at him, so I asked Greg, ”Is he having a moment?” Yes, was his answer, so I put my arm around Uwezo and pretty soon we had our heads on each other’s shoulders and were crying again. Kleenex was passed and we survived, only to start sobbing again as we pulled into the hotel to drop us off. He got off the bus too, because they were going to take a taxi, and I swear it was 5 minutes we stood there hugging and crying and telling each other we loved each other and that we hoped we could meet again soon. He told me he feels that we are like his parents in a far away place (exactly what we are) and I told him I felt like he was very much a part of our family.
There is no greater feeling than being able to impact someone’s life this way. I know I am forever changed by this day, and I would think he was, too. I hope this day gave him hope that one day his dreams will be fulfilled. God has plans to prosper, not to harm this young man. Poverty has tried to beat him down and keep those plans from coming to fullness. I will do everything in my power to be God’s hands and feet to see that God’s plans are fulfilled in his life.