Visiting Honorine

I have so much to tell you.  It's been a while since we had time to talk.  This is the start of the third term and everyone made it back safe and sound this time to the village.  I can't believe I'm 2/3rd of the way done with my year at Agahozo.  It really has flown by.  I feel like it's almost time for me to go back home and there's still so much I haven't achieved.

Let me tell you about my visit to Honorine's home in Gisozi, a Kigali suburb near the Genocide Memorial.

Of the 15 girls in Eleanor Roosevelt family, only two 'went out' (left the village) on this 'break'.  As mentioned in a previous post, due to changed academic requirements for sitting for the leaving exam, 9 of the girls in my family had to stay through the break and study for what will amount to be a Junior High graduation exam.  Four others stayed and participated in an amazing 2 week theatre program that they absolutely adored.  Honorine and Agnes were the only two to have already completed the required exam and were not in the theatre program.  

I visited Honorine at her home on the first day of the vacation.  She has an amazing adoptive mom who would be the subject of a CNN Hero documentary or at the very least an episode of Extreme Home Makeover anywhere but Rwanda, but in Rwanda her story just blends in, as not that extreme.  Josephine has no biological children, but has 16 adopted children with no other family or guardian.  They all live, when not at school, in a very modest, tiny home.  When I visited most of the other kids were still at school, so I met one younger brother (8), one younger sister (15) and Josephine.  She speaks no English but smiles and hugs a lot and was happy to read to me from her Kinyarwanda Bible.  The family has no income and lives entirely on donations (mostly informal).  Josephine was a baller and when the kids turned on pop music on a tiny radio to dance, she got up and danced her heart out with them.  (Of course I had no choice but to join in.)

I couldn't believe how small the home is and there really isn't space for everyone to be inside at once, but somehow it works.  They really enjoyed the photo session so I took quite a few.   Below is a small fraction. These are taken in a common courtyard area a few paces from their home.

Josephine

Josephine, Honorine and two of her siblings

At one point Josephine literally ran back into the house and came back with this ID card.  No one could explain it to me but they all asked for it to be photographed and to be photographed with it.  I think this is someone who has passed, but I don't know the relation.

The document

Zoomed in on this ID card at their insistence

Family Portrait?

Honorine takes a photo

Josephine, Honorine and me

In some ways this was a tricky visit, because Honorine doesn't speak that much English and she was the only one who could translate.  There was a lot of smiling and nodding and hugging, but not to much to say.  I could tell that Josephine was a gracious and welcoming host, that Honorine was proud to have me there and that everyone was very friendly.

When Honorine came to pick me up at the designated meeting spot, she was so excited.  Then the whole way through the dusty walkways up to her neighborhood, about a 30 minutes walk, she held my hand and smiled and giggled while the residents stopped what they were doing to see what the Muzungu was doing in the area.  I was glad to see the type of living conditions she had and honored to thank Josephine for taking care of so many abandoned children.  She is a true inspiration.