Exploring Albuquerque

After the wedding, my daughter Patricia and I became tourists for two days in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The pink mountain. Beautiful to see. The mountains get their famous pink color from potassium-feldspar (K-spar) crystals within the Sandia granite. Sandia is a Spanish word for watermelon.

View of the same mountain from the balcony at Solange and Mark's lovely home.

Old city Albuquerque

Sawmill Market has many food courts. The market is a great place for breakfast waffles.

I don’t know her name, but this lovely Navaho lady took the time to talk with me. I so appreciated her kindness.

Adobe buildings are beautiful.

Old church building in Old Town. San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church has been the spiritual heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The structure is largely the same as it was in 1793.

This adobe structure is fantastic. It reminds me a lot of the mud brick structures in Rwanda.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Traditional dancers

Traditional dance clothing is very colorful and different. Our cultures are not so different.

Urukundo traditional dancers are a bit less colorful. Just as impressive.

The forests and mountains in New Mexico are not a bit like those in Rwanda. Huge boulders rest in place waiting to be freed.

Up, up and away. Flying high. Ears popping.

The tram is about the size of a small bus and takes passengers to the top of the mountain for a spectacular view of Albuquerque below.

The tram goes to the 10,378-foot crest of the Sandia Mountains. From there, there is a panoramic view covering 11,000 square miles.

Awesome.

It looks like a giant bird on top of this mountain.

A closer picture. Nope, it is a giant rock.

Close-up of the teetering boulder.

Rio Grande River. With this body of water so much in the news, we deemed it necessary for us to actually see the river. I must say, it is not as majestic as the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, my home state.

Touring with Patricia

Back in Pennsylvania

My journey continued with a wedding in Penllyn, Pennsylvania.

The wedding of  Valli and Clyde was unique.  At the end of the ceremony they “jumped the broom.” This is a treasured tradition in the lives of my friends — something I had not witnessed before.

Valli Meeks, DDS, has long been a family member of Urukundo and was a guiding light  in establishing the dental practice at Urukundo Foundation.

Word from home

My boarding roommate, Oliver, sent me a sweet note about my dog, Ollie. She is caring for him while I am away. “Ollie misses you. When a car comes around she runs fast thinking that you are back home, but she is fine.”

Message from Mama

During my visit to the USA, I have been asked, “Where can I get your book?”

My book is  “Hope Made Real: The Story of Mama Arlene and the Children of Urukundo.”

So I am sending the information again to those who do not have a copy and want to own one.

The book can be ordered from Amazon as a Kindle ebook and a paperback. Remember all revenue from the book benefits the children at Urukundo Learning Center.

Thanks to those who bought the book and those who will buy the book.

Much Love: Mama

July Newsletter

The month of July started with Soso and the Anne Frank Project visitors from SUNY Buffalo State going on a trip to Nyungwe National Park, which has one of the oldest rainforests in Africa.

Soso has an adventure. Soso on the canopy walk at Nyungwe.

The opportunity to see what few Rwandan children ever experience was a gift from this team to Soso. I thank them for including him in their exploration of Rwanda.

More visitors

In early July, I welcomed visitors from Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Muhanga. It was my pleasure to host this group to lunch in my home.

The group included Rev. Mrs. Albertine Nyiraneza, president of the Gitarama Presbytery of the Eglise Presbyterienne au Rwanda (EPR), and Samuel Habarurem, both neighbors of Urukundo Foundation.

Also visiting were S, Mark Phoebus, Kay Smith and Fred Mitchell, from Calvary Presbyterian Church in  Indiana, Pennsylvania. These three are home folk.

Field trip

Can you guess what this is all about?

These are pictures from the Primary 6 field study trip for Primary 6 at Urukundo Learning Center.

The P6 field trip was a new experience for our students and faculty.

The students learned a lot at the Umusambi Village and the Kandt House Museum. Umusambi is Kigali’s first wildlife sanctuary and provides a sanctuary for gray crowned cranes. The museum is named after Richard Kant, the first colonial governor of Rwanda.

Headmaster Viateur and teachers accompanied the students.

You can read more about this trip. A special followup will be on the Hope Made Real website, to be published after Tresor, our person in charge of posting, returns from his honeymoon.

Wedding of the month

Tresor: Handsome groom. Sandra: Beautiful bride.

It’s official: Tresor and Sandra are husband and wife. The wedding took place on July 18, 2023.

Here are the steps to marriage in Rwanda and its culture:

1. Civil ceremony

2. Dowry

3. Religious ceremony and reception

Tresor’s story can be found in my book, “Hope Made Real, the Story of Mama Arlene and the Children of Urukundo,” Pages 85 and 86. I am so very proud of this young man.

And more visitors

These visitors are from Westminster College, a liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

This happy group was here for only 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes, they visited the daycare and the Urukundo Learning Center. So much of Urukundo they did not see! My thought is that 30 minutes is not enough. However, you use what you have and hope they will return in the future with more time to spend.

Headmaster Viateur, myself, and Global Engagement Institute Coordinator Adeline accompanied them on their visit.

Construction begins

Thanks to generous funding, the needed classrooms are under construction.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 5

Imagine what this will look like when I return in September!

Celebrating Claudine

Claudine has been accepted into a special program. The program is sponsored by Masaka Resource Center for the Blind in Kigali. Claudine is an exceptional young woman, and we are so grateful to have this opportunity given to her. The program starts in August.

Graduation 2023

This was the first graduation ceremony presenting our Karate Club. The basketball court was the perfect place to practice to get ready.

Much ado about graduation.

We rented speakers so all can hear the presentation.

Preparation was a big project and took a lot of manpower. It required a very large space for many guests.

Many tents were erected and chairs placed. This photo shows only the graduates’ side of the field.

Not the best photo, but it gives you an idea of the number of tents needed. There still was not enough seating. More benches and mats had to be placed to accommodate the children and parents. It was so gratifying to see the turnout of families coming to honor our students as they graduated.

Tom Nunnally Sewing Center graduates

Urukundo Learning Center Primary 6 graduates

There were 166 preschool graduates and 61 Primary 6 students. In the center left of the photo are a district education official, National Board President Oswalde, Headmaster Viateur and Mama. What an awesome group!