Urukundo Guest House

The guest house building once housed the home for boys and then for the Sewing Center. Now it welcomes and houses visitors to Urukundo. It went into operation in June.

A glimpse of the social gathering room. Notice the small refrigerator and white cabinets for supplies and a table to hold purified water, an important element for our guests.

One of the private rooms. There are three of them. There are also three with twin beds in Mama’s home.

Each of the six rooms and the dorm rooms have their own bathroom facilities.

Wedding in New Mexico

I was honored when my Rwandan daughter Solange asked me to walk her down the aisle at her wedding in August. The wedding took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

My beautiful daughter in her new home. Wedding preparations are in progress. I am so pleased to be with her at this very special event in her life.

Solange and one of her moms.  Yep, it’s me. Her Rwanda mom.

Solange’s two moms: Pastor Sharon Landis from McAllen, Texas, and, of course, me from Rwanda, Africa. Pastor Sharon and her late husband Tom brought Solange to the USA for health reasons and legally adopted her.

When asked, “Who gives this woman to be wed?” I responded, “Her other mother and I do.”

Dressed and ready to walk my girl down the aisle.

Mark and Solange in Rwandan cultural wedding attire. She desired to include her Rwandan culture in her wedding. Getting the traditional groom's walking stick to the USA was a challenge. I had to walk it in as it would not fit in any suitcase. Got lots of comments on my black and white cane.

My beautiful daughter Solange, the bride.

My new son-in-law Mark, the groom.

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.

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.