So I am going to Rwanda and Burundi this summer for 2 months and thought I would try to keep a blog during my time out there to let you know how things are going!
I will be spending 1 month in Rwanda teaching English in a children's home before travelling down to Burundi where I will spend the second month working in the lab of a medical clinic that has just opened.
More details about where I am going can be found at the links below:
hopemadereal.org/urukundo-home/
www.burundiyfc.org/shammah-health-center/
I am going to try and keep fairly regular updates, upload a few pictures (hopefully!) and keep you updated with what to be praying for.
The 2 countries are both quite small and sit next to each other in East Africa, sandwiched between the DRC and Tanzania.
Rwanda (and I have been told Burundi is also also) a beautiful country, known as the land of 1000 hills, home of mountain gorillas, tropical rain forests and some of the most welcoming and generous people I have ever met. Many people however probably know Rwanda better for the genocide that happened there in 1994 where at least 800,000 people where killed. Burundi has also suffered from civil war and violence over the last few decades. But in the 20 years since the genocide in Rwanda and 6 years since a ceasefire was signed in Burundi these 2 countries have made huge progress.
I have been lucky enough to visit Rwanda before, it was amazing to see what the church where achieving, and I look forward to spending more time there using skills I have learnt doing a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course this year. This will be my first trip to Burundi but I really hope to learn more about the country and people there, see what the church is doing and hopefully contribute towards the work they are doing.
Chris
