Sunday, July 15, 2007

Visiting Burundi

We drove around about an hour to buy gas in Burundi. We paid over $10 for a gallon of gas.


A grocery store in Burundi. We bought goat meats and peanuts for lunch


Queen Leila and Pastor Chris


Spoke to students about January conference. The theme of Jan. conference is Joseph in Egypt, it is about leadership. There are 16 universities in Burundi, these students are leaders from each campus.

Photography.English.Bible.Techology Classes

Twenty students from NUR learned to use 35mm camera. Don collected 10 cameras from his church in Tiburon, and taught students.





Nate teaches English to children and youth.



Pastor Chris teaches NUR students about Christian Leadership


Professor Kim teaches NUR professors on Web 2.0


Last year, Prof. Singleton taught these students. They meet once a week and practice.


Building a house

Students and CASA team build a house for a widow. It took a week to build it, and it costed under $2K.

Praise and worship in Rwanda

Litte children and widows praise and worship at 5:30 am. University students gather at noon to praise and to worship. Instead of partying at night, students gather together from 10 p.m at the stadium, priase and worship.





Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Richest woman in Africa.

We had a house dedication for the widow with four children. Our team members and local people came out and built the house for the widow. After the completion of the house, we had a party. Students bought her 8 blue plastic cups and 2 plastic bins. The CASA bought her a large bag of beans and rice, and a mattress. Her church bought her a blanket, and many neighbors brought her tomatos, avocados, beans, and corns. Many neighbors participated in building her house, even little children carried water to the construction site. After finishing the house, everyone came to the site and celebrated. You have to be here to see her big smile.

Pastor Daive who was in charge of the house construction shares Words.













This is her new house with 3 rooms in side. She was happy about a door so she can lock up.











This is the kitchen. If you want to remodel your kitchen, here is some idea for your new kitchen.












This is latrine. Do you see the little hole between two bricks? Again, if you have an urge to remodel your bathroom, I can give you a tip. Just let me know.











She is standing in front of her new house with her mother who is in yellow top. The widow is wearing a t-shirt with words printed, "when you look to Jesus, everything look up". I am not sure if she was wearing the T-shirt intentionally. I doubt it. But it is so fitting.

This morning at the CASA devotion, she stood up and blow kisses to God. She said that she is the richest women in this country, she slept on her own mattress, she feels like she is a queen. She gave thanks to God then she blow more kisses to God. This house was built under $2000. She said, she is the most blessed woman in this country. She humbled me with her grateful attitudes.


NUR rector giving out certificates to the workshop participants. He is a dynamite leader who is decisive. He is the new president of this university.










After the ceremony, professors came to the CASA house for tea and coffee







The way to Burundi. These kids are getting a free ride.








Pastor Jeremy's family in Burundi. What a happy family. They have 8 children, three of them are adopted.








I stayed in Rwanda today. Chris left with Frank and Don to go to Congo. He will talk to university students about January conference. Burundi students were so excited about upcoming conference, they want to save bus fare to come to Rwanda. Our deal is that the CASA will provide lodging and food for 4 days and half of their transportation money. Even then many students can not come up with the money to attend the conference, especially those students who have to travel far. However, we want students learn to contribute, not just taking in. Robina informed us that about 300 to 400 students will attend the confernce. We want students to their part. We are talking about $5 to $10 of their bus fare.

No pics with this blog, internet connection is soooo slow

July 5th: Workshops are finished. Professors came to the CASA house after we closed the workshop. The Rector gave speech on how important for professors to learn to use technology, and the needs for distance learning in Rwanda.

July 7th: David continues to work on the Widow’s house. Here is Widow’s house in progress. We have a house dedication party next Monday, after we come back from Burundi. Bujumbra is about 2 hours away from Butare, but it is a all day trip. We were at the borders for almost 2 hours to get our visa stamped. We left Butare around 9 and arrived in Bujumbra around 3 p.m. We visited Imaculee’s home for a dinner; as usual, her mother prepared a feast for us. We had to leave their house early for a wedding reception.

July 8th: We went to Edmond’s church. There were lots of visitors from different nations; Canada, Netherland, England, Uganda, USA, etc. After the service, we had a lunch with students. We discussed January conference in Butare. There were about 30 students from different universities in Burudi. They were so excited about the conference, Joseph in Egypt is the topic, it is about the leadership. We are planning to have Christian students from Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and USA for January conference.

July 9th: After the lunch, we spoke at the Pastor Jeremy’s church about marriage. Marriage is like a partner dancing, like Tango. It needs practice to be good dancers, needs cooperation. After the dinner, we went to Beach, and had a fish dinner. Children played, and we adults sat around and talked. I was glad that we are out on the beach from hot, muggy hotel room. Cool breeze, good company, good music.

Before we leave Bujumbra on Monday, we stopped at the Korean Mission Center in Buja. The Center building is completed but the seminary is not opened yet. There were 200 people from Time Square people came and treating sick people at the Center. When we got there, we could not even drive into the center because of so many people want to see doctors and nurses. There has to be more than 500 people at the gate to see doctors.

We came back from BJ just before the house dedication and goats giving ceremony. It was so great to witness the widow and her family. She was so happy as you can see in her face. She was wearing a T-shirt with a logo, “When you look to God, everything looks good”. Here is her brand new kitchen, which is right next to the out house. She has a three rooms, mud floor, but her own home. She was so happy that she has doors to prevent thieves coming to her house.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Faculty Workshop

Workshop

We met on Monday, July 2nd at 9 am, and the Vice Rector came, opened the seminar. I learned that the University is requiring professors to put their course online by November. Most of professors use e-mail, and many of them know how to use Office. I introduced Web 2.0 tools. They also created iGoogle homepage, and then they personalized their homepage by adding calendar, clock, etc. Electricity went out several times during the morning session. They also learned what are the RSS feeds. They subscribed to my blog site and this seminar site, which I created with Wetpaint wiki. They learned the difference between Bookmarks and Goggle Reader.

On Tuesday, July 3rd, everyone created their own Blog account with Blogger, and then wrote about what they learned yesterday. They also created an account to manage and sharing photos using Flickr.

July 4th. Rwandans are celebrating their Liberation Day. School was closed, and shops in town also were closed. It was very nice to take a break from intense schedule. The workshop begins at 9 and stops at 5, but I usually linger around little bit longer.

Last year's group

Four people out of 13 people showed up for this year's seminar.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

In action

This is the second day for building the house. Nate and Gordon were working at the site most of yesterday and today.











Chris teaches pastors form 9am to noon, then he goes to the campus to teach for an hour. We have a lunch at 1 pm at the house, then he goes back to teach pastors from 2 to 5 p.m. He also preaches at 9 p.m at the university stadium.


I went to the campus, and taught professors from 9 am to 5 p.m They created iGoogle homepage, and today they are learning about blog and Flickr. They are really good.

We are doing well


Our day starts at 5 am and ends at 10 p.m. For example, mamas and children from neighborhood come to the CASA house for a morning devotions everyday except on Sunday. Even at 5 am, they praise with passion, and usually dance too. I get a good aerobics workout. There were about 45 people in the living room. We push benches to the side, and children sit down and adults sit on the benches. So many great testimonies were shared today. They all praise God with whole heart, and I see they are really glorifying God. When I see these children and also adults, I am reminded that how much they are richer than those who have so much material things in US. They are so grateful to God for what they have and they share them with others. They really don't have anything, but their heart is so rich and full.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Happy widow

We arrived in Rwanda last Thrusday, and our team and students have been building a new house for a widow who has five children and she has Aids. She rents a room in a house where three men also live. She told me that they give her bad time because she is a woman and also she is Hiv positive.

Last Friday morning, I visited her family.This is the place where she lives now.


Her new home site


Don is saying something to kids


10 feet hole for the outhouse

Friday, June 22, 2007

Faculty workshop participants

I will be in Rwanda from June 26 to July 12th. I had a great time meeting these wonderful professors at NUR last year. I went to Rwanda as a Fulbright scholar, and this year I am invited to give another faculty development workshop by the Center for Instructional Technology. This is a group picture of the last year' workshop participants. I hope all of these faculty members will be attending this year workshop. I can't wait to see them again.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

African paradox

I have seen poor children in Africa, so I can't totally agree with Mr. Shikwati who is an economics expert. However, I agree with him a lot of things. I posted this so I can discuss this issue with my African colleagues when I am in Butare, Rwanda this summer.

PIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN ECONOMICS EXPERT

"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...

Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

SPIEGEL: Do you have an explanation for this paradox?

Shikwati: Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.

SPIEGEL: Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them.

Shikwati: But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help. This call then reaches the United Nations World Food Program -- which is a massive agency of apparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of, on the one hand, being dedicated to the fight against hunger while, on the other hand, being faced with unemployment were hunger actually eliminated. It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help. And it's not uncommon that they demand a little more money than the respective African government originally requested. They then forward that request to their headquarters, and before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...

SPIEGEL: ... corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidized European and American farmers ...

Shikwati: ... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unsrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle.

SPIEGEL: If the World Food Program didn't do anything, the people would starve.

Shikwati: I don't think so. In such a case, the Kenyans, for a change, would be forced to initiate trade relations with Uganda or Tanzania, and buy their food there. This type of trade is vital for Africa. It would force us to improve our own infrastructure, while making national borders -- drawn by the Europeans by the way -- more permeable. It would also force us to establish laws favoring market economy.

SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?

Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there's a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn't do all that poorly either.

SPIEGEL: But AIDS didn't exist at that time.

Shikwati: If one were to believe all the horrorifying reports, then all Kenyans should actually be dead by now. But now, tests are being carried out everywhere, and it turns out that the figures were vastly exaggerated. It's not three million Kenyans that are infected. All of the sudden, it's only about one million. Malaria is just as much of a problem, but people rarely talk about that.

SPIEGEL: And why's that?

Shikwati: AIDS is big business, maybe Africa's biggest business. There's nothing else that can generate as much aid money as shocking figures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here, and we should be very skeptical.

SPIEGEL: The Americans and Europeans have frozen funds previously pledged to Kenya. The country is too corrupt, they say.

Shikwati: I am afraid, though, that the money will still be transfered before long. After all, it has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, the Europeans' devastating urge to do good can no longer be countered with reason. It makes no sense whatsoever that directly after the new Kenyan government was elected -- a leadership change that ended the dictatorship of Daniel arap Mois -- the faucets were suddenly opened and streams of money poured into the country.

SPIEGEL: Such aid is usually earmarked for a specific objective, though.

Shikwati: That doesn't change anything. Millions of dollars earmarked for the fight against AIDS are still stashed away in Kenyan bank accounts and have not been spent. Our politicians were overwhelmed with money, and they try to siphon off as much as possible. The late tyrant of the Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, cynically summed it up by saying: "The French government pays for everything in our country. We ask the French for money. We get it, and then we waste it."

SPIEGEL: In the West, there are many compassionate citizens wanting to help Africa. Each year, they donate money and pack their old clothes into collection bags ...

Shikwati: ... and they flood our markets with that stuff. We can buy these donated clothes cheaply at our so-called Mitumba markets. There are Germans who spend a few dollars to get used Bayern Munich or Werder Bremen jerseys, in other words, clothes that that some German kids sent to Africa for a good cause. After buying these jerseys, they auction them off at Ebay and send them back to Germany -- for three times the price. That's insanity ...

SPIEGEL: ... and hopefully an exception.

Shikwati: Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They're in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria's textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide.

SPIEGEL: Following World War II, Germany only managed to get back on its feet because the Americans poured money into the country through the Marshall Plan. Wouldn't that qualify as successful development aid?

Shikwati: In Germany's case, only the destroyed infrastructure had to be repaired. Despite the economic crisis of the Weimar Republic, Germany was a highly- industrialized country before the war. The damages created by the tsunami in Thailand can also be fixed with a little money and some reconstruction aid. Africa, however, must take the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be a change in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves as beggars. These days, Africans only perceive themselves as victims. On the other hand, no one can really picture an African as a businessman. In order to change the current situation, it would be helpful if the aid organizations were to pull out.

SPIEGEL: If they did that, many jobs would be immediately lost ...

Shikwati: ... jobs that were created artificially in the first place and that distort reality. Jobs with foreign aid organizations are, of course, quite popular, and they can be very selective in choosing the best people. When an aid organization needs a driver, dozens apply for the job. And because it's unacceptable that the aid worker's chauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant is needed who also speaks English fluently -- and, ideally, one who is also well mannered. So you end up with some African biochemist driving an aid worker around, distributing European food, and forcing local farmers out of their jobs. That's just crazy!

SPIEGEL: The German government takes pride in precisely monitoring the recipients of its funds.

Shikwati: And what's the result? A disaster. The German government threw money right at Rwanda's president Paul Kagame. This is a man who has the deaths of a million people on his conscience -- people that his army killed in the neighboring country of Congo.

SPIEGEL: What are the Germans supposed to do?

Shikwati: If they really want to fight poverty, they should completely halt development aid and give Africa the opportunity to ensure its own survival. Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet.

Interview conducted by Thilo Thielke

Translated from the German by Patrick Kessler

Monday, June 04, 2007

Africa Mission support team

We had a yard sale to raise funds for Rwanda. People donated all kinds of things. About 20 volunteers came together to work on Saturday, June 4th. I never knew how much works are involved with yard sale. We collected stuff for almost 3 months, and for two days we sorted, marked a price to each item, set up tables with goods, and made sales. We made $1450. There has to be a better way to raise funds than this!

Al bought this tool because no one was buying


Al is buying tools
Originally uploaded by come and see africa

Anna trying to sell this stuff to me


Anna or Jan?
Originally uploaded by come and see africa

Can you guess what this is?


Jan or Anna?
Originally uploaded by come and see africa
It is a hair dryer

Monday, May 21, 2007

Wednesday Fellowship

“What is for the dinner?” someone shouts during announcement time. "Ham, salad, and potatoes!", Bob shouts back from the choir. About a month ago, we started a Wednesday dinner and mid-week service. While most churches are cutting back on services, First Southern is adding them.

There is old saying that the “family that eats together stays together”. How true it is! Eating is the most family-oriented activity in every culture. By serving a dinner on Wednesday, we are accomplishing three goals: First, we stay close to our church family by touching base in the middle of the week. Second, we reach out to people in our community. Often it is easier to invite people to a meal than to a Sunday service. Third, we get a delicious meal.

Bob Shaw has been our lead chef. He has been coming to church on Wednesday morning, spending many hours to prepare food for 30 people. A full course dinner is served between 5 to 6 p.m. – with all the fixing’s. After an enjoyable meal in the dinning hall, we gather in the sanctuary for a “word of the week”. After that we break up into smaller groups to practice choir, pray, or study the Bible. As we share food and fun with one another, our love for one another grows.

It’s so much fun to belong to the family of God. I find myself looking forward to Wednesday evenings. I invite everyone who receives this newsletter to attend our First Southern mid-week dinner. I am reminded of the scripture, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” [Hebrews 10:24-25]

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

my birthday



my birthday
Originally uploaded by come and see africa.

















I got a real dog for my birthday. I never had a dog in my life, and I thought I would try one. A Korean dog came to live with us, but she did a very bad thing. We had to send her back to the owner. She killed Chris' bird, Paco. I think I am going to stick to this hot dog for now, rather than real one.

Monday, March 19, 2007

simon's apartment


simon's apartment
Originally uploaded by come and see africa.
Here I am with my son and my daughter-in-law.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Uploading a movie to your server account

Dave Hicks created an instruction for itec 830 class. Here it is:

Once you have completed your imovie, then exported it as a Quicktime for the web(File>Export>Quicktime>Web) you are ready to post it to your blog.
Here is how:
1. Loading your movie to your server account.
2. Taking a picture of your movie screen.
3. Linking your blog to your movie.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Immculee from 2001 to 2005

I met Immaculee in 2001 in Butare, Rwanda. She was a freshman at NUR at the time, when my husband and I went to Butare. My husband was giving a Christian leadership seminar at the National University of Rwanda, and I was teaching school teachers how to write lesson plans. Since 2001, we have been going to Rwanda every year, and we see Immaculee every year. She was a freshman when we first met her, now she is graduated from the university and works as an accountant for Rwandan government. She is also a board member for "Come and See Africa", a non-profit organization which my husband and I established.

How can you tell this is taken in the different year?

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

DSC00804.JPG


DSC00804.JPG
Originally uploaded by come and see africa.
How beautiful

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Love endureth all things

Zach, Simon and Dillia,

I love you and miss you so "manta" on this V-day.
mom~