What do we eat in Africa?

People ask me what kind of food we eat when we are in Africa. I tell them we eat well, too well. Every time I go there, I come home several pounds heavier. I eat lots of fried food. There is one menu for mujugus (it means "white people") I m not whitle, but they call anyone who is not local, they call mujungus. For breakfast, we eat fried egg, white bread, bananas, papayas, pineapples, passion fruits. For lunch which is the biggest meal, we eat rice, fried potatoes, mutoki (cooked or fried banana), a piece of beef or chicken. For dinner, the same thing we ate for the lunch. I eat much better and more when I am in Rwanda. All these great foods are prepared in this outdoor kitchen by Esprance.


And served in fancy pots. Lots of different dishes. Do you see a big dough like thing on the table, that is a traditional African food called "ugari" It is made from casaba roots. It is a lot like Korean dduk (rice cake) I wish every African family eat like this. But it is not. This is a meal for guests, and Africans are famous for their hospitality. They will go without food for themselves for a few days in order to treat their guests with a good meal.


When we are in Burundi, we cook for ourselves. Paul is preparing tea, Nate is making french toast for a breakfast.



The best fish I ever had was in Burundi. Here it is. Every time we go to Brundi, we go to a beach restaurant and eat fish caught from Lake Tanganyika. Chris is serving to us. I hope he washed his hands.

Global Citizens

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Originally uploaded by come and see africa

NUR is blessed with many talented professors. The talents are pulled from all over the world. Elena and Oleg are from Russia, and they teach physics and astronomy. Jose and Jahwar are from India. Some of these professors are from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya. And yours truly who is a Korean-American came to Butare from SF. Most of these professors speak three or four languages fluently. They are holding a certificate of completion of Web 2.0 workshop. Each of these professors are now have their own blog and their wiki site.

4th of July

Four of us celebrated 4th of July in Butare, Rwanda. We celebrated it as Independence Day, Rwandans celebrated it as Liberation Day.

Morning Glory

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Originally uploaded by come and see africa

These children get up at 5 am, and come for the morning devotion at CASA house. They sing and dance, and hear God's words before they go to school. Many of these children go to sleep without a dinner, and they go to school without a breakfast. And yet, they give thanks to God. Bless are the poor... This picture is taken at 6:30 am, right after the morning devotion.

What can you see when you are in Rwanda?

I have visited Rwanda eight times, and yet I have not seen any animals other than goats and chickens. Rwanda is famous for gorillas, and yet I have not seen one. You have to go to a special park to see it, and also it is quiet expensive to get into to the park. Chris was lucky to see a monkey on his way to Congo.



These two mujungus are enjoying goat meats they bought from a street vendor.

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.

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.