Rwanda's Pride and Joy...

The purpose of this blog is to keep the SVF family up to date on the work being done at the Rebero orphan center..but along the way, we are doing a bit of personal sight-seeing.  Tomorrow we are meeting the guys from Rebero to go shopping for essential items of immediate need, but today we returned from a 48 hour trip to see the gorillas!!  I assure you we will be back to blogging about important things regarding SVF tomorrow, but we had an amazing 2 days in the mountain region of Rwanda.  For those friends close to me, you have already read my emails from last year that detailed my gorilla experience, so I will leave those details to Barton as they are from his new eyes.  I will say, though, that we showed up much better prepared this year in regards to pics!  Last year, Kathleen and I struggled to capture the depth and beauty of Rwanda with our teeny "party pic" cameras, but this year we have a great camera and we can really give y'all an idea of what the day with gorillas is like!

Pics from Rebero

Please check out the new pics we uploaded.  We will upload lots more when we have a faster connection.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bringreene/SmallVoicesTripToAfrica#

Our day with the orphans (part 2)

After my hilarious encounter with the children about my freckles (yes, this is Barton writing now), we presented an HP laptop to the Rebero Orphan Center (ROC) that SVF bought for them to jump start their computer literacy program.  Emmanuel, one of the founders, was a computer science major, so he will be able to help teach the kids how to use computers and the Internet.  Additionally, we brought over some fun educational computer games so that the kids can practice up on their Math, English, Science, and other subjects.

 

Next, everyone at the center ate lunch that was prepared by the older orphans.  We were treated to a delectable meal of rice (that was somewhat creamy), some green creamed spinach-ish veggie, boiled beef, potatoes, and orphan-baked cake.  I was somewhat adventurous and chowed down on the beef, but Brin stuck to the rice and green veggie.  Over lunch, we discussed the business of the ROC with Emmanuel and Leonce, and we were pleased to verify that they have remained close to budget and have kept all of the receipts for their expenditures of SVF funds.  At this point, the SVF funds have entirely funded many beneficial purposes, including health insurance for the children, construction of a classroom annex, hiring of a teacher, hiring of a master's-level program director to oversee and develop programs at the ROC, development of a lunch program, and successful planting and growing of a vegetable garden to provide food for the families of the orphans.  Most importantly, Emmanuel and Leonce emphasized that the SVF funds are the blessing that they have been hoping and praying for, giving them hope for the future and the ability to make a plan.

 

After lunch, Leonce said that it was time to give the children the gifts that we had brought from the U.S., that many of you had donated to SVF.  This was one of the main purposes of our trip, so we were eager to see the children's reactions to what Americans thought would make good Christmas gifts for Rwandans.  We set all of the gifts out on a table in one of the rooms at the ROC, everything from stuffed animals and dolls to arts and craft supplies to soccer balls.  The children were getting very eager and excited as they stared into the room through a window.  Once it was all setup, Leonce led the children in one at a time to pick a gift.  The children were ecstatic to get new toys -- very excited with big smiles on their faces.  We have some good pictures that we will post showing some of the children getting gifts --- so look for your toys (we will post a couple of the pictures due to limited bandwidth, but we are planning on posting many more pics once we get home and also creating a digital montage).  Apparently we have now set an expectation of giving Christmas gifts to the children, so we may need to come back next year -- not too bad of a problem to have, though.  Once each of the children had a gift, they ran around for a while and played with them.  Many of them made some lovely artistic works using their crayons and markers and other arts and crafts supplies, and others enjoyed sharing and trading their stuffed animals and dolls with each other.

 

After we thought we had seen everything, the children treated us to another traditional Rwandan dance, complete again with traditional outfits and singing and drumming.  They really know how to move, and you can see that they enjoying dancing the entire time.

 

At this point, it was getting later in the afternoon, so the children began to head to their homes.  We helped Leonce straighten up the center, and we planned to meet up with Leonce and Emmanuel on Wednesday, Dec. 30, to go shopping with them to buy with SVF funds any additional items and supplies that they may currently need.

 

Overall, I was taken aback by the full-time dedication and spirit that Emmanuel and Leonce put into the ROC, apparently day-in and day-out.  They have put their entire hearts and souls into the center since they formed it about 5 years ago, and the children are beginning to reap the rewards.  Even more, I was happy to see them smiles on the children’s faces and to see that they are enjoying their time spent at the center and are benefitting by receiving health care and education, among other things.  The center has only begun to reach its full potential.

Our day with the orphans (part 1)

For those people who have contributed to the Small Voices Foundation Cause, let me start by congratulating you. I hope that each and every person that reads this who has donated time, toys, prayers and money sleeps a little better tonight. The work for the last year is everything I dreamed of and hoped for, and has made a difference.

It may take me several posts to detail the events of today, or perhaps I may never be able to truly recount the experience but I will do my best so that each of you know what an amazing cause of which you have become. For those of you who have donated money to charities with the knowledge that you may never know what your dime has created, I can tell you that with Small Voices I have seen where each penny has made a change for the better.

We were driven at noon (after being confirmed bright and early by Leonce today to Rebero Orphan Center and greeted by 60 of the 88 children who are benefitting from Rebero. Immediately Barton and I were swarmed by little hands and hugs. We could hardly get out of the car. The 2 genocide survivors who founded the Rebero Orphan Center (ROC) had created an agenda of plays and native dance that lasted for an hour. I sat in a chair while the children displayed their ritual dance and Barton snapped shots, like ROC paparazzi. Next, the children re-enacted the Nativity complete with costumes of kings, shepherds, wisemen, angels and the Mary and Joseph- all for us! The production caused such a stir that the neighbors all gathered around to enjoy the spectacle. At a certain point during the native dance of the women, the girls attempted to pull me up and make me dance their native dance. Ummm….let’s just say I gave it my best. During, what I thought was pretty darn close to “keeping up” with their moves, I looked into the crowd of bystanders and noticed the entire mass was laughing hysterically and pointing at me!!! I guess it is true, white girl can’t dance….Embarrassed, I ran back to the safety of my chair.

Next, the directors lead us to the classroom that SMALL VOICES BUILT FOR THE CHILDREN!!!! The teacher who was hired, with SVF MONEY (!!!), did a lesson demonstration where she depicted an English lesson. The children could hardly concentrate because they were so enamored with Barton! Finally, one of the bravest boys motioned for Barton to sit next to him. Barton promptly snuggled up to the young boys and continued to watch the lesson demonstration. I watched from afar as the boys giggled to each other and stared while whispering about Barton. Just as I wondered what their fascination might be about, one boy bravely leaned over to Barton and rubbed his red arm hair and giggled, then pointed to his own bare arm. White redheaded boys have a lot more arm hair than Rwanda boys! I started to laugh and tried to teach them “freckles” and I think they got it☺.

More to follow….

Thank you from the Rebero kids

This was read to us as a thank you to the Small Voices family from the children of the Rebero Orphan Center.  This personally written message concluded the reenactment of the nativity scene by the children.

You Are Welcome

Our guests,

Wonderful guests,

We're happy to see you,

In Rebero Orphan Center,

You are welcome in our home.

We are very happy to share with you,

The happiness of that day,

The wonderful day,

We receive the best friends.

Friends of children,

Friends of orphans,

Friends of vulnerable,

Friends of Rwanda,

Friends of peace.

You're time is spent,

For coming here to join us,

You always keep us in mind,

You fight for our good future life,

Your support is of capital importance.

Support in health,

Support in education,

Advices and counseling,

Nutrition for our growth,

Education in sciences,

Knowledge in foreigner languages,

Skills in our day life.

We encourage you to be with us,

Our friend parents,

May god bless you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Land of a Thousand Hills....

So, we arrived yesterday afternoon, with surprisingly little incident, into Kigali.  This place is just as beautiful as I remember and it's people just as kind and entertaining.  Upon arrival, we learned the bags with toys are here!!!! Every last one of them!!!! Yeah!!!  I am enjoying every minute of watching Barton's child-like excitement towards every little thing he is experiencing.  He is struggling a bit with communicating, and I am trying to teach him how to simplify his sentences to even give communication a chance.  Here is a typical conversation from yesterday:

Barton to waiter: "Hey, yeah, so I noticed a lot of people in town where wearing suits and seemed really dressed up.  They seemed to be coming from a party or maybe church?  I couldn't tell?  Do y'all go to church on Saturday here, or was there some kind of party the whole town went to or something?"

Waiter, long pause: "Yes, take the bus"

Obviously, something was lost in translation.  But Barton has learned 1 or 2 words in Kinyarwanda and loves to shock the locals by using them.  I don't think they see many red- heads, let alone those who try to speak their local language.  It is great! 

After a nice dinner at Chez Robert last night, we shared a Mutzig (my favorite local beer) on the patio of our hotel, then went to bed early.  I am narcoleptic in Africa.  Not sure of it is the clean air, or travel fatigue, but I can't keep my eyes open after 8:30 (Kathleen, are you surprised?).  It is a nice change from my usual insomnia.

Early this morning we were awoken by a visit from Leonce, one of the directors of the Orphan Center.  He stopped in to be sure would be ready later for the party.  I was so embarassed to see him again in my PJ's but thrilled that today is the big day!  During the conversation Leonce either said I was the "Founder" or the "Fonda" of their Orphan Center....er, so Founder is nice, but not sure if it may have been a Jane Fonda reference???  Not as keen on a Fonda reference, I much prefer Angelina or Oprah, ha ha....

I will blog later tonight to detail the party, can't wait to update everyone!!

AF, Happy Birthday!!!!! XOXOXO- Brin

TIA

TIA stands for "This is Africa".  It's a term Barton and I learned while recently watching the movie Blood Diamond, with Leo Dicaprio.  The term essentially means that nothing is easy in Africa and what can go wrong probably will.  Well- TIA! Now, bear in mind I am not drawing the comparison that our trip is similar to Leo's character who was smuggling priceless blood diamonds through the war-torn countryside of Sierra Leone.  I recognize that we are only trying to smuggle politcally correct babydolls, crayons, coloring books and the occasional Kung Fu Panda DVD into a relatively happy and stable Rwanda- But you get my point....

So, upon arrival into Amsterdam, we discovered our flight that evening into Nairobi, didn't exist- or is called a Ghost Reservation.  I'm still not sure what that means, but I did understand that it wasn't happening.  Our rather unfriendly Dutch reservationist was able to squeeze us onto another flight that left about 1.5 hours later into Nairobi.  This killed our day in Amsterdam, which I think disappointed Barton, and left us arriving in Nairobi last night and spending the night to leave the next morning (today).  Of course, we had no where to stay and I was soured to Nairobi last year during that whole tribal war debacle where I was almost stranded in the airport for days during their tribal conflicts last year (see old emails).  In addition, Nairobi has earned the loving name "Nai-robbery" for it's reputation towards petty theft.  Nonetheless, we flew in last night and managed to actually have a lovely experience staying at the Hilton.  So far so good!

Our biggest concern at this point is that we have no idea where our bags are...but we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will appear at the airport in Kigali.  Hope y'all enjoyed your holidays and vacation time with your families.  More soon!

Follow our trip through pictures

After you read about the trip, want to see it?  Keep up with our Small Voices experiences through the photo album that we will continually update:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bringreene/SmallVoicesTripToAfrica#

Today we are off!

Hello Everyone!

Finally, the day has arrived and we will be boarding a plane- well, 3 planes- and heading back to beautiful Rwanda!  Getting safely to this day has been no small feat.  Barton and I have been up to the wee's hours of every morning for the last few weeks trying to finalize all the end-of-year paperwork associated with a charity, along with working our full time "day jobs", Christmas shopping and preparing for our trip.

While most lucky people were winding down and enjoying Christmas shopping, we were making crazed trips to buy items such as: malaria medicine, Deet, passports, hiking boots, etc...etc...etc... And to make life that much spicier, the lovely and always easy to deal with- Kenya Airways- decided to cancel our original flight.  Sweet Barton spent an entire billable work day on the phone, to organize a new route.  The Bad news about the new route is we are now a leaving a day early, today or Christmas Day, and still arriving in Rwanda on the same day.  The good news is we get a long layover in Amsterdam....enough said:-)

A HUGE thanks to all my wonderful girlfriends who pulled through, once again, and donated TONS of toys.  Barton and I are transporting 2 enormous army-surplus duffel bags full of toys, books, arts supplies, 1 latop (for their new computer literacy program we will be implementing), educational CD Roms, workbooks and more!  I literally can't think of anything I am more excited about than to see the kids receiving all the new loot!

We have been invited to a party with the Orphan Center, complete with a skit that the orphans have made costumes for, how excited am i?

For those that don't know, Barton has never left the country.  As a girlfriend, I really should have come with that warning label: "WARNING international travel is mandatory, proceed with caution...".  But, he has embraced this entire experience with an enthusiasm I never dreamed possible, and the patience of an angel!  His Georgia Tech "nerdiness" will be making it possible for us to send home pictures and videos regularly, so keep checking for them!

Check in daily on our posts!  Merry Christmas and love to all-

Brin and Barton

Welcome to Small Voices Blog!!!

Hello friends and family! As most of you already know, I made a life-altering trip to Rwanda this past year. After visiting Rebero Orphan Center for children affected by the genocide of 1994, for the first time in my life, I felt called to action in a way that I literally could not ignore. With the help of friends and family, I've started a tax-deductible non-profit organization called the Small Voices Foundation, Inc. and have committed to raising $30,000 to support the 200 women and children who benefit from the Rebero Orphan Center each year.

This is where all of you come in!

Below you'll find the story of how I met the two 27-year-old men who run Rebero and how I came to start my very own non-profit at the ripe old age of 31 (ha ha). In addition, you will find my posts from my trip back beginning December 25th, 2008!!!

I hope you'll fall in love, like I did, with the resilience and spirit of Rwanda's survivors, and feel called to support them in any way you can. These people opened their hearts to me when I happened there less than 6 months ago, and I'm hoping you'll open your hearts, too, and support me as I endeavor to raise $30,000 for them.

Please visit the Small Voices website for more information: www.small-voices.org <http://www.small-voices.org/> and learn how you can help by donating today.

Thanks, as ever, for your love and support, and I hope to see you (in Rwanda or otherwise!) very soon.

Love,
Brin

Here is my original story...
*****
On December 27th, 2007, I had the opportunity to embark on a life-altering trip to the country of Rwanda with a dear friend from New York City, Kathleen Boatman. While visiting, I found myself humbled by the beauty of the country, and by the magic and resiliency of the people who had suffered so much in their lives. I continually marveled that, while I was attending my junior year of high school in Athens, GA, largely concerned with the ups and downs of adolescence, young Rwandans my same age were undergoing a three-month-long fight for their very lives. In 1994, over one million Rwandans, from a population of four million, died during 100 days of incomprehensible human slaughter. And yet, during my visit, I couldn't help but feel that the people of Rwanda appear even happier, and more grateful for each moment since, than most of us may ever be in our lives.

Soon after I arrived in Africa, it became abundantly clear that this trip had fallen into my lap for a much bigger reason. I was lucky to make the acquaintance of several Americans working for non-profit organizations and was introduced to Allison Huggins, a young woman from Atlanta living in the capital city of Kigali, working for a non-profit group educating locals about domestic violence. Allison introduced me to the Rebero Orphan Center and the two men who started it. They were both just 14-years-old during the genocide in 1994. They hid in the tall grass while their families were brutally murdered right before their eyes.  Both men vowed that if they survived, they would devote their lives to helping other victims. And they have.

Now, at the age of 27, Emmanuel Ngabire and Leonce Mupenzi share the work at the center and also work at local hotels, where their tips support over 200 women and children who were orphaned. I had the privilege of visiting with them in Kigali and spent a life-altering day at Rebero. While visiting the center I held a child in my lap, and, with her bright eyes and warm smile, I realized the problem was no longer an ocean away, but, rather, literally curled up in my lap. And I haven't stopped thinking about this moment since.

After my trip, I returned to Atlanta and became absorbed in my daily life again, but I continued to feel the tug of Rebero's delightful children at my heart. It suddenly became very real and very clear to me that I had the power to do something. With the help of my father, Tom Greene, I was able to quickly file paperwork to establish a tax-deductible non-profit organization, and settled on the name of Small Voices Foundation, Inc., on the premise that even one small voice can bring great change. My father saw the passion I felt for these people and realized it was a cause worth fighting for. And I'm so grateful!

Then, with the help of a friend, Peter Majeranowski and his amazing web design company, Wizart Studios LLC, online: http://www.wizartstudios.com/ <http://www.wizartstudios.com/> who stepped up to the plate after hearing my stories and offered to donate a website to be the virtual home for Small Voices. Other friends came to see my passion for the cause and helped garner some local publicity to announce the launch of my non-profit in the Athens Banner-Herald. You can find the full story on the Small Voices website.

This, my friends, is only the beginning!

I am now embarking on a campaign to raise funds to create a new destiny for these orphaned children. My life experiences are so vastly different from these wonderful men and the small children they have committed to help… I feel powerless NOT to help them, and I can only dream that, one day, my efforts will be able to provide them and 'their children' with the help they deserve.

I have committed to raising $30,000 for the Rebero Orphan Center in Kigali, Rwanda. Every dollar raised will be put towards ensuring that each of these children finish school (education is not free in Rwanda), receive their HIV/AIDS medication, obtain proper nutrition, and to help the Rebero Orphan Center build a school and library.  

I commit that 100% of the $30,000 goal will be donated to the Rebero Orphan Center. From day one, myself, along with the Small Voices Foundation Board Members, have personally covered all the overhead associated with the cause and are overseeing the distribution of the funds.

In addition, it is my hope to provide updates to everyone who has donated, with stories specific to the children so that all of my loved ones who have donated and made a difference (read: all of YOU!!) can truly see and feel the changes they have made in the lives of these Rwandans. For that reason, I've committed to updating the Small Voices website often with stories and news from all of the people at Rebero.  

At this time I would like to ask all of YOU—my friends, family, and loved ones—to dig deep into your pockets and donate to these people who deserve this relief.  I understand more than anyone that money is hard to come by, but, let me assure you, after meeting these people I realize how absolutely blessed we all are and how the lives of my new friends in Rwanda can forever be changed through nutrition, education, and opportunity.

In truth, we are very rich.

Please visit the Small Voices website: www.small-voices.org <http://www.small-voices.org/>