Friends hanging out at Africa Mission Alliance’s Christmas party for children in butare, Rwanda.

Still looking for Christmas ornaments to take with me to Rwanda tomorrow. I am looking for really lite ornaments that will not add much weight to my luggage. Any suggestions?

What is Christmas without a Christmas tree? I have been debating whether to introduce the Christmas tree to the party with kids in Rwanda. This is very new to them and I don’t know how the kids will receive it. I am heading down to Dollar tree to buy some ornaments. My plan is to have the kids decorate them with African colors and add whatever they want to the ornaments and then use them to decorate the tree. I am also wondering if using a banana tree might be more cool than an actual tree. People in Rwanda use banana trees to decorate all kinds of occasions, from weddings to burial ceremonies to presidential inaugurations. I will keep you updated.

So I emailed Rita who is in charge of preparing a big meal for 1,000 children this Christmas. You know I will be one of the guests so I wanted to know what to expect. Just in case you are curious, here is a list:

Plantain
Rice
Beans
Potatoes
Meat
Greens
Onions
Garlic
Green Peppers
Celery
Tomatoes
Tomato Sauce
Maggi (This must be something spanish)
Simbambiri (Germany dish may be?)
Carrots
Sombe(Ah, now we dive into real Rwanda!)
Ground Nuts
Cooking Oil
Salt
Firewood
Charcoal
transport
Plates
Napkins
Tooth picks
Sodas

Are you hungry yet?

After testing Christmas in America and Rwanda, I have noted quite a number of  similarities and differences. I would say that in both places, Christmas is about joy, happiness, celebration and if I might add, family. A slight difference though is that not so many people in Rwanda are able to do the shopping that is done in America. Partly because most people live on less than a dollar a day and partly because gifts are not a very popular thing for Christmas. 

A few things are really important for Rwandan Christmas: Food, clothes, and entertainment. Starting with food, many families save money from the first of the year until christmas so they can afford to buy some meat and rice for Christmas. Meat is very important because most families cannot afford meat. So Christmas is a very important time and families must afford to buy at least one kilogram of meat.

Clothes are also very important especially for children. Young girls normally buy white dresses and boys like their new shoes. Because most kids cannot afford to buy new clothes on christmas, you will find a lot of sad faces on Christmas day. Kids who cant afford a new pair of shoes or a new dress really take it hard on christmas. 

Entertainment is mostly in form of paying to watch a soccer match, going to a movie theater which is normally a small  hut with a 14” screen and an old dvd player showing some old nigerian movie which has been translated into kinyarwanda. But kids love this kind of stuff and those who can afford the 50 cents to watch a movie on christmas are really very happy.

This Christmas I will be in the middle of it all. I am taking my LCD projector with me and I hope to show some movies to atleast 1,000 kids. I cant decide which movies to show though. If I dont find good translated ones I may have to install my sound system and do the translation myself.

I will keep you updated.

Its now almost one week before I start my long journey to Rwanda. I will be updating you with lots of pictures and videos. My first big event in Rwanda will be a Christmas party for orphans and widows. On December 20th I will be attending a Christmas party for close to 2,000 orphans and widows in Rwanda. Every year Africa Mission Alliance raises funds to buy christmas gifts for poor children in Africa. For most of these children, this will be their first christmas gift. I can’t wait to see their smiles as they receive their gifts. Below are some pictures from last year’s Christmas party.

Children sponsored by Africa Mission Alliance dancing during their Christmas celebrations.

Cecile is one of the widows who received a goat last Christmas. Her goat has produced two more goats. She now has three goats and she hopes to sell one of them and buy some seeds for next year’s planting season.

A group of street children was gathered by compassionate Africa Mission Alliance staff and treated to a warm meal for Christmas.

One of the widows receiving a christmas gift of a sewing machine last year donated by a friend in the USA. The widow now has a thriving business making clothes for people in her community.