Our service to the people of Rwanda

One of the observations that I had shortly after arriving here is that Rwanda and her people have an evident need for the Baha’i Faith. 

Most people in the US and the EU know about the terrible days of 1994 when a million Rwandan people were killed in one hundred days.  These events were an example of inter-tribal warfare: the Hutu tribe, which was in the majority and which controlled the government, was encouraged through government run media to kill all members of the Tutsi tribe, which had been in power until they were deposed by the colonial government before Rwanda gained independence.  The current government has made unity of all Rwandans one of the central themes of the development of Rwanda.  As you may know, the unity and oneness of all of the people of the world is a central theme of the Baha’i Faith.   The name of this blog is from one of many verses that express this theme:

 “…Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?  That no one should exalt himself over the other. …it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.”

Baha’is in Rwanda, and all over the world, are learning specific types of actions that manifest the signs of oneness.  These actions, also referred to as “paths of service”, and “the core activities,” are taught through a curriculum which has been created, tested, and eventually published by The Ruhi Institute in Columbia:  http://www.ruhi.org   The curriculum is taught through Study Circles, where a tutor, who has been trained to facilitate the study circles, leads other participants in the study of the books of the Ruhi Institute.  It is through study circles that people learn both the spiritual principles and the practical aspects of following the other paths of service.  A letter from the Universal House of Justice, the elected body that leads the Baha’is of the world, describes these activities succinctly:

“The activities that drive this process, and in which newly found friends are invited to engage—meetings that strengthen the devotional character of the community; classes that nurture the tender hearts and minds of children; groups that channel the surging energies of junior youth; circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on equal footing and explore the application of the teachings to their individual and collective lives—may well need to be maintained with assistance from outside the local population for a time.”

Anne and I came to Muhanga to offer our assistance in initiating and maintaining these activities here.  Since we don’t speak Kinyarwanda, and most people here are not fluent in English, we have had much help from members of other Baha’i communities in Rwanda.  (There are several large and growing Baha’i communities in different parts of the country.)  They come to tutor study circles, and accompany people as they take their first steps along the various paths of service.  So far, we have three children’s classes, four junior youth groups, and several study circles.  We still need to encourage the establishment of some regular devotional meetings! (That will have to be my next project.)

We are at a point now where we still need tutors to come from other parts of Rwanda to lead study circles in Kinyarwanda.  It is our goal to have several residents of  Muhanga trained as tutors before we go to the United States in July.  That will help the local Baha’i community to be self-sustaining.  God willing, we will return to Rwanda in August, but we can’t be certain of anything.

A new beginning

I have decided to forgive myself for not writing here for so long.  It has been so long, and posts have been so few and far between that I have decided to call this a new beginning. 

Anne and I have been in Rwanda for about 18 month now.  We love living here in Muhanga Town.  We love the weather, we love the friendly culture and the people, and especially we love the friends that we have made here. For both of us, the main motivation for coming here is to serve.  Anne provides a special service to the people of Rwanda by training people to provide better medical care, what is called “evidence-based practice”.  The people she is training include students who are just learning to be midwives, older students who have been nurses and/or midwives for a while but want to achieve a higher level of education and skill (some of these are clinical instructors and want to be able to instruct their own students in more modern, evidence-based ways of giving care), and staff at two health centers and a hospital maternity unit.  She also has a few “twins”: people with whom she works so that when she is done here they can take her place as trainers and advocates for evidence-based practice in nursing and midwifery.  Anne’s twins include college nursing and/or midwifery instructors, hospital staff, university managers, and hospital managers. 

The service I do is to facilitate the growth of the Cause of God in our town.  As Baha’is, we are working to build community in a new way: We are introducing spiritual, service-based models of community interaction and mutual support.  This process is still at an early stage of development in most parts of the world, but we are seeing considerable advances in some communities.  Here in Muhanga, we are just getting our feet wet, taking the first steps, then seeing how things are working and how to improve, then taking a few more baby steps, etc.  Last week the local Baha’is met and created a plan for the coming year.  My role is to make friends, to encourage progress through the study circles, children’s classes, junior youth groups and devotional meeting; to act as host for gatherings in our home, and to prepare and provide food when that is needed.  My service is also to support Anne in any way that I can so that she can provide her more challenging service.

We also take breaks to enjoy this beautiful land we live in.  Last week we took a drive through the countryside, enjoying and photographing the beautiful scenery. 

Since this is a new beginning, and since I have decide that this blog does not need to be too deep and philosophical, or extremely important in any way, I have given myself permission to write about whatever I want to write, as long as I write regularly.  So, I’ll write to you next week!

Visiting Rwanda's museums

Rwanda is a beautiful country with a fascinating culture and history.  Unfortunately, much of her history was passed down as an oral tradition which was been part lost during the colonial years.  Some of that oral tradition did get written down, however, and some of the more recent history has been preserved in photos, artifacts and reconstructions which one can experience in Rwanda’s museums.  A few weekends past Anne and I went to visit the museum of the Palace of the King (Mwami) in the town of Nyanza.  There we saw traditional grass homes like those which most Rwandans lived in before Europeans came.  The Mwami’s palace was a very large version of the same sort of round, thatched hut which any other person might have.  He also had many other buildings in his compound, including a house for his milkmaids (yes, they had to be virgin to handle the royal milk) and his chief brew-taster (a man who also had to be virgin).  There is a specific breed of cows which was also reserved for the Mwami, and which was included in certain royal presentations and ceremonies.  They are large, placid, a rich brown in color, and have huge, hollow horns.  (I would love to try using one of their horn as a wind instrument, like a shofar.)  The last Mwami had a more conventional building for a palace, with rectangular floors, walls, and ceilings forming rectangular rooms with rectangular doors and windows.  Instead of an indoor hall connecting the rooms, though, most of them opened to an outside portico (kind of like the rooms at a Motel 6.)  The interior decoration was of interesting Rwandan-style geometric patterns, so the place was not quite European in flavor.  Interestingly, the queen-mother (mother of the Mwami) had significant power in the realm, despite the patriarchal trappings of the culture.

After leaving the Mwami’s Palace, we went to the Ethnographic Museum.  Well, we went there after a break for lunch and soft-serve ice cream at Inzozi Inziza (Nice Dream) which is the only place I know of in Rwanda which is famous for ice cream.  We enjoyed both the lunch and the ice cream, and neither were too expensive.   We arrived at the museum at 1:30pm, which didn’t leave us enough time to tour the whole place, so we will have to go back soon.  Perhaps next time we will being another person or two. 

During the drive out and back, I was admiring the scenery with the eye of a photographer.  A few times, I had Anne stop the car so that I could photograph a particularly nice piece of scenery.  I also took some photos outside at the museums: of the special cattle, of buildings and of Anne, etc. I had to pay a few dollars to use a camera in the museum area, and was also told that photos in the rooms of the more modern mansion were not allowed.  The only camera I had available was the one on my phone: a dual SIM, unlocked, BLU Advance 4.0 smartphone with Android version 4.22 that I got from Amazon for less than $100.  The image quality is OK, but I have no zoom, which I really want. The Olympus camera with 24x zoom that I bought used during the summer has developed a problem which makes it impossible to charge the battery by plugging in the camera.  I look forward to getting an external charger and spare battery so that I can take some photos of the countryside, and of people as well.  Perhaps I can figure out a way to insert photos, or a link to photos, into this blog. 

Finally, a word about Baha’i activities:  A few weeks ago all of the Baha’i pioneers in Rwanda were invited to meet together at the Baha’i center in Nyamirambo – a sector within the city of Kigali.  At that meeting, I was inspired to launch a Junior Youth Empowerment program in Muhanga, where we live.  The planning and execution of that project are moving forward, so I will have more to say next time.  Until then, “Umunsi mwiza!” (“Have a nice day!”)

Our life in Rwanda so far

Our first year in Rwanda has ended.  (I wrote this while in the U.S.A. visiting with family and friends.)  I want to re-start my blog by reviewing some of what happened during our first year.  Since this is written from my point of view, I will mention what I know of Anne’s year, but more will be about mine.

Anne was hired originally as a mentor to midwife students.  She was to accompany them in their clinical practice at hospitals and clinics, giving them advice and demonstrating how to do things.  Shortly after ahe began, she was given other duties, including writing lectures to instruct midwives in various aspects of their jobs, and teaching skills in simulated skills labs.  Most of these lectures she produced as Power-Point presentations which can be used by future teachers.  She and her fellow midwife mentors were also called upon to create clinical experiences for advanced midwife students, to write the curriculum for midwives, and to instruct the staff at the hospitals in standards of care like “Helping Babies Breathe”.  The schools, and especially the hospital staff, had previously been educated in “the way we have always done things” which included practices from the 1930’s that have since been found to be detrimental to the health of the mothers and their infants.  Now, students are being trained in critical thinking skills, using a decision tree to determine appropriate procedures, keeping up with research in best practices, and in devising and carrying out research of their own. Anne has also been given some extra responsibility for the HRH staff employed by UIC.

I came to Rwanda with no formal position, other than as Anne’s spouse. In our minds, we are in Rwanda as “Baha’i Pioneers,” which means that we are there to assist the Baha’is of the country in whatever way they deem appropriate.  For me, that service has involved going out in our neighborhood regularly amd making friends with the people I meet.  While I am gradually learning to speak and understand Kinyarwanda, the language which is spoken throughout the country, I do best when I encounter people who have some fluency in English. I strive to have conversations about things that matter, like unity, justice, overcoming materialism, improving cooperation, and improving the quality of life for all people.  I also look for opportunities to introduce topics in religion or spirituality, asking about their beliefs, and sharing Baha’i teachings.  One person who was teaching me Kinyarwanda, was helping me to understand and pronounce the translation of “The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah”.  He came to acknowledge that the book is the Word of God, and soon joined the Baha’i Faith. So far, five people have declared their belief in Baha’u’llah, and we have found two adult Baha’is who were living in our area before we arrived.  These, and a few others, have been attending a study circle at our home.

There are, in my opinion, two main purposes for the study circles.  One is for the attendees to learn about the Baha’i Faith.  Whether they are interested in joining or not, they have an opportunity to learn about the Baha’i Revelation, and Baha’i practice while studying the Baha’i Writings in a spirit of consultation.  The other is to prepare the attendees for certain forms of service.  The two services that I am most interested in providing in our neighborhood are children’s classes and Junior Youth Empowerment groups.  According to standard procedure, a person should first complete the first book of the series, “Reflections in the Life of the Spirit,” before proceeding to any of the other books.  (Actually, the prefered procedure is that a person study each book in sequence.)  The third book is “Teaching Children’s Classes, Grade One,” and the fifth book is “Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth.”  At this point, five people have completed the first book.  I don’t know how many are going on to study the third or fifth book, but I do know that some of the people who were in the Book 1 group are interested in having Children’s classes or animating Junior Youth groups, so perhaps they have begun the third and/or fifth books while we have been away.  I look forward to catching up with my friends in Rwanda when I get back.