June 17th, 2008 Posted in Heart Plunge Testimonies | No Comments »
We went to meet Charles and Grassien
Charles worked as a cleaner in the house Ted stayed in 2 years ago and Grassien was the night guard. They formed a very strong friendships. They are amazed we have come back to visit them.
We went to see Charles at his work and orginize to pick him up later in the evening to share pizza at his house with his family. We also called Grassien. Ted was talking to him on the phone telling him we were here in Kigali. He kept saying “No you joking me, you here in Kigali?? No, you joking me, No”
We got a driver for the night and met Charles and Grassien at a local shopping centre. We drove to Charles’s house. The roads were very step dirt roads and it was just as well we had hired a 4WD. It was hard work getting up these potholed roads with deep trenches where the rains had washed them away. This is right on the edge of the city, the roads are just so bad. Charles walks to work each day and he said it takes about an hour. I can’t believe that. It was such a long way and so bad, It was an experience just driving to his house.
His children ran out to meet us as we arrived, Shalom (boy 5) and Esther (girl 3). They where adorable coming up and cuddling Teddy! They remembered him from when he visited last year. Charles told Esther that my name was Lorraine but she just said Mamma!
Annalisa is Charles’s wife and she was beautiful, 8 months pregnant. She couldn’t speak english so she just sat there in silence.
We invited our driver Joe to come and eat with us. He was very cool!. He is a gorilla tour driver and speaks very good english. There was no power in the house so just a dull oil lamp lit the room.
We had bought 4 pizzas “Whoooh” These 2 guys remembered from 2 years ago at the house (Hope Rwanda) what pizza was like. They had never had pizza before and haven’t since. Joe has never had pizza , as well as Annalisa and the children. They loved it! It was so nice to be able to bless them with something so simple for us.
We bought a teddy bear for each Shalom and Esther and they held on to them all night. We also took some clothes for the children and some clothes and a blanket for the new baby. Annalisa kept looking at the baby clothes with the biggest smile on her face.
It was such a wonderful night, sitting in the dark sharing a simple meal with them. I get what Ted says now , that we are giving them so much, but they give so much more.
Charles called Ted his freind, his brother, his daddy. That is what he thinks of him.
We left Charles house and went on the journy back down the step rough dirt roads to take Grassien home. To get to his house we had to go up the otherside of the vally which was just as steep and just as rough. We where only going to drop him of near his house but he insisted we come and see where he lived. He was so proud of it. His house was in a row joined to alot of others. He had a light!!!
His house consists of 3 small rooms, one was a living room and 2 small bedrooms. Grassien shares this house with one other man and they pay $40.00 per month for it. It used to be $20.00 per month without power. I asked him if we could see where he sleeps and he pushed the door open to his room, in the room was a matress on the floor with a blanket and a mosquito net, a few personal belongings on the floor and that was it. He is a lucky man, alot of people don’t even have a matress.
They must have communal cooking and toilet facilities some where becauce there was none of that in the house.
I could just keep on writing obout the orphanage and so much about tonight with these beautiful people. My mind is just crammed full of thoughts. Yesterday seems like forever ago becauce so much happens in one day
By Lorraine