Try explaining snowmen to people who have no concept of snow...

Noheli Nziza!

Here's a round-up of our Rwandan Christmas so far! 

On Monday, it was Christmas at LLCCM. All of the LLCCM-sponsored children came for a morning of worship, Christmas songs and celebrations. However, before they arrived, we got stuck in with preparing the lunch...

Chopping cabbages and tomatoes Rwandese-style! 

The children arrived and we firstly began by explaining some of the Christmas decorations.

 

Describing 'snowmen' to a group of Rwandese children was pretty difficult since none of them had ever encountered the concept of snow before. And explaining that Father Christmas has a sleigh pulled by flying reindeers was met with both laughter and confusion...especially when I had to describe a reindeer. 'It's a like a cow...with big horns...' Cue hysterical laughter from all the children! 

We then taught them Silent Night...in three different languages. Firstly, the Kinyarwanda version (after struggling to stick the lyrics on the wall).

 

Then the English and German versions. 

The children absolutely loved singing the song in different languages and picked up the words surprisingly quickly. I still can't get my head around the Kinyarwanda words! 

We danced, ate rice and beans, cultivated cabbages for each child to take to home, took photos and generally had a day of celebration. Happy Christmas LLCCM! 

 

Christmas arrives at LLCCM!

Today I am not feeling well. I'm even missing dance class! (even after my success on Tuesday at actually getting both the steps and the arms right, amidst cheering and applause from all the other guys there). Miri and Libby have gone without me, and left me with alone with my runny nose, sore throat and achy joints, to update my blog and drink hot chocolate. Luckily, my advent present from Libby yesterday was two handkerchiefs, one with a special message on and one plain to decorate!

 All those times I turned my nose up (literally) at your handkerchiefs, and you were right all along, Dad. I am officially a handkerchief convert.

Anyway, today we accompanied Miri to LLCCM to help decorate it for Christmas. It was a pretty quiet day since the children are coming to celebrate on Monday, but we had a couple of helpers and we were soon busy making paper chains and a 'Merry Christmas' banner.

Miri's German Christmas biscuits definitely went down well! 

I mainly stuck to making paper chains, since I was feeling under the weather I felt more up to a menial repetitive task that required minimal creativity! But the other guys created some absolutely fantastic decorations that will surely be dug out for many more Christmases to come. 

It didn't go unnoticed by the LLCCM goat either...

 The only problem was tidying up at the end - we had made such a mess!

I can't wait to go to LLCCM on Monday for their Christmas celebrations and see the children's reaction to the colourful decorations. Christmas in Africa is completely different, and so it is always exciting to exchange cultural practices and try and learn more about each others celebrations.Thanks LLCCM for allowing us to decorate your hall and helping us spread some Christmas cheer. 

Oh and on the way home, we spotted this: (photo courtesy of Libby)

Oh hey chickens taking a ride on a lorry. This is Africa! 

A Lovely Winter Walk

Today Libby and I went for a 'winter' walk. The birds were singing, the scenery was beautiful and the sun was hot...

Even with factor 50 suncream, my face still got a bit pink...the Doxycycline effect again! 

We walked out of Butare and into Taba, a wealthier neighbourhood where ex-pats tend to live. Here we picked up a couple of followers, and I felt like the Pied Piper. 

Those children were carrying rolls of firewood on their heads, which begged the question: they can't be that heavy, right?

Wrong! Shortly after this photo was taken, Libby tried and failed to lift this bundle off the ground. How on earth those children manage with such a weight, I have no idea, but I have so much respect for them now. 

 We ended up at a fish farm (murky water = no visible fish...) and trekked up what seemed like the steepest hill in the world before arriving back in Butare by the Cathedral.

It wasn't the most wintery of walks since it actually turned out to be one of the hottest days of the month, but it was nice to see more of the landscape around Butare. Sadly it didn't do much for our Christmas spirit (or lack of) but the evening sunset almost made up for this.