Work vs. Vacation, Round 1

People here ask us all the time if we're also going to enjoy our stay in Rwanda or only work. We usually answer that we're already enjoying our work so much! We are so grateful to be part of Musicians without Borders and to be able to do this work. The children's laughter and light in their eyes, the thank yous we receive from the youth leaders, the tears and smiles during Fabienne's work with the women support groups, the music and singing and dancing...everything is so totally fulfilling that the prospect of driving eight hours to a national park in an overstuffed minibus to spot a disinterested lion snoozing under an acacia tree seems terribly mundane.

However, when we were offered to join the HIV+ children summer camp on a trip to Akagera National Park we immediately said yes, because what are we going to tell our grandchildren in thirty years from now when they point to a giraffe in the encyclopedia of extinct animals? That we skipped a chance to see a wild one running in slow motion?

Those are giraffes

Hippos can run up to almost 50 km/h and are one
of the most dangerous animals in Africa

What are you lookin' at?

Okay, so you are probably telling yourself, "great, yet another bunch of African safari photos...who cares?!" but what you can't see on the photos are the children on the bus, who did not stop singing and dancing for 15 hours! They sang traditional songs and songs that we had taught them, but the loudest and most joyous song, the song that even the bus driver joined in, the song with the simplest and strongest words, was the one that was written just after the horrible genocide and says: We will rebuild Rwanda, We will rebuild Rwanda!