Mother & toddler

See how the baby's legs wrap around mom? That is typical of the way mothers carry their babies here. This baby must be walking because he has shoes on!

From the Economist: The new East African Community officially started this past week (July 1). Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda will reduce trade barriers and allow employment across country boundaries. There is some talk of a possible future common currency. English is to be the common language of trade, I believe, hence the push for primary school students, hospital employees, etc. in Rwanda to learn English. It seems this alliance will be good for Rwanda, as it is landlocked and may benefit from aligning with Tanzania and Kenya.

Poinsettia shrub

They are fairly common here. This one is about 5 ft tall.

"Boys will be boys", part 2

Another minor mishap for a little boy at the ER. Mom was really great about letting me take a picture, but the little boy wasn't so sure about it! :)

Bougainvilea

Nice spot for morning tea (Matt & Lisa's back yard)

Beautiful gardens around my apartment

July 1

Today is Rwandan independence day, celebrating when the current government regime took over after the civil war in 1994. Things have been peaceful since then, except for the occasional terrorist attack here or there (we are familiar with that, aren't we?) Most of the violence in this region is reportedly in D.R. Congo just to the west. Also Burundi (to the south) is on a State Dept watch due to an upcoming election. I'm not going to either of those 2 places! It's a holiday for many folks around here. I continued to work on the payroll project which Lucas started when he was here. Hope to finish that tomorrow. Taking longer than I expected.

Spent 30 minutes today holding this orphaned baby boy. I'm ashamed that it took me this long to get around to helping hold the orphaned babies. The nurses don't have time to stop and hold them for very long, and everyone says that they need the human contact in order to thrive. There is a really sad story about this baby which is probably not appropriate to post on the internet. I made myself smile for the picture, but I was trying really hard not to cry. Someone told me that there is an orphanage about 3 hours away by car, so if he survives and becomes strong enough, I think that he will have a home available at the orphanage.