November 6, 2009 (Friday): Sonrise Boarding School and Kids Across Africa

We began our day by attending a devotional at Urwego Opportunity Bank, which is held on the first Friday of every month. The praise singing was really uplifting, and Jeffrey delivered a powerful and inspiring teaching. He is definitely a man on fire for the Lord! Afterward, we headed northwest to the Musanze district. We travelled through scenery that was even more spectacular than anything we had seen previously, which we had not thought possible. The country is incredibly clean, thanks in large part to a government policy that requires EVERY citizen (politicians, doctors, lawyers, included) to take the last Friday of every month off to clean their community!

We met Bishop John Ruchyahana for a wonderful lunch at his church’s lodge, and he was every bit as engaging and intelligent as we had heard. His book, The Bishop of Rwanda, is an absolute “must read” account of Rwanda’s miraculous recovery from the grip of the devil to forgiveness and reconciliation in only 15 short years. Bishop John’s prison ministry and his tireless reconciliation work have been instrumental in this recovery, and he is revered by Rwandans and foreigners alike. His own niece suffered a brutal death at the hands of the Hutus, so he knows firsthand the pain of his people. In addition to being the Bishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, he founded and operates the Sonrise Boarding School for over 1,000 orphans. His unique approach sends the children back to their villages during school breaks to help them remain connected to their communities. Sadly for us, the children were on one of those breaks, so the place was unnaturally quiet. We were impressed, however, with the facilities and the computer lab that was funded by a Denver group, Rwanda Leadership Foundation (part of Global Connections International). Sonrise is one of Rwanda’s top primary schools, based on national exam scores.

After visiting Sonrise, we made our way to the Sabinyo Silverback Lodge to rest up for our gorilla trek the next day. Sabinyo is situated in the foothills of the mighty Virunga’s, a chain of 15,000 foot volcanoes stretching through Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sabinyo is a high end, luxury lodge partly owned by a Denver resident. Although the lodge is very expensive, it gives a large percentage of its income to the local community and gorilla conservation funds. We were treated to a first class dinner with fine wine, and we had an opportunity to visit with the only other guest staying at the lodge who had been on a gorilla trek that day and the day before. She gave us great tips and advice. Since she had trekked through a downpour of rain and resulting mud that day, we prayed for sunshine for our trek!