Beautiful Burundi in the rainy season

Realizing I haven’t posted anything on this blog for nearly two months causes me to want to share some of the highlights of the past while. We are so thankful to have the privilege of living in this beautiful country, working along side others of like mind who desire to promote the education, leadership and well-being of its people.  So here’s some snipets of what we’ve been up to.

Advanced English class debating an issue.

Teaching. Again I taught an evening, graduate course of Advanced English for an intensive 2½ weeks.  Also, I taught an English 2 course for academic writing with nearly 50 students (medical and theology).  I was able to have most of the medical students for two semesters, which was really nice for continuity.  Randy has also been teaching many classes this semester as well as his daily morning seminar.

Students taking their final exam.

Driving through Bugarama where everyone wants to sell you something through the window of your car.

Trips to the interior.  We make frequent trips to Kibuye, which is a 3-hour drive on a windy, two-lane road with many trucks, potholes, people and other risks for accidents so we are always thankful for safety and no mishaps.  In the last two months I’ve gone up three times—to observe and encourage at the mission school, for the opening of the pizza oven the team built and just recently for the annual Saturday Thanksgiving (complete with it’s own 5K turkey trot for those of us who braved the rain!)

Students at Kibuye Hope Academy.

inauguration of the pizza oven.

5K Turkey Trotters braving the rain!

Our sister team at Kibuye with a few visitors and Burundian docs

New adventures. Some friends from Bujumbura are working with another school about an hour out of the city.  They invited me to visit their school where they have started a new kindergarten program and have just opened a library for the students. I’ve been able to join them three times thus far and hope to continue, as the students are so enthusiastic and desirous to learn.

Students at Muramvya enjoying the library.

Refreshment. Two avenues of refreshment for us in the past few months have been our church home group and a week away at a very quiet, nothing to do place in Rwanda.  Our home group is made up of other ex-pats who are native English speakers but from a variety of countries, backgrounds and work within the country. We meet once a week for a simple dinner of soup/bread and a time of thanksgiving and prayer.  As we are a team of just two, this group has become a really encouragement to us.  Secondly, we were able to carve out a week to go away “on retreat” which was really helpful for de-stressing and nurturing our spiritual health.

View outside our retreat site.

For the precariousness of life, we all need support, encouragement and affirmation. ( This is our house worker who recently replaced all the old window screens of our rental house.  Pretty sure this would not fall under worker safety standards!)  We are thankful for the many ways we are cared for.

Replacing window screens.

Sometimes we need someone to step in and save us.  (This rabbit was a gift to Randy from a parent of a patient most likely to be eaten, instead he passed it on to one of the Kibuye kids to join her other three rabbits.)  We are daily saved in the protection of our heavenly Father.

A life saved!

Sometimes we need to celebrate the beauty around us. (A small attempt to capture the beauty of this country.)  We continue to see the beauty and wonder of God’s hand at work in and around us.

Wall hanging made from Burundian fabric.