Day #7 ~ Byumba ~ Teens and Tea

We started the morning meeting the Bishop.

Pastor Sam and I...

So many needs, so little time...

The Bishop and his wife

Fire wood

Stylin' wheels

Next, we spent the rest of the morning with the youth of Byumba. We had a crowd of over 200, ages 13 to 21. Things got started the way they do everyday, with song and dance! And I joined in, but of course!

I tried the drums out. It looks simple but you've got to have pretty good rhythm!

Shake your groove thing...

I was inspired by the youth. Many are orphans, some are heads of their households and take care of all their siblings, and only a small percentage can afford to go to school. Only 10% of the students pass the national exam which allows them to go to High School. The rest reach a dead end. Without an education they are very limited in how they can make a living.

BUT... they are still able to sing... still love to dance... and are very resilient. They want to do well in life, they want to live better than they are now... they just don't have the resources to do so. Despite their circumstances they remain faithful. They showed up today, with the hopes that we would have answers for them. They shared about their lives and the frustration they face trying to move ahead. I wish we had the magic formula to them. We stressed education and staying committed to their faith.

This trip was about building the relationships. Building rapport. I hope that future trips will allow us to help the youth develop business plans to help them have a better life.

I was stuck by this young woman. She asked me to come over and take her picture. We tried to converse. She got a kick out of my very, very broken Kinyarwandan.

One of my favorite photos of my trip.

We toured the Mulindi tea company. It took a while to get there as the traditional route was blocked off and we had to take a much longer alternate route. There were a few times we weren't sure if the old van would make it up the hill and we envisioned getting out and pushing it! But we made it!

The factory is a stones throw from Uganda.

Rwanda tea is planted on hillsides at high altitude. Tea plantations must be located near a tea factory because the harvest must be processed within a few hours of picking.

The Rwandan climate is ideal for the cultivation of tea: the temperature is mild and the night frost, experienced in some areas on high altitudes, doesn't affect the production.

Since the creation of the tea factory in Mulindi, Rwanda's tea sector has continued to grow. In 1971, the production of black tea amounted to 1,600 tons. Ten years later, it exceeded 5,000 tonnes, while in 1990 nearly 13,000 tons of black tea were produced. The 1994 genocide, and the horrible human and material destruction it caused, also severely touched the tea sector. Nevertheless, it was able to redress quickly, to reach a record production of nearly 15,000 tons in 1998 and, after a slowdown in 1999, to do even better in 2000 with a harvest of 15,354 Tons.

When we arrived they were bagging the tea.

The tea leaves

Pastor Sam's kids ~ Gracious, Precious and Feleste

We saw many varieties of tea...

Feleste and Precious serenaded us on the way home with We Shall Overcome and songs from school. She and Precious loved playing with Kristen's iPhone.

We spent time at Pastor Sam's house. The electricity was out (as it is frequently) and we had tea by the light of my lantern flashlight.

Rwanda has a national gas shortage and we are fearful that we won't be able to get the gas that we need. But Francis made some calls and we were able to get some gas. The station was surrounded with armed guards! WOW!

Tomorrow we will be spending time with the Mother's Union, a group of mothers in the community.