Rwanda-Day Two and Photos

The day started off today with a lovely breakfast at the hotel with coffee that did not disappoint.  Then, our entire travel group decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Most everyone was dressed up for Sunday service, walking with bibles in hand.  I am in love with the fabric of the women's traditional dresses.  It is bright and beautiful and I am hoping to get some before we go to have a quilt made for our daughter.  We walked by several churches on our walk and stopped to listen to the worship at a few and were invited in by a few.  We walked past the UN headquarters and the soccer stadium.  Again, we were treated to lush landscaping, clean streets, and beautiful views of the rolling hills of the city.

Hotel Chez Lando (just one of several buildings in the background)

The path to breakfast at Chez Lando

The soccer stadium

Views of the city 

After our walk, we exchanged our money for Rwandan Francs and then ate lunch at Bourbon Coffee.  This restaurant/coffee bar was first opened in Kigali.  Since, they've opened a location in DC, which we've visited with the kids.  The whole time we were eating lunch (which took a couple of hours), I was thinking about what was to come and was so eager to get out of there and to the orphanage!  We left Bourbon Coffee and drove through the center of Kigali, past a few parks with huge fountains and meticulous grounds.  Then, we got to the road to the orphanage.  It was a narrow, dirt road with massive potholes where the water had recently run through.  While we bumped along the road, we prayed as a group for what was to come.

Inside the gates, stairs from which our children came and left

I completely lost it as we approached the gates of the orphanage...like sobbed for a minute.  After we went through the blue gates, we all wiped our eyes and piled out of the van.  We met the head nun and thanked her and then waited patiently for our children to be brought to us while we watched a couple of other families from other agencies interact with their children. The nuns arrived shortly, each carrying a child in their arms or by the hand.  They handed us our sleeping daughter, wrapped in a white blanket.  We both just stared at her for several moments.  She slept the entire hour and a half we were with her in the courtyard of the orphanage.  We watched her suck her fingers...she seems to soothe herself by sucking on her pointer and middle fingers and took hundreds of pictures of her and of the other families.

To see families being united with their children is indescribable.  The only experience that comes even close is witnessing the birth of a child, which I have had the privilege of doing many times as a doula.  God was tangibly, visibly, fully present in that courtyard and we recognize this experience for what it is:  His miracle.

When it was time to let the children go, we watched them until they disappeared down the steps and back into the building.  Our Power of Attorney, Peter, was waiting for us all to get in the van as we were staring down the stairs.  He said, "Hey..come on...we will come back tomorrow" to which one of the new moms replied, "Yes..but we want to wait until the very last moment to leave."  As we watched the children go, a few older children, not yet matched with families, came to the courtyard.  They wanted to engage us, but we had to go.  We introduced ourselves and said good-bye just as quickly and then watched them wave us away, back out of the blue gates. We left euphoric and joy-filled at the experience we'd just had, but heartbroken for the little ones left behind.  We prayed again over our children, the children not yet matched with families, and for the week to come.  We shared photos and stories of the time with our children.  When we returned to the hotel, we were briefed on the what was ahead.  We are looking forward to another full day tomorrow:  breakfast at 6am, a visit to MIGEPROF at 7am, and then to sign the Act of Adoption afterward.  When this very important paperwork is finished, we will go to the orphanage to see our baby girl, then lunch, and then back to the orphanage in the afternoon.

God is good, people...so, so good.  We are placing this process in His sovereign hands and are filled with peace, that He will go before us and with us through every step.