Islands in the Sun
- Carmen
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
If you failed to find last night’s blog we are sorry, we really did try but the internet here is slow and by 1.30am we had had enough and gave up. We now have a modem in our room and have managed to upload the post, better late than never. The desire to meet our every need here is second to none even if they are not always able to solve the problem.
Ishywa Island is one of our favourite visits, not least because it is accessed by canoe across Lake Kivu with the most stunning views and calm water, so peaceful.
Despite being probably less than half a mile from the Congo border we managed not to get shot or kidnapped, and not a sign of Ebola, our insurance company will be pleased.
Today we worshiped in St Peter’s Church, one of just 28 churches open in this Diocese. Built and still receiving significant support from a partnering church in the UK they have been fortunate to be able to meet many of the government requirements. The fact that so many of the island community live in abject poverty and the church is seen by the local government to be working for community development also helps, they told us they have a good relationship with the local government.
It was so wonderful to once again have the opportunity to join the worship in a Rwandan church.
We read from Ezekiel 18 v 19-32 and 2 Corinthians 5 v 14 - 21. As is generally the case the service lasted for about 3hrs in Kinyrwandan, fortunately we had a translator. We were sad to find they had replaced the traditional drums, which fit so beautifully with the singing and dancing, with electronic music equipment, but we guess that is just another step to becoming more western, which seems to be the aim particularly amongst the younger generation. Dance is such a natural thing here and they start very young.
After the service we were welcomed into Pastor Theoneste’s home for lunch, being a fishing community, we were not surprised to find Tilapia instead of meat, each fish was cut in half, and we both opted for the half that wasn’t looking at us!!!
On leaving the pastor’s house, we found the children still gathered in groups outside the church where they were receiving lunch.
Then we went to see the milling machine, which was funded by CHI, it provides a service to the community as they no longer have to go to the mainland to get their crops ground into flour, and as an income generation project for the parish.
We were delighted to learn that the project is making a profit after costs, and that profit is being used to help feed the children in the nursery school, pay school fees for the poorest children and Health Insurance for those who cannot meet this cost.
Then a stroll around the island to visit some beneficiaries who received solar panels, each panel provides 3 lights for the home enabling homework, Bible reading, and dinner to be eaten after the sun goes down around 6.30pm.
We also visited homes where pigs had been provided. Sadly, we learnt that shortly after the pigs had begun to breed there was an outbreak of disease and many died, most of the others were understandably sold out of fear they would also be affected. The few who successfully kept their pigs have significantly improved their lives and we hope that in time we will be able to address this need once again.
All to soon it was time to climb aboard the canoe for the return journey, but not before Pauline had taken hundreds of pictures of the cute children who were having great fun posing for the camera while we waited for the boat to arrive.
It was however heart breaking to see the constant stream of young children coming down to the lake to collect water, piped water is showing no sign of arriving on this Island.
A welcome early finish will hopefully enable us to complete our reports and the blog a little earlier tonight.
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