Cases packed and omelettes eaten we were still none the wiser about the plans for the day, but we still needed to tackle the accounts compliance, so we wandered round to the offices. Fortunately, Odilo who we have known for many years, was already in. His English is good and it was lovely to catch up with him. He is due to retire in September so we may not see him on our next visit. All was going well until he asked what our plans were and how we were getting to Shyogwe!!!!

Not being at all sure what today would bring, only knowing today’s service started at 8am, we headed for breakfast at 7.15 (as requested last night) to find the café not yet open, the young man just recovering his bicycle from the café did his best to help and between us we managed to find a roll and a couple of bananas each, he even made us a cup of coffee. By the time we finished eating the café was beginning to open but it was time for us to head off to church. The bishop

An unexpected Synod meeting left us to fend for ourselves today. Nehemiah’s Coffee Shop is the diocesan catering facility where we had a leisurely breakfast. Sadly, the avocado and omelette we had ordered was just omelette and had probably been cooked when we ordered it the night before. The plate of fruit was tasty though and we finally managed to post yesterday’s blog. The internet in our room is awful which makes working difficult. We have discovered that we can manage wit

This morning we were met by Valerie, Archbishop's wife and head of Mothers Union in Kigeme Diocese, we were off to meet a group of single mothers being supported and mentored by M.U. Arriving back in Karambi Parish (we were at the Health Centre there yesterday) we found Rev. Innocent waiting for us again, this is his parish after all. These young girls are often shunned by their families and communities and find themselves isolated and struggling to survive. Bringing them tog

A civilised start this morning, breakfast at 8am and a short sit in the sun in the car park while we waited for our lift. It was a short drive to the local diocesan Health Post in Karambi Parish (not to be confused with Karambo where we visited yesterday). Opened in October 2024 offering basic level 1 services, they upgraded to level 2 services in February 2026 and now have a maternity room. We were shown the waiting room, the laboratory, where we learned the biggest number

Despite the rather dubious signs on the guest house walls we survived the night. A 6.30am breakfast for a 7am start saw us a little bleary eyed but ready to go as we left the ‘Ubumwe Hotel’ diocesan guest house for the 2.5 hour drive on murram roads to Karambo Parish. Choosing our song title was easy today. The mountains in Kigeme Diocese really do seem to reach the sky, and we found ourselves at the top of so many on our journey, looking down not just into valleys but on to

A leisurely breakfast followed by a short meeting with the diocesan accountant and we were free for the morning. We had scheduled a morning off, time to catch up with reports and take a short break. Contemplating a swim in Lake Kivu we took a stroll down the track to the boat jetty, but not finding any steps to get out again we decided maybe that was not the best plan. The boats were being watched over by a young man with limited English who appeared to be living in a tent on

Kabahire Parish was our destination today and as it is only half an hour up (and down) the road it was a relief to not have an early start. We arrived at Kabahire just after 9am to the most delightful welcome by Rev Vincent and the ladies of the Mothers Union, singing, dancing and drumming. We were presented with beautiful bouquets made from freshly cut leaves and flowers, sadly they had little chance of survival in the heat of the car. The Nursery School children were alread

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

Today we headed to Cyangugu, a 2½ hour drive from Karongi. Bishop Jean Pierre told us he had arranged to meet the team from Cyangugu halfway as we were going to visit a small remote parish before reaching the guest house. After a lovely breakfast we bade a sad farewell to the Karongi team who presented us with bags of Rwandan coffee to take home. We left the guest house at 8.30am, the road is good and there was very little traffic to hold us up as we wound our way along Lake

Howling dogs, cockerels and large magpie type birds on the balcony did not make for a good night's sleep, however a delicious breakfast of avocados, eggs and potatoes soon woke us up. We passed on honey in our coffee after the bishop spooned out the ants, some were still enjoying their feast. At 10am we were to meet with a lady’s group at the church, these ladies are just like us, they meet for prayer, bible study, discussion and to share their challenges, which may not all b

A good night’s sleep followed by a good breakfast of omelette and pancakes with jam (not salted) and we were set for the day. Today we headed into the hills to visit families who had received piglets from the diocesan project. There are no roads to these homes, but we love to walk the hills, the tracks are steep, the surface often loose stones but the local population climb like mountain goats in bare feet or flipflops. Not so sure footed are the two old muzungu in their sand

Every day brings another surprise here, today’s was certainly different. A delicious looking bowl of porridge arrived for breakfast, a welcome change from omelettes we thought, tucking in enthusiastically proved to be a mistake when we discovered it was flavoured with mushroom and onion, maybe due to the fact that we didn’t finish all the soup we were served last night!!!! We tried to think of it a soup but try as we might we just could not manage more than a spoonful or two,

Up at 6am ready for an 8am departure saw us ready if a little bleary eyed. Last night’s challenge of no bathroom light was not a problem once the sun came up, and we were delighted to find we had hot water. Not so cheering was the discovery that we had mixed up our days and we were not leaving until 9am, we could have had another much needed hour of sleep. Oh well, just one of those things!!! Our first visit today was to Mwali Parish where 100 goats had been gifted last year

Today we moved on again, this time heading south to Shyogwe Diocese where we were to meet Bishop Louie Pasteur for the first time following the retirement of Bishop Jered who had been our partner and friend for many years. We were due to be picked up at 8.30 by Leonard, our main contact, and a driver. As we sat finishing our breakfast a very smart car pulled into the compound, Leonard jumped out to greet us followed by ‘the driver’ none other than Bishop Louis Pasteur himself

Day 7 and we are blessed with a day off, it would be inappropriate to ask our partners to transport us on a Sunday and so we have enjoyed a relaxing day in Kigali. There is an English service at St Etienne’s Cathedral at 8.15am. We are staying in their guest house, so after a breakfast of samosa, boiled egg and fruit, we wandered over to the Cathedral and joined the worship, a little late, although as church filled up slowly during the first half hour we realised we were actu

Ready before breakfast with cases packed, we went in search of the beautiful singing we could hear floating across the hills. It didn’t take long to find choir practice underway in the Cathedral, we spent a lovely half hour sat in the church just enjoying the music, it is hard to imagine why the government would wish to try and muffle such a wonderful sound. What a lovely start to the day. Heading off for breakfast, we were a little surprised to find the dining hall locked u

Today started with the largest omelette we have ever seen and half a loaf of bread….. each, they seem to think we need feeding up, delicious as it was we just could not finish it all. It was a morning of meetings today, all of which start and end with a time of prayer. After a brief meeting with the Bishop we joined the diocesan accountant, the headmasters who oversee the sponsored children, and some of the diocesan team. Increasing accountability requirements which we have a

For anyone who might have been concerned, yes, we did get our omelettes last night. The lights did not come back on but with a torch balanced on the table our faces must have looked scarily white as we ate. There is a fair sized group staying here at the moment, and they joined us in the restaurant, sadly, as we could not see them there was no socialising to be done. We awoke this morning to a bright sunny day, and the electricity was back on, prayers answered. We learned lat

A change of plans this morning allowed some time for reflection. The city of Kigali is changing at an alarming rate, unrecognisable from the Kigali of 10 years ago, Tarmac roads now serve vast areas which once required long journeys on rough murram roads, public transport has improved and bus lanes have been added during the busy periods. New hospitals have been built, slums have been replaced with blocks of flats, and a huge amount of construction continues. The city would n

When you've been up for 36 hours!!! If you couldn't find the blog post from yesterday we're sorry, a technical hitch (old people and technology) saw it posted in the wrong place. All rectified now so do catch up. We left Heathrow at 9.20pm last night, right on time, a direct flight, on a clean and well maintained aircraft. An almost 9 hour flight is never fun, but top marks to RwandAir who looked after us very well, not just efficiently but with smiles and good humour. Cleari

Well actually only 4095 miles. Our cases are packed and our goodbyes said, as we embark on the now familiar journey from Heathrow to Kigali. This time however we are flying overnight, we're not missing the 3am start, but conscious that we will hit the ground running when we land at 7am tomorrow morning. Delays on the Elizabeth Line caused a change of plan as our 5 minute lift to the station ended up being a 2 1/2 hr round trip, thank you Kevin for saving the day. Security cle

We are now back in the UK and reunited with our families. We give thanks to God for all we have seen, the conversations we have had, the...

Up, packed and a leisurely breakfast eaten, we were collected by Patrick for our last day in Uganda. We must leave Kijjabwemi at 3pm....

This morning we awoke to a deluge of ‘blessings’, shorter dresses and waterproof sandals were definitely the order of the day. When it...

Today is a public holiday in Uganda, Martyrs Day marks the killing of 45 Christians executed for their faith between 1885 & 1887. Patrick...

With Eriab at the wheel this morning we headed off once again on the long and dusty road to Rakai. We were looking forward to seeing Rev...

A fairly early start this morning saw us on the road to Rakai, where we have a new sponsorship project, a youth income generation...

Today we had the joy of spending the entire day at the KOP Saturday Project, worshiping, eating and playing with the sponsored children....

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