"Hello all,
Friday was World AIDS Day. I'm not sure how much coverage it gets in the US, but it tends to be a big deal in Africa since the prevalence rates are very high in many countries. It's only about 4% here in Rwanda, but big donors (various foreign governments and UN organizations) like to give a lot of money for it. Partly because it's a very popular cause right now and partly because donors still feel guilty about the genocide and are willing to show it with money. On World AIDS day, you're supposed to hold lots of public events to education people, and show support for the cause.
CRS planned a day-long event at one of the centers we support here in Kigali for street kids and kids who are already household heads (lost their parents to the genocide or AIDS or something else). There were about 250 kids, from 8-22 years old. There were several speeches and we had some games for the kids; mostly questions testing their knowledge about HIV. The winners were given backpacks with school supplies in them. They did some traditional Rwandan dancing for us and presented a skit they had created showing the dangers of unsafe sex. The dancing was pretty good. I've seen it done by several times before and it takes a lot of energy and concentration! One of the best parts however, was when it rained for 10 minutes. Everyone ran under the awning, and the DJ put on some American hip hop music to pass the time. Two of the younger boys ran out into the rain and started dancing by themselves, just because they love to dance. They were definitely a hit.
Then we ate lunch, which some of the kids themselves had prepared. At this center, they have professional training courses for the kids. They can enroll in carpentry, metalwork, cooking, or tailoring during the year. CRS helps with small income generation projects for the center itself, so it can work towards being self-sustainable. We given them cows and training on how to manage them. We used to contribute their grains and oil to feed the kids, but our donor has cut its funding. After lunch was the big football game between the kids and CRS. So we played against teenagers who probably practice every day and I was by far the youngest member of the CRS team....we lost some very large number to 1, but at least we scored! And we know now who on our staff is remotely in shape (not to mention who knows the rules); it was highly entertaining at the time and I suspect will continue to provide some laughs in the re-telling.
I hope everyone is doing well. I'll be stateside for christmas and new years, which will be nice.
Love,
tressa"
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