For three weeks this month, I had the opportunity to travel and document some work in Rwanda, Africa. Rwanda is recovering from a genocide in 1994 that claimed one million lives in 100 days. In addition to the deaths, there were two million displaced and over 500,000 with disabilities. Most troubleing to me were the orphaned children and brutilized women.I'm not going to go into a lot of details or give my opinion on the whole issue, but I am excited to see how well the country is recovering. Hutu prepertrators are being reconciled to their Tutsi victims, orphaned children needs are being met, people are meeting Jesus, and there is a lot of healing happening.
I had the opportunity to film several promos for a few non-profits that are working there. Specifically, First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, WA has developed a "Center for Champions" which takes kids off the streets, teaches them life skills, catches them up to an approprate level of school and houses them. There are about three hundred kids in this particular program who otherwise would be living on the streets.
I spent some time documenting Jean McAllister and her work with street kids and networking ministries that work with them. There are about 15 groups she mentors and walks with in their work to reach these youth.
There were also micro-enterprise businesses set up to help the Rwandan's provide for themselves.
One in particular was basket weaving that is coordinated by Rwanda Baskets. These are amazingly colorful baskets that come in a variety of styles and the quality is exceptional.
For more images, please follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=798856&l=1900e1026f&id=1050086961
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