Rwanda moving in the right direction

Rwanda is an amazing place. Just over twelve years ago it was hell on earth. Unimaginable evil taking place. With security in place, it is now developing at an incredible pace. Kigali now is probably the nicest East African city I've seen. It is clean, has nice roads, business is booming, new buildings are going up, crime is low, and people obviously enjoy the development. This past Saturday, and every last Saturday morning of each month, businesses shut down and the whole country is encouraged to clean their neighborhoods. The police and government officials lead the way in the monthly clean up time. Plastic sacks (like Wal-Mart sacks) are not allowed in the country as they tend to trash up the city. I know because I carried one into the airport. I wondered what I had done wrong when they immediately ushered me into a room and handed me a blue Mickey Mouse bag to carry my belongings so they could confiscate my plastic sack. The Mickey bag cost me $4 but after I heard the reason I was fine with paying it. Those are just small examples of how Rwanda is treating their development seriously.

The Imbabazi Orphanage is also moving in the right direction. The term "orphanage" will soon be phased out and it will be run as the "Imbabazi Center". The majority of the children are now teenagers and so focused efforts will begin on preparing them for adult life. The Rwanda government has good policies towards children in need and the Imbabazi Center will align itself with those policies. The Imbabazi Foundation Board met for nearly 30 hours last week and some great strides were made to building on the strong foundation Roz had started. I'm weary of meetings but I'm very happy with the future of the Imbabazi children.

Tomorrow night Mark and I will be on a plane heading for home. I can't wait to be there. Two weeks is about all I can stand being away from my family.