7:49PM ET

I am writing this short post from the comfort of my bed in Grand Rapids, MI in the good old USA. Everything went well, but for a snafu over Jonathan and my baggage from Belgium to the US. Hopefully my bags will arrive tomorrow.

The trip was good. We are safe and we are healthy but for a small cold that I seemed to have developed over the last two days.

Unfortunately, I think my camera to computer connector is lost in my baggage somewhere in the northern half of the globe, so no pictures tonight. I do have a few more to post and I am also hoping to add a few final thoughts and reflections on the trip.

Don't give up on me yet.

It's 7:54. I'm going to bed.

All of my love and many, many prayers.

Goodbye Rwanda.

Greetings from the Kigali airport. This post finds us all safe and well after our long and final day of shooting in Rwanda. The internet connection in the airport is quite good and so I want to post lots of pictures.

First, our helicopter. We arrived at the airport at 6:30 this morning. The weather was beautiful and our pilot was also named Egide. It made it easier to remember.


Jonathan sent up a prayer before take off:


And the view was fantastic:


But it wasn't all fun and games. We worked hard to. All of us:



All in all, things were quite successful. The clouds did keep us from seeing the big lake, Lake Kivu. However, we got some amazing shots, including an aerial of Bishop John's church.

After the helicopter, we went to visit the Church at Nyamata, now a memorial for victims of the genocide. It was the place where 10,000 Tutsis were murdered. The clothing of the victims still sits on the benches. Outside there are two large mass graves.


Going into the church was harder for me than going into the museum. It felt much darker. At the end of the tour, we were told that our guide was one of 5 survivors of the massacre. Words can't describe the kind of silence that instills in a person. It was a dark blessing.

After moving from the church, we headed back to the hotel to begin packing up for home. We ate our last meal at the Serena (no more burgers for me!) and Egide picked us up for the airport. We said our goodbyes, passed through security, and are waiting for the plane to begin boarding. According to my clock, I should be back in GR in about 27 hours.

Here's a final picture before getting on the plane:


Goodbye Rwanda. I'm going home. I won't write my final thoughts until next time. It's just the ocean between me and you now.

Thank you for all of your prayers, all of your encouragement, and all of your love. I miss you all.

Be home soon.

48 hours left

Today was quite a bit more relaxed than yesterday. It could have been because we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping in until 7:30. However, I feel like that really started to mess with my body rather than make me feel more rested. I guess I've never really gotten used to the time change. I also feel like I might have a slight cold coming on.

We left the hotel right around 9 to drive north and visit Bishop John, the Anglican bishop of Rwanda. We picked up our new friend and contact, Tom Allen, to join us for the trip. During the hour and a half drive we stopped a few times for the views.

Rwanda has always been hilly, but on this drive we entered the mountains. Everything is so lush - I have never been anywhere more beautiful. It's like a tropical island without the water or the beaches.


And every time we stopped, we quickly met new friends:

And stop number two:

More friends:

And finally we made it to see Bishop John:

And made some more friends:

I also learned a new phrase. I'm about 80% sure it is acagbga beza (beautiful girls).

Bishop John was wonderful. He gave us such a fantastic interview. He's a great man who not only built his church up from a run down old building, he's also started a full school (grade school, high school, and college) for orphans.

And as I said, the scenery there was just amazing. We were only about 20 minutes away from the gorilla park. Stupid camera expenses.


I think I enhance the volcano behind me.

It got quite dark on the way back and so we stopped for a minute to look at the stars. It was another blessing. The people of Rwanda, while there are many things they need and want for, have an abundance of beauty around them. It is incredible.

I'm off to bed. We leave for the helicopter at 6AM. No more sleeping in. Wish us luck!

Love.

A day to remember.

Today was a total rush. It is surreal to interact with things and places and people who have had a lasting effect on the world - like going to see the Statue of Liberty or seeing Hannah Montana's Best of Both Worlds concert.

But seriously now, I am very honored to say that I had the privilege of meeting the President of Rwanda, President Paul Kagame, for an interview this morning. It was amazing. I will save the stories, as they are much more interesting to share in person, but will leave you with a few photos to get a sense of the shoot:


Yeah, it was amazing. I could go on for a while but I'll save my thoughts for in person...

After a brief trip back to the hotel, Jonathan, Michael, Simon and I went to visit the genocide memorial. Talk about being on two ends of the emotional spectrum. I didn't have much knowledge about the genocide, being only 8 years old at the time it occurred. Before going to the museum, I was impressed by the progression of the country and the forgiveness that these people needed to engage with in order to be civilized after such terrible acts. Everyone keeps talking about the hope that has been instilled in Rwanda. There is hope for the future and that's what makes it a little bit easier to keep going. After being at the museum, I am overwhelmed by the progression of the country and the forgiveness these people give to one another. I don't know what I would be capable of myself in that situation.

The planning and the execution of the horrible acts - the fact that Hutu's and Tutsi's were of the same blood, that the names were given when the German colonists settled the land - the horror that must still plague these people. There is no way to describe or comprehend the situation.

Genocide is human sin at its darkest and the fact is that the annihilation of the Tutsi's and the Nazi genocide of the Jews isn't the complete story of genocide in human history. It has occured on nearly every continent of our small world over and over and over again.

What is our duty as human people to protect the life of our brothers and sisters around the world? How do we become so desensitized as to believe any life to be worthless and removable? We are the height of the Father's creation yet we often treat one another with less dignity than the grass in our yards. There is nothing more precious than humanity. We are all created in the image of God.

It was thought provoking, to say the least. I think that trip to the museum caused me to see the world more differently than anything else I have seen or been a part of on this trip. Sin is darker and more prevalent than we like to pretend it is. And the sins of the genocide aren't restricted to land-locked Rwanda.

May God have mercy on us as we do our best to live the lives we're meant to live.

After the museum, we had some lunch and drove out to this fantastic restaurant, called Heaven, to see if we could find a good place to interview Michael. We found the spot and got the interview. I'm really excited about how it looks :) Unfortunately, my computer is again refusing to upload photos and so I'll have to wait...

After the interview, we sent Michael off on the airplane. We were going to see the gorillas tomorow but found out the permit for filming is quite expensive and not a part of this budget. It's sort of a shame. Next time! We did land another important interview, however, and will be spending most of our day working on that.

Other than that, Jonathan, Simon and I went back to Heaven for dinner. Only in Rwanda can you experience the paradise that is Heaven pre-death. It was fantastic. 

And now it's time for bed. I'm still on track to get 8 hours tonight. I need it.

Love, thoughts, and prayers.

 

Comfort foods

Today was very long and very exhausting. I'm still not in bed, but I thought some food would be good, since we haven't eaten since breakfast. Chicken wings and french fries. Again. What I wouldn't give for a salad with lots of vegetables on top, with fresh fruit on the side.

So we've been very busy but we've had amazing things happening. God just doesn't stop with his blessings. Today we managed to score at least 12 interviews. Just today.

The Prosperty Awards were tonight. Everything went very well and it was pretty awesome to be in the same room as the President of Rwanda and the

President of Kenya at the same time. On the same line, I think we've secured the big interview...I'll let you know tomorrow.

Here are a few pictures and then I'm off to bed. I'm finished.

The hotel along with our faithful driver, Egide (sounds like Ejeed):

Here's a shot taken by Simon of me using real film for the first time in my life. He brought an old Super8 to create "old" footage:

And a quick shot of protesters in the street. Most of the country's businesses were closed today, in protest of the arrest of Rose Kabuye (it would take a while to really explain the situation but I've heard all kinds of things about it lately - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/10/rwanda-congo-kabuye):


Today was our last full day as a group. Michael head's for home in the afternoon. Thank you again for praying. Things are going really well. We've been so blessed.

Love you all.

Bedroom elves mystery solved.

Today was our first day of interviews. Simon and I got up early and headed over to an office building in Kigali where we had access to some nice views of the city. We hoped to create an attractive backdrop for our interviewees. Here are a few pictures!

Michael pulling off the "James Bond" while interviewing Michael Fairbanks:


Michael Fairbanks looking wonderfully outback-like:


Jonathan concentrating on the material for the next film:


At one point, I was sent out to try and find some powder for our interviewees. It can get hot under the lights. If you apply a little foundation or powder to the face, it usually does the trick. So, Egide took me to the mall. Now, out of a grocery store, beauty supply store, and travel gifts store, which do you think would have foundation? Yeah. It's the travel gift store. Right above the crystal award plaques. Who would have thought?

I also solved a bedroom mystery that had been plaguing me for the last day. On Monday, I had stopped by my room in the middle of the day to pick up something. I was surprised to see that my bed was covered with a nice comforter and soft pillows, which I had found earlier stashed on top of my cabinets. I had assumed the hotel service was changing things up a little or someone new was sent in to tidy my bedroom. I left my room and returned later that evening to find the comforter gone and the pillows stashed on top of my dresser cabinet again. It sort of freaked me out. Why were multiple people walking into the room to mess around with my bed?

Middle of the day:

Bedtime:


And then I learned that's what turn down service is. And that also explained why the little slippers next to my bed had gone missing in the afternoon. I had no idea it was so complicated.

It's very late. I'm off to bed.

Yesterday in pictures

I don't have time to do a full post, but I did want to post those pictures I promised yesterday:

Akagare Wildlife Park:




Village road:


The little girl who let us take pictures. It's at this moment, as I upload this photo that I'm over come with a sense of wanting to take her home with me:


I have some footage to pull together but I'll post on the day's events later this evening.

48 hours

It has been just over 48 hours since we arrived in Kigali. Frankly, it feels like we have already been here for weeks. It's probably because we have been moving constantly since we landed at the airport.

This morning we made plans to visit Akagera National Park. We loaded ourselves into the car by 6:30AM and drove the hour and a half in hopes of catching some fantastic animal shots for B-roll. Michael was excited by the thought of seeing exotic birds.

While driving on the streets of Rwanda, you're likely to see a few things. Like the taxi-buses which look like mini-vans but are filled with at least 20 people:


And people always walking on the street. Lots of people. Everyone is in excellent physical shape. No fat people here (unlike myself who is soon to look a little chunky from the huge amounts of fries I have been consuming. No one tells you that safe food is not healthy and you can only eat so many vegan, organic food bars).:


Finally we arrived. We didn't know what to expect but it was a good thing we had the Range Rover. It's the most off-roading I had ever done, except for maybe jr. year homecoming when Dan decided to drive over that rock in his hummer. Good times.

We were quite fortunate in our travels and got up close and personal with a baboon, a herd of zebra, numerous giraffes, some African buffalo, and some impala. It was fantastic and Simon and I were able to score some really great footage (probably Simon more than myself). I'm learning.

*I have 6 more pictures that I want to share with you, but the internet is not cooperating. I will try and upload them tomorrow when I get the chance. However, I need to post tonight. Just don't consider this incomplete. Insert 2 more animal photos here.*

It was our first time driving out of the city. We went through all kinds of villages and onto some dirt roads.

*Village road photo*

The children there were incredible. This one young girl let us take a picture of her. She was so precious and carrying her sibling on her back. She liked to look at her picture after we took it.

*Little Girl*

It's like these kids are forced to grow up so quickly. They need to in order to survive. It's amazing how much children embody a sense of innocence. They're the ones that wave to us. They are the ones that run to see us when we're filming with the camera. They're the ones that laugh when they have their picture taken and get to see their faces.

Egide also told us a little of his story and some of the horrors of the genocide. It's a topic you can't avoid for too long. Not that anyone should want to avoid it, but it's really difficult to try and understand what is acceptable to talk about and what is not. He was very honest with us, not delving into things we didn't want to hear but respectfully answering our questions and not shying away from anything we asked. We think we have race issues in America (and we do, I'm not negating that) but I can't imagine being so close in time to so much pain. The forgiveness and the way that people seem to be coming together is really incredible. Of course that's not always the case, but the priority seems to be making people into Rwandans, rather than Hutus and Tutsis.

We ended the afternoon in the Burbon Coffee Shop, which was great because we're thinking of interviewing the gentleman who started it. It's a lot like starbucks but with a better atmosphere. Ironically, most of the people hanging out there are white and obviously foreign.

*Insert final picture in the coffee shop*

Simon and I ran out to get some more B-roll as the sun was setting. Afterwards I came back to the hotel to download our footage from the day. Simon gave me some organization tips. And now it's time for bed. Tomorrow we begin our first round of interviews. 5:45AM.

I should get some sleep :)

My love continues to go out to all of you. Thank you for your prayers. God has been good. There is a lot of good work going on here.

Love.

Muzungu

Today felt like it lasted for ages. I can hardly believe that this morning I was at church - my first Catholic Mass, no less.

Here's a picture of the church, just a few minutes from our hotel:


I can not get over how beautiful the weather is. Seriously, it's perfect. The grounds are so lush and green, the sun is warm, and the breeze is cool. It feels like LA on the day after it has rained - unbelievably beautiful weather without the smog.

The church was packed and so we stood at the back with a large group for the service. There was no air conditioning, but the doors were open behind us and when the breeze would pick up, it would give me chills. It was so refreshing, actually making me reflect upon how God provides for us. Even the little things like cool air. We've made fans and air conditioners, which are wonderful inventions, but I think that, at least in my case, I've become so dependent on my fans and air conditioners, that I've forgotten that God can give me a gust of cool air too. There are simple gifts which exist in the world that technology has guaranteed and that I have taken for granted. Natural, God-given breeze is like nothing else. I forgot that until today.

Here's a picture of the inside of the church:


After Mass, we met up with some folks who are helping us set up things here. We made a lot of progress and are excited about the coming week. It will be busy, but we're not at a loss for things to fill our time.

We went out in the afternoon to shoot some of our first B-roll but I forgot my little digital camera. So unfortunately, I have no pictures :(

It is eye opening to see the great divide in wealth through the city. Here we are, staying in a hotel that's nicer than most that I've stayed in in the US and just a few minutes out, you see people with jugs on their heads, filling their plastic jugs in the muddy pools just off the road. I don't really feel surprised or, quite honestly, horrified. It's not the way people should live. But the question I keep asking myself is how is it that the quality of life for these people is so much different than what we can experience in the US? No one should have to drink out of dirty wells. How can we make it better? Here these people live in paradise and yet many of the homes in the middle of the city aren't much more than four walls and a roof, smaller than the whole of this hotel room. I don't think we need to go in and give everyone cars and flat screen TVs but if these people could just have some fresh water...

I also learned the word Muzungu. White people. Sometimes folks pass the car and point.

And the children here are so sweet. They are so beautiful! I just want to play with them.

For dinner we went to this Indian restaurant. I felt like I was in Disney World again - sort of like the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant. We sat on this patio but the whole restaurant was on the patio. It had a covered wooden ceiling with lanterns and lights hung all over. But it was open air and again, the weather just felt wonderful. So beautiful.

And that was my evening. I'm sorry to cut it off so short, but I'm up in 6 hours for a wildlife safari. We're going to put the 4x4 to the test. Sweet. I won't forget my camera!

Thank you for all of your prayers. God has blessed our trip so much already.

Much Love.

Room with a view.

I woke up this morning and found this outside my window.


More to follow. I'm off to lunch.

Love you.

Hello! Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda!!

It was a long day, to say the least. I've accomplished so many "firsts" in my life today. I watched the sun rise about 6 hours early as we flew into Brussels:


And here's my first glance of Brussels:


This may sound really dumb to all of you who have traveled internationally but there is something really cool about watching the little map on the airplane and realizing that you're actually flying over all of these places you've heard of before - London, Paris, Frankfurt, Naples, Cairo...it's unreal. There's so much to see.

In Brussels we hooked up with Simon, who showed everyone up with his iPhone:


It was really good to see him. I had a great time on our shoot in DC two summers ago and it was really easy to be in his presence again. I'm really looking forward to learning a lot more from him this week.

And here's Marc's token airplane picture:


Our layover between Brussels and Rwanda turned out to be really short with all of the lines we had to stand in. Unfortunately, I was in the very center of the plane on our flight to Africa :( No pictures out of the window. I'm a little disappointed about missing the desert. However, I did watch Wall-E twice and Fever Pitch. And, as promised, a sample of Stephenie Meyer's "The Host":

"It was a miracle - more than a miracle - when I found you, Melanie.
Right now, if I was given the choice between having the world back and
having you, I wouldn't be able to give you up. Not to save five billion lives."

"That's wrong."

"Very wrong but very true."

Moving, isn't it? It is turning out to be a pretty cheesy love story. I've heard it gets awesome though. We shall see. I'm not a believer yet.

After an 8 hour flight from Brussels, the plane landed in Kigali. By that time, it was already dark again. I walked off the tarmac and into the Kigali airport:


The weather was beautiful, hovering at right around 70 degrees. You can just make out the tree on the right side of the picture. I had immediate visions of the Animal Kingdom at Disney World. It set the scene perfectly.

After waiting for quite a while for our bags, we piled into our Land Rover, guided by our wonderful driver Egide, and raced through the streets of Kigali to our hotel. It looked and felt just like we were in Southern California. The land is very hilly and I would have sworn it was summer. Everything was perfect. Hopefully I'll have sunny pictures tomorrow.

The time is now 1:20 AM. I have not slept much more than 4 hours since my last post, and I think it's paying off. I have no worries about what I'll be doing for the next 6 hours. Good night to you all. I love you very much.

P.S. Michael thinks I have a mosquito bite.

Newark. Sort of like New York but not at all.

I fought through the disaster that was my room last night. Everything fit (very snugly) in my bags. I made it out the door and to the GR airport with the faithful support and ginormous strength from Brittany. I should have taken a picture but I too was loaded with bags. I did get a picture, however, of my team. Yes. These are the men who are going to protect me with their lives while I am in Africa:


Yeah. Look out Rwanda. Here we come.

I spent my time on the plane breaking into Stephenie Meyer's non-Twilight book, "The Host". Very intriguing. But I can't hide from the fact that she could use a better editor. Some of the lines are just really bad. I'll have to find a good example for you tonight.

Here's my first peak of Newark:


Exciting. Isn't it? At least it means we arrived safely. Actually, it doesn't but we did arrive safely.

And here is why we took Michael along:


Yes. Flying 100,000 miles a year has it's advantages. Like the President's Club. This includes nice chairs, a bartender, large windows, and no creepy people you feel like you need to protect your bags from. Heaven in an airport.

The time is 4:51PM. We can board the plane to Brussels in just under an hour. I'm a little sad. It's already quite dark and I don't think I'm going to be able to see the ocean from the plane. Hopefully that will change on the return trip.

Other than that, there isn't too much new to report. We met a nice couple here after grabbing some lunch. They told me all about Spain and flying and traveling. Alex? What say you?



And to finish things off, a picture of a plane for Marc:


I'm off to the terminal. I love you all! The next post will be from Europe or Africa!

The eve before...

The time is 7:13PM. The Choral Scholars should arrive in about 15 minutes. Brittany is picking me up tomorrow morning at 8:45AM for the airport. And my room looks like this:

Dah.

On the bright side, I'm pretty sure everything I need is in that room somewhere.

All said, welcome to my African blog. Honestly, I never imagined writing a blog. I'm terrible at keeping up. Much less a blog about going to Africa. But here I am, posting pictures of my room on the night before I leave. It's sure to be an adventure and I'd love to take my friends and family along, as much as possible, for the brief trip.

Tomorrow I will be boarding a number of planes that will bring me to Rwanda. I will be working with three other colleagues on gathering stories and images for our next documentary on poverty. I will be gone for one solid week, returning the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I'm sure this will have an affect on my thankfulness.

Time to sing! I love you all. Your prayers are appreciated.