Psalm 28:7: Azizi Life!

So this past Saturday I had one of the most amazing days of my life. Our group participated in a program called Azizi life, which is basically a day in the life of a Rwandan woman. The women host you for a day and show you their lives, and then you can support their craft by purchasing their handiwork in the Azizi office. (To learn more! Visit http://azizilife.com/) We left the house at 7 and drove an hour to the Azizi office. The drive was absolutely beautiful. I never will get sick of the rolling hills of Rwanda, and driving through them for an hour was breathtaking. Once we arrived at the office, we had a quick meeting and then drove ten minutes to the community we would be in for the day. When we arrived, we were greeted by wonderfully welcoming women and tons of little children. We split into groups of five, each accompanied by a translator, and met the women we would be with for the day. The first thing we did was get all suited up in our head wraps and skirt coverings. Limited range of motion, not too comfortable, not too cute. Then, we got our hoes and went out to cultivate their land. On the way, our translator Janine saw a snake in the path and attacked it with her hoe into many tiny pieces. RIP little green snake, you showed bravery in the face of much violence. They asked us if we had cultivated before, because apparently we were doing well, and I think it was strange for them when we all replied that it was our first time. It was really funny because we had the water bottles put half way up the hill and were using them as motivation to hoe all the way up the hill. After that, we cut grass to feed to their three cows, which was a lot of fun actually. They looked like little captain hook hands that you just sawed the grass with. Then we made little hat things out of banana leaves, tied our grass piles up with some sort of plant, and carried them on our heads back to the house. They make it look so easy, but since we’re not seasoned pros yet, we had to use a hand to stabilize our grass bundles. Then we went with them to fetch water. The walk was a lot farther than I was expecting, and they have to do it multiple times a day when they do laundry. We each took a small canister and filled it up, and then hiked back up hill with it. Once we got back to the house, we shucked bean pods, and talked to the women through our translator about families, life in general, and growing food. It was really interesting to see cultural differences. For example, they asked us how many siblings we had and we ranged from 1-3, and when we asked them, they ranged from 7-11. Then we shared lunch with them of cassava root, beans, and a huge plate of at least 15 avocados. Lots of food, and we ate it with our hands! Something that I really admired was that it was all food they grew. They grow the cassava root and beans, and they have a giant avocado tree outside their house. They were also really surprised to find out that while we grow a lot of corn near where we live, we eat way more than just that- whereas they only really eat those foods that they grow. So many beans and avocados. I finished my half of an avocado, and was promptly handed another half. It was tough getting it down, but they were so giving. Then after lunch we got back together as a large group and were taught how to weave necklaces. It was the coolest process ever! They cut this stalk of a plant, peel off the outside layers until they have primarily the fibers of the plant, then they scrape off the rest of the greenness of the plant until they have the white fibers left. Then they dye them, and use them to make jewelry. We got in small groups and made pendants, which was such a blast. (My teacher said it looked like it wasn’t my first time doing it. BOOYAH.) Although we couldn't understand what our teachers were saying, it's really cool to see how far gestures, smiles, and laughs go. We then got ready to go, but not before playing with the kids and having a dance celebration with the women of the community. They sang songs and danced and smiled, and pulled us into the circle to dance with them. They were so loving and made you feel like a dear friend, plus it was tons of fun. There, we got the chance to buy some of the crafts and goods that the artisans make from all different communities, which was awesome to know who made them and that we’re supporting them. It was an amazing day of learning about another culture and what their everyday life looks like. They were so warm and compassionate, and a lot of fun as well. Such a wonderful day in Africa. Here's some pictures I took plus the first one and the last three from Cosette and Emmie because my camera died (Thanks!). I might add more pictures later, but these give you a pretty good idea of the day!