Well, it was a very busy day yesterday and this morning, tying things up, saying goodbyes and packing!  All kinds of emotions.

Yesterday morning we spent in a meeting along with Jeremy and Margaret with some of the leadership going over accounts and projections for the MCC.  There is a little more data that needs to be collected before we have the final numbers.  Staff are busy putting that together and they will meet with Jeremy and Margaret on Monday and it will all be forwarded to us.

Then we had some lunch and Alayne and Carolyn went off on a quick shopping adventure to Nyamagabe while Rachael did some more work on the video.

Last night we had a nice farewell dinner at the Bishop's house.  Some more great fellowship time but the beginning of sad 'see you soon'.  We never say goodbye........

This morning (Thursday) has been spent packing and organizing.  Some more goodbyes etc!  We will leave for the airport shortly to begin our long journey home!  Sad to leave, but we are also looking forward to getting home.

Believe it or not, there is less luggage there than when we came.............

Today we spent a good part of the day in Nyamagabe.  First we did some shopping and were able to find what we were looking for (and a little more)!  Then we headed off to Murico Parish.  Murico has been one of our Food Security Sites for a number of years.  The Pastor Bosco and his family have become very good friends.

Murico Parish has a sister parish relationship with a parish in the UK, Coventry.  They have a team out here visiting, and we were able to spend some time there with them.  This morning they were helping to build a house for a poor family.

After checking out this building project, Felicien took us to see some of the selling points they have in the Nyamagabe area.  There were three that they can count on to sell milk!
Then our driver and friend took us to his restaurant/bar that he owns in the town.  What a nice place!  He surprised us with cold pop, kabobs of barbecued goat,  plantains & salad.  What a treat!

This morning we went to the MCC first thing with Jeremy and Margaret and Felicien gave us another demonstration with the pasteurizer.  We were able to get some more information and some more video footage!

We came back to Kigeme and met with the diocesan accountant and went over what information we would like to see in terms of how the MCC is doing financially.  We are going to put together some projections for the MCC to see what revenue it needs to generate in order to be profitable.  Once the truck comes ( it has been ordered!) both distribution of pasteurized milk and collection of raw milk will increase.  Once the MCC is running at capacity we predict some increased revenue with the potential for self sustainability.

After lunch we had a great meeting with Bishop Assiel.  We gave him our impressions of our trip and what we've discovered, were able to ask any clarifying information as well as answer questions he had for us.  

Then we went for a walk to the house of our friend JC to visit his mom as well as his niece and nephew.  It was great to meet them and see the house that JC has been building for them to live in.

Today we attended the Sunday service at Pastor Dr. Felicien's church in Gasarenda.  It was an awesome service and we saw many familiar faces.  There must have been around 200 people present (there was no way we were going to try to count)!  We were very warmly welcomed and treated to wonderful choirs - including a children's choir.

Alayne gave the sermon and it was very well received!  She spoke on 'Life Affirmations'.

After the service we were invited back to Pastor Dr. Felicien's home for lunch with his family as well as the church leadership.  It was fantastic to spend time with Felicien's family. We have known them since we began coming to Kigeme and have watched his children grown up over the years!

After lunch we went to see one of the chapel's of Gasarenda, about 4 km away (but over a very bad road, so it took awhile).  They are presently building this chapel and it will provide a closer place for some of the congregation to go on Sunday.  Presently they are attending Gasarenda.

This morning our program was canceled, we were to meet with local leaders regarding the Milk Collection Centre, but there are too many with other obligations - lots of weddings today!

So we spent the first part of the morning catching up on emails etc, doing things we haven't had a chance to do. The latter part of the morning some of our friends came by.  One of them, Chretien,  is a university student studying Video Production and has been coming with us on various visits last year, and in March and again this trip taking video.  He is putting together quite the movie on all aspects of the Udder Project.  We spent some time this morning, and again in the late afternoon, going through some footage and Rachael helped with some subtitles as well as with some editing. Quite an interesting process.  Chretien is very talented, and Rachael is very passionate about the Udder Project, stay tuned for an awesome video!

After lunch we met with 9 students who have either finished their university studies or are going into their last year.  What a bright group of young people!  Unfortunately they all couldn't be there, as some were working.  There are also three that are doing further studies in other countries; Germany, Israel and Nigeria!  The majority of students who have finished their studies are working and a few are actively searching for a job. We had a great discussion and they expressed much gratitude towards all the sponsors who helped them.

Today we set out on another drive over interesting Rwandan roads to one of the furthest Food Security Sites. Mashiro is one of the newer food security sites. The last time we visited there was 2015. It took us 2.5 hours to get there in some interesting roads, but, we made it safe and sound. We were first treated to a lovely tea by Pastor Augustin. After that we met with some of the beneficiaries in one of the associations.
We got some very good reports from them including an update on their goats. The Udder Project gave them goats several years ago and also some maize seeds. From the seeds they were able to get a successful harvest. The goats were meant to be distributed to some of the beneficiaries and then the kids of the goats would rotate to other families. There are 77 members in this association and all but 11 members now have goats!!
They are also learning much about animal husbandry from their paravet, Gaspar.
They did mention some challenges- one of them being the challenge of having a reliable source of medications to treat the animals as well as the fact that there is only one veterinarian in the sector to help them. In addition, they also lost some crops this year due to bad seeds. 
We discussed the issues they are having and some ways to approach the problems to solve them. We also discussed the fact that the information we received today will be discussed between us and the Food Security Team to see how we may help to come up with solutions for some of the challenges they face.
We also said that we are praying for them through out the year and, that even though we are far from them when we are in Canada, that they remain in our hearts.
Overall it was a lovely meeting and we found the members of this association motivated to work together to overcome their obstacles. 

After the meeting we had a lovely lunch hosted, once again, by Pastor Augustin. Then we started the long drive back to Kigeme. 
​Tonight we will relax and rest to prepare for our adventures tomorrow!! 

Today was spent at the Milk Collection Centre. In the morning we were given a demonstration of how the pasteurizer works. We are very excited about the pasteurizer! It is going to make a huge difference in the amount of milk coming through the centre, the automation will allow the workers to be able to focus on other things, it will produce better tasting pasteurized milk and it is environmentally much more friendly. 
We were able to pasteurize 150 litres of milk in 30 minutes. But, the capacity of the pasteurizer is 500 litres. At full capacity, it will take 1 hour to pasteurize 500 litres of milk. So, just think of all the milk we could run through in a day!! This has also made the government pleased as they would like to see all milk collection centres with pasteurizers versus doing it the old fashioned way over a cooking fire! To that end, the government of Rwanda is giving the MCC a break on the electricity costs which will help keep the cost of running the pasteurizer down. 

We were also able to give Felicien all the medications and supplies we brought from Canada to help restock the pharmacy. Felicien was quite excited!

After lunch we went back to the MCC with Jeremy and Margaret.  Felicien and Festus gave them a tour.  Afterwards we met with the whole staff and discussed the day to day running of the MCC as well as future plans including a chat about a vehicle for the MCC which, as discussed previously, will help them considerably. 

 This morning into the early afternoon was spent in Kigali.  It is a very large city, and we drove around a fair bit of it to different places to look at vehicles.  Carolyn, Rachael, Alayne, Jeremy and Margaret Hyde (our partners and friends from the UK) and our Rwandan friends were all part of the vehicle shopping group!  We are looking for a very specific vehicle for the MCC that will be helpful in transporting milk; both from the farmers to the MCC, as well as from the MCC to many different selling points.  This will allow for a larger marketable area for the MCC!  We have a few leads on the potential MCC vehicle. We will keep you updated!

We left Kigali around 3pm to head back to Kigeme.  We all went to the guesthouse in Nyamagabe as that is where Jeremy and Margaret will be staying.  They had a very nice reception for them to celebrate their 20th anniversary of coming to Kigeme! We joined them for a delicious meal at the Ubumwe centre and then headed back home to Kigeme- tired but satisfied that it was a good day. 

Today our morning program, a visit to another of the Food Security Sites, was canceled as both the Pastor and the Paravet were unavailable.  So we spent the first part of the morning sorting stuff and writing notes and catching up on things!  

Then we went for a walk around Kigeme!  The kids (both large and small) are so curious when they see us, usually following us or trying out their English or just giggling!  The very small are just not sure, and if we try to talk to them, we sometimes get tears!

After lunch we packed a small bag and headed up to the capital city, Kigali.  We are here as our friends from the UK are arriving tonight and we are planning on having dinner with them and then spending tomorrow morning looking at potential vehicles for the MCC!  Shopping!!

This is Prosper, a diocesan driver, who got us up to Kigali all safe and sound!

Today we went to another Food Security Site, one we have never been to before. It is about 1.5 hours from Kigeme, again on the famous Rwandan country roads. There we were hosted by the Pastor of the Parish, Pastor Viateur. We had a lovely time meeting with one of the associations who gave us great testimonies about how Food Security has helped therm with procurement of cows. These cows follow an interesting pathway- they are descendants of original cows given to the Food Security Program when Christian Aid was still funding the Program. The rotational system involves the calf of the original cow going to another beneficiary. Over the years, this rotational system has seen cows being given to many different Food Security Sites starting from the Kigeme Diocese. The rotation is as follows: Kigeme Diocese – Mugumbwa – Kiraro – Gahira & Kibibi - Nyaruzi & Gatuvo. 
These beneficiaries were very excited about their cows- it was really good to see that the cows have been rotated within this association and that the members were very excited to show us who received a calf from them.
This association seems to be quite a cohesive group- again working together for the good of the group and, at the end, the good of each of the individual families as well.

We had the opportunity to meet with the paravet from Gatovu, Aloyse as well as the paravet from Kibibi, Japhet. They were very grateful to be trained as paravets as this has really helped them in their families. In addition, they have really been able to help the beneficiaries.
For example, Japhet told us a story that, before he was trained on parasite control and deworming, people of the area thought that the illness caused by parasites was a poisoning versus the parasites and they would cut off the cows tongue!! Today, they have been trained better and are deworming their cows every three months. As a result, they are seeing better milk production and more manure production. The milk has helped to feed their children and the manure has helped the soil for better crops and a better harvest! 
​Overall it was a wonderful time with this group and we are thankful that we finally got a chance to see this site. 

After that visit we went to see our dear friend Archdeacon Emmanuel and his family in his new Parish KIBEYAGIRA. Talk about beautiful scenery!! They live in a stunning area surrounded by many beautiful, rolling, terraced hills.
We had a wonderful time catching up and a delicious meal which included pork- the first time we have had pork in Rwanda! 
We then made the trek back to the guesthouse, safely, thanks again to our driver Bosco.

Here are some scenery shots below of the beautiful Rwandan countryside.  We hope this gives you an idea, but unfortunately, pictures do not do it justice.