Simply Amazing!

Fixing some Apple auto-correct errors. :) more to come....

What started off as a beautiful drive through the countryside with views of endless hills, banana plantations, and flashes of countless locals walking miles to retrieve undrinkable water quickly turned into an experience of a lifetime the second we turned onto the "dirt" road. Once a large uninhabited national park, Getsibo is now home to hundreds of thousands very poor displaced refugees. They serve as yet another reminder of the genocide that tore this country and region apart only 17 years ago. The 40 minute off-road trek up and down and around hill after hill was surreal. We passed one one-room house then another and another. All were tucked perfectly into the landscape and built from the same red clay they sat on. Locals stared at first. "White people!" (they said under their breath). We waved. Huge smiles, shouts of excitement, and returned waves followed. As we neared the top of the last hill we turned the corner and saw it...our school site, the hundreds of locals, and most importantly the 100+ students who would attend school once completed in a few moths. The shouts, waves, and pure excitement made the hair on my neck stand as we pulled in. After getting a tour of the site, being formally welcomed by the mayor of the district, handing out silly bands to the children, and taking pictures with everyone I found my cheeks were already sore from smiling so much. That was just the beginning...