Hope Springs from Compassion

"Do want to meet her?" Innocent asked us as we walked the open field high on a hill in Umutara. "She has HIV."

"Of course, yes, please tell her to come." Jen replied.

Margaret Mukakarangwa sat quietly in the sitting room with gentle folded hands. Her eyes soft. A 45-year old mother of five girls. She spoke in her native Kinyarwanda language as our friend Michel translated her story to us. A story that started with the tragic loss of her father and three siblings to the genocide and traversed through her journey as a refugee from Uganda to Rwanda, the loss of her husband to AIDS, the shame thrust upon her life with HIV, the vulnerability of depending on the goodwill of others to obtain food for her family and ended with the hope she finds rooted in her faith.

"What can we do for you?" Jen asked Margaret after she finished her story.

"You can pray for me," she said softly and then she offered us a blessing.

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In support of Fair Content, we made a small monetary contribution to Margaret from our Picture Hope Name Your Dream Assignment fund to honor her audio story we intend to share with you.

When You Listen

Yesterday we spent the morning at Innocent's home talking with William and capturing his story. He was born a refugee in Uganda and came to Rwanda, his father's homeland, with his mother and 19 brothers and sisters, in 1995 after the genocide. I didn't initially intend to record the conversation as we lingered over breakfast but when he began speaking so intently about his past (in very good English), I asked his permission to record it and grabbed the audio recorder from my backpack. What strikes me here is the eagerness of these soulful people to talk about the history of Rwanda and the struggles they faced to return to their country with nothing as refugees from surrounding countries such as Uganda, Congo and Burundi. Many people walked. Some had no shoes. But I'm beginning to find that all of them had hope.

In the Dim

I am far from home and all things familiar. The white girl with the tousled yellow hair and wide blue eyes moving tentatively through the Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia. We don’t know where to go. We don’t know the name of our hotel. We don’t how we’ll get there. “Do you have it written down somewhere?” I ask Jen quietly from the safety of my window seat.

“No, he just said they would take care of us,” Jen replied raising her eyebrows slightly. “This will be an adventure,” she hummed. I smile hesitantly, curling my toes tightly into the soles of my sandals thinking yes. Yes. This will be an adventure.

After making our way through several lines, lengthy stalls, and a last minute hotel change to ensure Jen and I can remain together, we are off. Seated on an Ethiopian bus bumping along a dimly lit street, skimming past pedestrians in motion. I can see people moving in the light of a screened in porch. An open-air market ripe with color. The deep red of fresh meats displayed on a wall. My eyes begin to adjust. To embrace the adventure found only in the dim.

Butterflies Taking Flight

While Jen and I were spending time in the Shutter Suite at BlogHer09 this past weekend, Jen Skyped with our family members in Rwanda to finalize plans for our visit to their homes later this week. I could tell you that it was emotional experience for me to hear the sweetness in their voices, to hear them say my name for the first time, and to feel the warm connection between Jen and her friends... but it's difficult to put in words. All I could do was cry.

Wondering

Two weeks from today, I'll be on the ground in Rwanda with Jen for the start of our Picture Hope dream assignment. The idea of this leaves me a little breathless. I wonder how I'll feel. I wonder how the people I meet will feel about me. I wonder if we'll find the hope we seek. I wonder if I'll be brave in spite of fear. I wonder if I'll feel at home... or lost. I can only assume that the visions before my eyes will change me in a profound way. I wonder who I will become.