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From the baby room, we went to the room with the one-year olds. Most of them were lying down for naps, but there were a couple standing up in their cribs. Most were not sleeping yet, either, but were lying quietly. We didn’t take many pictures or interact with them much, as we did not want to mess up naptime. There were 20+ in that room. The next one was - you guessed it - the 2 year olds. They were in bigger cribs, but they... more

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Gisenyi is close to straight across the country from Kigali, but we went up and west, then down and west to get to it. The orphanage we were headed for is about 15 minutes outside of Gisenyi proper. It’s has a big sign on the side of the road that was very obvious - Orphenalinat Noel Nyundo. We were meeting someone there, but got there early, so we waited outside for a while and my friend M entertained a number of local children... more

In June of 2006, I traveled to Rwanda with two friends of mine to go "check out" the adoption possibilities and what type of humantarian work we could do as "just moms". We stayed in Kigali, the capital, but one day, we drove to Gisenyi, about 3 hours away on some pretty twisty, turny roads. We ended up going north to Ruhengeri, which is the launching point for the folks who go to see the mountain gorillas. That excursion is somewhat tempting, but the cost pretty much ensures I’ll never do it - it’s $400 for you to climb up a mountain and watch... more