Day 7 -Bwiru – A Village, Once Abandoned, Rises Again

Written by: Jenn O’Neill

Today, we traveled to the rural village of Bwiru in Gisenyi. This is unlike any village I have ever been to mainly because it is still recovering from a volcanic eruption in 2021. Just getting there is challenging. The roads are full of volcanic rocks of all sizes. Right now the roads are still being reconstructed and it is hard to navigate around the rocks and large machinery.

When we arrived to the church it was pouring rain and our hosts were outside singing and dancing in traditional Rwandan dresses to welcome us. They even had welcome signs with our names. They greeted us with umbrellas at our cars and stood with us as we watched. Then, we were escorted into the church as part of the procession. The singing and dancing was so powerful. It’s an experience I will never forget.

Pastor Philemon is the new leader of this church. He told us after the volcano erupted, many husbands abandoned the village leaving their families to fend for themselves. The church also closed. Pastor Philemon works for the government but because he is a strong leader he was called to become Pastor here to revive the church and the community. Within a year the church was refinished and the church is now full of people again.

After meeting with the church members, we went to visit the children at the preschool. The building is brick walls with a roof but what really struck me was seeing that the floor right now is volcanic rocks. There are currently 3 classrooms and space for an office. They use the same chairs from the church for the children but I cannot imagine how steady the chairs are on the rock floors. Right now the teachers volunteer their time with little school materials and right now there are no funds to supply food for the children at school. Pastor Philemon told us sometimes the children go home after school in the morning and there is no food and their parents are not there because they are farming or trying to sell at the market. Life is very hard here but the people are full of love and they are doing the best they can right now.

As we steadied ourselves on the rock floor, we shared our story from our friend Jenisys and handed out a copy of her prayer letter to the children. Then, we distributed biscuits and juice which made them very happy. The community is hoping to finish this space plus they are in the beginning stages of building 3 more classrooms. This community builds everything themselves including making the bricks. Once the classrooms are complete they hope to partner with Compassion International, a child sponsorship organization, to help provide for the children.

Next we met with the 70 members of the women’s cooperative. This is a large group for a co-op but they are energized to work under the leadership of Pastor Philemon. We heard from 30 of the women about their businesses that ranged from selling fruit and vegetables to building and selling bricks, to buying empty crates from the Democratic Republic of Congo to sell here in Rwanda. Today Bishop Theo shared that we will give them 30 micro loans to start so the Pastor can see how they do with the program and the repayment of those loans. If paid in full in 4 months, the loans can then be given to another 30 women in the group. These micro loans are life changing. It will help them build their capital to grow their businesses and feed their families.

After wrapping up with the women and having a prepared village lunch, we took a walk through the village with an entourage and we visited two homes.

We visited the home of Perus, a mom who is a widow with 5 children. She let us see where she sleeps and where the roof is damaged and leaks when it rains. She sleeps with 3 of her children in her bed and there is another room where her other children sleep. We also visited another home. The first room has a straw bed (made of bean stalks) where the grandchildren sleep. It is a very hard living and there is no electricity so even during the day it is dark inside.

Despite all of these challenges, the people of this village are incredibly kind, upbeat, proud of their heritage and traditions and they treated us like family.

The need is so great everywhere we go. We pray for God to take care of their needs little by little for as long as it takes and we look forward to visiting them again in the years to come. May God continue to bless these beautiful people.