Ashley blogging (way past her bedtime):

Today our team met up with Chelsie at the crack of dawn for a lovely breakfast at Bloom Hotel in Kigali. We shared coffee, spanish omelettes, and opened Christmas presents (wait, what?). Chelsie received her gifts a bit early this year. We then rented our personal taxi drivers for the day, and headed into town.

Our first stop was at women's led initiative called Mbwirandumv ("Speak, I am Listening"). This is an organization that has grown and developed over the years, but first started following the genocide in Rwanda, serving 200 widow survivors. Immediately following the mass killings in 1994, a small group of women began to meet regularly to talk, cry, and pray together over all they had experienced and continue to face as victims of the genocide. The group has since expanded to meet the needs of hundreds of women who receive trauma counseling, education, medical assistance/referrals, and support for income-generating activities. After meeting with some of the staff at "Speak", our team was able to meet groups of women who spend time each day 1) making beautifully hand-crafted greeting cards... which some of us purchased  2) tailoring and sewing purses, bags, napkins, etc. For many of these women, the skills they are learning will equip them with opportunities to earn incomes to support their families.

The amazing thing about this organization is that it offers women and their children a new chance at life, following such a devastating time where many of these women were brutally traumatized, raped, and lost their properties and families. The vision of "Speak" is to support these vulnerable women, encourage them to talk about their feelings as a means of healing, and to help them sustain themselves and maintain their dignity. Movements such as "Speak" are truly the priceless pearls that lead people to forgiveness and renewals. We have much to learn from these women and those who have given their lives to walk along side them.

P.S.  We also ate dinner in Heaven, and visited the Rwandan Genocide Memorial. I'll leave others to blog about this... there is much to tell...