My daughter is going to Rwanda

9th February, 2010 - Posted by Nancy Winn -

Hi Open Arms family.

This is my first blog so bear with me.

I am on staff in the OAI Portland office.  Last summer went to Eldoret, Kenya to work with the Kenya and UK accounting staffs.  I traveled with a team member from New Hope Community Church.  During my trip I had the opportunity to visit the OAI village and meet the children, participate in our feeding program in the Kambi teso slum, and get to know two of our mission teams.  My last two days in Eldoret were spent working in the dental tent of our medical camp set up at Kambi Teso.  It was a blessing to go to Kenya and see lives touched and changed.

Fast forward to February 2010.  In less than two weeks my daughter Jessica will leave for her 27 month Peace Corps assignment in Rwanda.  27 months is a long time.  Jessica has been working towards her goal of serving in the Peace Corps for almost two years.  It is long process fraught with much waiting while seemingly nothing happens.  Jessica found out in November that she would start her service in February-just enough time to wrap up her life here and prepare for this new adventure.

When I tell people that Jessica is going to Rwanda they ask how I feel about it.  Rwanda experienced a terrible genocide in 1993 and 1994 which killed almost 1 million people.  Today Rwanda is still healing from that experience.  The Peace Corps has been invited back into Rwanda to help build capacity in the delivery of HIV/AIDS education and treatment.  I feel grateful that my daughter has answered a call to serve.  I am thankful that I have had the experience of traveling to east Africa and had a glimpse of what she will experience.

I know that she will meet new friends and experience a very different pace of life.  I am hopeful that she will have access to the internet to skype home and let us know how she is doing.  I am sure she will be transformed.

So for the next week and a half I am going to try to savor every minute Jessica and I get to spend together.