These become part and parcel of life in Kigali. If you are staying here for longer than a year, you are a long term resident of this city.
The most recent farewell was my old school friend Alasdair who was here for 7 months working with IJM (International Justice Mission). It has been a real blessing having him here for the first few months. It has been bizarre having conversations about old school days in the middle of Rwanda - but those conversations will be missed.
A friend asked me yesterday whether i think i'm 'stable' here. I think i'm still mentally stable - i leave that for the friend to determine. I'm stable in my job and my home and my church.
But stability in friendships is hard. I came to the realisation that many of the people i spend a lot of time with will have left by sept/oct. In their place there will be new ODI fellows and new interns, but it really takes some energy.
I am thankful that there are a few great friends who will be here for the long term, and of course it is important to welcome the new people...but stability is hard.
But, when is life ever 'stable'? and if we feel it is, maybe its time to question whether life is too comfortable and we are not challenging ourselves.
...answers on a postcard :)
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This new flag was introduced in 2001: blue signifies peace & tranquility; yellow is wealth; green is agriculture, productivity & prosperity; the sun represents new hope for Rwanda and its people - designed by Alphonse Kirimobenecyo
This is the place I will keep you upto date about what i'm doing. I'll put thoughts, photos, prayer points, people i've met, things i've done, etc. I'll be keeping in touch more personally via email every so often and please please please add comments and read this often. This is part of keeping me sane when i'm a continent away and wondering why i left everybody i love...
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This new flag was introduced in 2001: blue signifies peace & tranquility; yellow is wealth; green is agriculture, productivity & prosperity; the sun represents new hope for Rwanda and its people - designed by Alphonse Kirimobenecyo
1 comment:
I don't have a postcard, so i'll have to answer here. I think it's a really tricky question, and actually life is very rarely stable. Even at school, which seems most stable, because you stayed with (generally) a fairly stable group of people in the same place, wasn't that stable. Each year new subjects, each day new assignments, people change and grow. Then you go onto university which is new and unstable, just as you feel stable, its over and on you move, and if you're part of societies, each year they change too as people in years above leave and new people come along. I guess in some ways life can be stable - you "settle down" find a permanent job, find a permanent home (as permanent as these things can be). But even then things are still fluctuant... Interesting philosophical question really isn't it...
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