Cooking in Africa...a journey for me

yes, I have totally felt this after moving to Africa. Many new foods, pots & pans I was not used to, not my spices I was used to, a different store, cooking from scratch for 3 meals a day x 7 days a week, no drive-thru or take-out or delivery, not having my cookbooks, etc, etc. I understand!! I was telling a friend that I went through phases with cooking after I moved to Africa. 

Phase 1 - (0-3 months) 

Buy anything I recognized the label in the store no matter the price. Ok, for a while, but got expensive and repetitive after a while.  It felt like it was fun, we were living an adventure and trying new things, but felt like a temporary solution

Phase 2 - (3-6 mo) 

Get bold and try downloading recipes online since I didn't have my old cookbooks. Pick out 3 recipes, go to the store and can't find 2-3 items on each recipe. Come home with no complete recipe. Try to make it anyway without the missing ingredient. Frustrating, defeating. 

Phase 3 - (6-12 mo) 

Got a cookbook by american missionary women living in Africa which had recipes I was familiar with but with local ingredients. Took one recipe at a time, slowly, trying and feeling successful with the result. Little by little, felt more comfortable with what I could buy and find and make at home. 

Phase 4 - (second year) Cooking from Scratch, Really

Moving to Rwanda! It felt like I was start over again when we moved to Rwanda in Dec 2010, but I felt a little more prepared this time, after what I experienced in Kenya. This time was different because I was able to bring some of my cookbooks from home and many of my pots, pans, kitchen utensils, etc. and I had a bigger kitchen. So, I felt a little more ready to face the challenge, until I found out that everything had to be made from scratch herein Rwanda. There was very little if any prepared foods, things like a can of cream of chicken soup for casseroles or a dessert recipe that starts with a box of yellow cake mix or a dinner meal that calls for a bag of frozen vegetables or a soup recipe that is a can of corn, a can of beans,  a can of whatever. Can't do any of those recipes! I realized how much I didn't know how to cook. I mean I cooked meals, nice meals actually, I thought for my growing family for 10 years, but now I was paralyzed because all of my cooking relied on some element of prepared food from the grocery store. Now, everything was from scratch. 

If you live in the United States, bring a cake to a party and someone says "Oh, did you make that yourself?", and you say "yes". That means you opened a box, added 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1/4 cup of water and cooked it in your dish, in your oven. You did not buy it from the bakery section at the store and you are a super mom for baking your own cake. Here in Africa, if you make a cake from scratch it means something different. It means you put flour, 125g butter, caster sugar, eggs, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), cocoa powder, buttermilk (or milk and yoghurt), and vanilla essence mixed together in your oven at 175 degrees Celcius to make the "Super Easy Chocolate Cake" recipe from your "Cooking in Kigali" cookbook compiled by ex-pat (American, British, Canadian, German, etc) women. 

whew! This whole process has been very frustrating, but eventually it has gotten better as I have slowly tried different things and became more confident of my cooking. Now, the other ex-pat ladies and I try to share recipes with each other, since we are all in the same boat. And we even find ourselves sharing where we found certain food items. For example, you might find yourself having an entire conversation about where to find mozzarella cheese in the city. Or you text your friends from a store when you find maple syrup. It really is hysterical! And maybe I should talk about buying food from street vendors, I mean a guy walks up to your car with a bucket of strawberries and you are actually thrilled to see him and buy the strawberries! Maybe that topic should be another blog post....

I Love African Fabrics!

Oh, I think I have fallen in love with the fabrics here in East Africa!  There are so many bright, fun colors. And the way the colors are paired together with the different patterns, I think it really shows about the culture of an area.

Kitenge - Rwanda

Here are two samples I bought today for a skirt for my sister. A close up and then distance shot of each. Lots of bright fun colors and some crazy patterns too! Some of the patterns will have a picture of a shoe, a purse, apples, or whatever. 

The three pictures at the bottom are from a local coffee shop wall that used tons of different fabrics from the market to make a wall of color. Each piece is wrapped around a wooden baton and attached to the wall. Very dramatic. I had Lane and Abigail pick out their favorite fabrics on the wall. 

Khanga - Tanzania or Mombasa, Kenya 

Rectangle piece of fabric with a 6 inch border around the edges. Used to make women's dresses. I loved to use them for tablecloths and still do. They come in al colors! The unique thing about these fabrics is that they all have a quote at the bottom of the fabric.  There were also khangas with the U.S. President Obama's picture on the whole fabric since his father is Kenyan.

Khanga - which comes from the old Bantu (Kiswahili) verb ku-kanga to wrap or close. www.wikipedia.com

An East African khanga is a rectangle of pure cotton cloth with a border all around it and printed in bold designs and bright colors. It is as long as a person’s outstretched arm and wide enough to cover from neck to knee, or from waist to toe. Khangas are often bought in pairs and are usually worn in a most attractive and useful way. Most traditional outfits require a matched or unmatched pair. Women also use khangas to cover other clothes and to carry their young children on their backs. Khangas are also used as tablecloths and decorative wall hangings.

Khangas use a variety of African sayings, idioms, proverbs, slogans, expressions, idioms and riddles in Swahili and English. These sayings must be understood in their cultural and social contexts. It is important to understand that many of the sayings are intended to be a commentary on the lives of East African women and their complex relationships. Many of the sayings are messages (hidden/coded or otherwise) that women communicate to each other. Usually the saying is printed on the bottom middle of the cloth. More recent East African khangas also contain informational and educational messages.

"Asante sana kwa wema ulionitendea." means "Thank you for your good deeds to me."

"Apendaye halipizi." means "The one who loves does not take revenge."

"Yataka moyo." means "[Marriage] needs patience."

"Yote ni matawi shina ni mimi." means "All are branches. I am the root." (Meaning: The legally married woman is the root. The rest of the women/wives are branches to the man.)

"Zawadi ni zawadi." means "A gift is a gift."

Source: http://www.deproverbio.com/display.php?a=3&r=106

Kikoy - Kenya 

From the Kenya coastal areas. More pastel or lighter shades of colors. Solid color with small stripes in the fabric. Often a fringed or braided edge on 2 sides. Used as a shawl or wrap, but also sewn into clothes. 

Maasai Fabric - Kenya

Red plaid fabric used by Maasai tribe who live in the Mara area of Kenya. They wrap this fabric around them to designate their tribe from other tribes. It is worn by the Maasai warriors and the cow and goat herders in the fields.

“Let’s hope that God will talk to them through our mouths”

In the past two months, I (Lane) have had occasion to have many meetings with people to discuss difficult things, such as: Meetings with a branch of the Rwandan government to negotiate a memorandum of understanding; meetings with another branch of the government to resolve issues with our organization’s registration; etc. But, prior to one recent, difficult meeting, one of my Rwandan staff, in response to my request for corporate prayer, stated: “Let’s hope that God will talk to them through our mouths.”

That struck me as profound, and as something I deeply wanted not only for the next meeting but for all my interactions with people. How cool and impactful would that be for people to feel blessed, challenged, edified, loved, rebuked in love, wiser, etc., after each interaction with us. It reminds me of a Jim Elliot quote: “Lord, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” Let it be.

Anyway, a month or so later IJM Rwanda had one of those days that causes great celebration. 

First, on Friday, March 30, a Rwandan judge convicted a man who had raped an IJM client named Dahlia* and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. We celebrate because the system has clearly stated that Dahlia matters, and we celebrate that, in spite of numerous issues in this case though very well could have prevented it from even going to trial, God brought justice for Dahlia in a Rwandan court. IJM Rwanda has now assisted in securing four convictions of child abusers in 2012 against a goal of 10 for the year.

Second, after many months of prayer and work to secure our re-registration as an international non-governmental organization (INGO), on Friday we secured our registration certificate! I’ve never given birth but this six-month process of trying to get re-registered is as close as I’ll ever want to come to being with child for 9 months and giving birth. Thank you for all of your prayers in getting to this point.

----

Greetings from Kigali! April is the annual memorial or mourning time from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The genocide started on April 6, 1994, when the then President of Rwanda’s plane was shot down. 

Every year, the entire country spends a week in mourning and remembrance of what happened in an effort to make sure it never happens again. 

As you think of it, please pray for the people and leaders of Rwanda as they continue to heal and move forward after such a desperate tragedy.

Joshua - 5 months old

 On the home front, Joshua is now five-months old and is beginning to pull himself around on the floor as well as showing off his first two new little teeth.

 

Caleb and Abigail had a new experience this week. Due to the Memorial Week, the kid's school is off for break the entire week. So, we decided to take some field trips around the city. 

One of those outings was to a place called Dancing Pots, where the kids got a first hand try at making pottery. Check out my blog post here for more about that experience and more pictures!

IJM's Global Prayer Gathering starts Friday!

Click here to watch GPG session live online.  Join hundreds of IJM supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., and thousands more from around the world. 

Click here to download the GPG 2012 Prayer Journal with specific prayer requests from each field office (including Lane's office in Rwanda!!)

IJM's Global Prayer Gathering 2012

We gather with a singular purpose – to engage in the work of justice through the work of prayer.

Through storytelling, worship and reflection, we will celebrate God’s faithfulness throughout the past 15 years of IJM’s work…and we will ask for his continued intervention to bring rescue and restoration to those who are still being oppressed.

Throughout the weekend, IJM staff from Africa, Latin America, India and Southeast Asia will share the miracles of God’s intervention and care they have seen on the frontlines. We will hear of the urgent challenges in their field offices and cities. We will pray together corporately and also have the opportunity to rotate among country rooms during breakout sessions of focused prayer for IJM needs around the world. Several survivors who have been served by IJM will share their own stories with us.

We will be led in musical worship by Sara Groves, Sharon Irving and others.

Excerpt from the GPG 2012 Prayer Journal

Kigali, Rwanda 

Casework Focus: Child Sexual Assault 

Director: Lane Mears 

Office Established: 2008

PRAISE

• Praise God for granting IJM Rwanda success in its first year of focusing exclusively on combating sexual assault against children. In 2011, IJM Rwanda was able to secure its first four convictions against child abusers, and more than 50 children have been receiving aftercare services from IJM counselors.

• Praise God for granting IJM Rwanda the opportunity to train Rwandan judges and prosecutors on how to investigate and prosecute cases of child sexual assault. Nearly one out of every five judges and prosecutors in the entire nation participated in IJM’s first training last year.

PRAY

• Ask God to allow IJM Rwanda to build a trustworthy working relationship with the Rwandan National Police. This critical partnership will enable IJM to more consistently and productively work alongside the police to protect Rwandan children from sexual violence and ensure that rapists are held accountable under the law.

• Pray that three safe houses will open in or near Kigali City, where children who have been sexually abused can live when their own homes are not safe. Ideally, at least one of these safe houses would be government-run and have enough beds for all of IJM’s clients.

Pottery making in Rwanda

The outdoor workshop

I got a recommendation from my friend Jennifer Jukanovich about a pottery making place that she took her kids to for lessons. So, this is what we did today and the kids, except Luke, really liked it.

This is the workshop on the outside of the building.  Notice the man sitting up on a platform. This is the potter's wheel. I think the only one. One rod through the middle with a small wheel on top and a large wheel on bottom. He moves the bottom wheel with his feet and his hands form the pottery piece on the smaller wheel. 

 

Waiting to get started. 

Caleb sat up here to make his pottery piece.  Abigail is further down the picture with the women. 

Caleb began to make a bowl or the beginning of a pot. But, I am not sure what happened. I can only speak a few words of the Kinyarwandan language, and the folks at the pottery place only spoke a few words of English. So, most everything was using hand gestures. A lot of smiling, pointing, laughing, trying again and again. 

Caleb trying out the potter's wheel

Abigail with the ladies making a bowl

Abigail sat down with the ladies and they gave her some clay to begin making something.  She helped to make a bowl with one of the ladies.  Someone made an anteater for her and she liked that, so she made one herself. 

Abigail had fun getting her hands dirty!

Caleb learning from a master

I love this! Hands on learning for Abigail

Women making pottery in front of us

I wish I had a picture for something I will never forget that happened today at the pottery place.  In this picture you see a baby being held by a young girl. I think she must have been a sister of the baby or something, because I kept asking who was the mother to the baby and eventually, I figured it out. She wasn't sitting with the ladies when I took these pictures, but she came and sat with them later and took the baby in her arms. Then after a few minutes, I saw her nursing the baby. I asked how old and I think they said the baby was 6 months old.  My baby Joshua is now 5 months old and was with us today for our visit to this pottery place.

Pots waiting to be painted with a Rwandan hillside
in the background

After being there a while, Joshua was getting hungry, and so I discreetly began to nurse him.  The women knew exactly what I was doing and were so surprised to see me nursing my baby just like they did! Granted, she just did it in front of all around and was not shy about anyone seeing her breast at all. I on the other hand, use a blanket to cover myself and the baby when I nurse in public.

This lady kept making silly faces to make Joshua laugh!

When I finished nursing one breast, the lady pointed and motioned for me to nurse the other side too.  I nodded yes, but stopped to burp Joshua for a moment. Come to think of it, I never saw her burp her baby, I wonder why. Maybe since they carry their babies upright and on their backs most all day the baby gets burped that way. Is that just a western culture thing? I don't know, maybe I should look into that.  The lady in this picture kept making these silly faces to make Joshua laugh. Then she asked about how long the baby sleeps in the baby carrier and I told her it was a baby seat for the car to be safe while driving. I told her it was not for sleeping really, because he has a baby cot at home, this was for the car. I don't think she had ever seen a baby car seat before. 

It was such a neat experience for me. The nursing mother and this mother kept pointing to me and smiling and giving me a "thumbs up". I don't know if they had ever seen a white woman breast feed a baby before or what, but it was apparently a really big deal. I wish I could describe it better, but it was amazing to me. I felt like I bonded with this woman, who I could not speak a single word with, but yet we knew there was something similar in our lives.

We both had a baby almost the same age and we knew that we had something we could give the baby.  It was like I instantly became all of these women's friend. We crossed over some barrier of color and became just two woman with a child.  I really wish I had a picture of the two of use sitting on the dirt floor nursing our babies at the same time, but I don't. It will just be a picture in my mind forever.

Anyways, the crowd that was standing around had pretty much left by now except the women and me and my kids.  Luke began to feel more comfortable and let go of my leg and began looking inside a bunch of the large pots nearby.

Caleb proud of his Star Wars Death Star creation

During this time, Caleb had been working on something of his own. He was making a round shape.  I think Caleb was making a ball, but then I told him once the clay dries and they cook it in the oven it will become hard and break if he tries to kick the ball. So, he changed his game plan to make the Star Wars Death Star instead.  Of course!   There was a Rwandan boy watching him and kept asking if Caleb was making a ball, a "futbal" or soccer ball. He saw the soccer ball on Caleb shirt and kept pointing to that.  I don't think the boy knew what Star Wars was or ever understood what Caleb was making and the best I could do was to say it was a moon, and he pointed to the sky as to understand that word.

Then, Caleb did the same as Luke and started looking around the pots but came back with black paint on his hands. One of the other boys came over to help show Caleb where to go to wash off the paint. I could see Caleb washing his hands several yards away and when he came back, he smelled like gasoline.  I told him he just washed his hands with petrol (or gasoline) the same as for our car and he was really surprised about that!

Finally, after about an hour, we waited for Abigail to finish making a dragon with clay. When she finished we said our "Murakoze's" (thank you) and paid the Mzee (older grey haired man) for our time there. And waved good-bye. It was a fun experience for the kids to try something new and learn about pottery making.  Now, I hope that as we drive by the outdoor flower shops with these large pots for sale they will remember this day and how these pots are made. I on the other hand will have my own sweet memories from today.

Flat Stanley Visits Us in Rwanda

We are so thrilled Flat Stanley came to Rwanda to visit our family!!

If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, then you should read the book about him. Because he is flat, he can travel in envelopes or by email around the world meeting new people and discovering new places.

Our friends, the Johnsons from back in Austin, Texas asked if Flat Stanley could come visit us. And we said sure!   Here is the story of his adventures with us in Rwanda!

Flat Stanley came to visit our home in the Kibagabaga area of the city called Kigali, in the country of Rwanda, located in the middle of the continent of Africa.

First, Flat Stanley went to Abigail’s school called Kigali International Community School or KICS. The mascot is a bird called a kite, kind of like a hawk, but black and white.  

He even got to sit at Abigail’s desk in Grade 1. These are pictures of Stanley in front of the school banner, sitting at Abigail's desk, and of Abigail holding Stanley in her classroom wearing her PE clothes. 

As we left the school, Flat Stanley tried to read the street signs, but couldn't because they were in French. Rwanda has 3 official languages: Kinyarwanda, French, and English.

English only recently became one of the official languages, so most of the signs around town are either in Kinyarwanda or French. 

And that is the same for the spoken language. Most people speak 2 or even 3 languages everyday. It is amazing how Rwandans can switch languages when they talk to different people. 

Next, Stanley got to help plant corn (or maize) just like Rwandans do. Every day for about 2 weeks, many, many people were in the fields around Rwanda tilling up the soil and planting seeds for corn. 

Now, Stanley got to see the baby plants growing in a field. In a few months these plants will be tall and have corn ready to pick and eat. If Stanley lived in Rwanda, this corn would help feed his family. 

One day, Stanley rode on a "moto", short for motorcycle taxi.   Most people in Rwanda don't have cars, so this is a really popular way to get around town. There are so many on the road it sometimes feels like the motos are flies buzzing around your car. 

He went to the International Justice Mission office, where Abigail's daddy works.  Her daddy works with about 18 Rwandans and 4 Americans to help fight for justice for the poor.  The people in the office are mostly lawyers, investigators, and counselors who want to help children.  Here is a picture of Stanley at the gate to the IJM office.








Here is a picture of Stanley looking across the street at the Rwandan flag and a view of some of the city. 

Kigali is the capital of Rwanda and it is up in the mountains so when you look out your window you can see many mountains and all of the buildings and houses on the other mountains.

He liked looking at some of the signs in our city. Here is one sign for a Dry Cleaners business that Flat Stanley liked because it had a picture of a person ironing some pants. 

He was right that many of the signs are painted by hand by someone in the city instead of made by a big printing machine. 

He learned a new word "Umudugudu" which means neighborhood and thought it was fun to say! Once he learned how to say the new word, he wanted to take a picture next to one of the signs near our house. It had a Rwandan flag on the sign too, which Flat Stanley liked. 

Driving to our house Flat Stanley noticed that the main roads in the city are paved, but all of the small roads by peoples houses are still dirt and some of them are really bumpy!!

This is very different from the roads in the USA. It is kinda fun to ride on the bumpy roads, but we told Flat Stanley that during the rainy season we have to use the 4-wheel drive in our car to get to our house through the muddy roads. 

Flat Stanley was really muddy and decided he needed a bath. When he was done, he hung out on the clothes line with all of our other clothes to dry since that is what Rwandans do.  In the background, you can see our water tank that we use at our house. Sometimes the water doesn't come to our house from the city pipes, so we use the water in the water tank to take baths, flush toilets, cook dinner, or wash dishes. 

As he was walking around the yard, he noticed round green things hanging from two different trees in the yard. We told him that one was an avocado tree with lots of avocados on it and that the other was a citron tree with just one citron and some flowers next to it.







Flat Stanley had never heard of a citron, and so we told him that is was like a mix between a lemon and a lime. Someday Flat Stanley will have to come back to Rwanda when the avocado and citron fruits are ready to eat!

The distance between Flat Stanley's home in Austin, Texas and our home in Kigali, Rwanda is about 8,475 miles. whew! That is about 17 hours on an airplane. If Flat Stanley wanted to call back home to Texas, he would be careful when he called because Rwanda is 7 hours ahead of Texas. That means if it is 3pm in the afternoon in Rwanda, then it is only 8am in Texas. So, if he calls any earlier than that he might wake someone up in Texas. 

If Flat Stanley should come back to visit, he should wear shorts and a t-shirt, but bring a rain jacket because the climate here is 60-85 degrees F everyday, but now is rainy season and he might want a rain jacket or he could play in the rain like Abigail did today! 

Some other interesting things about our city of Kigali, Rwanda is that it was voted the "Cleanest City in Africa" a few years ago. The whole country of Rwanda is about the same size as the small state of Maryland.  Rwanda has about 7 million people, which makes it the most dense country in Africa.

Rwanda also has many animals to see in the national parks: zebra, giraffe, elephants, baboons, wart hogs, gorillas, impala. And there are cows and goats around the city that might even walk down your street while you are trying to drive home, so you have to sit and wait until they moo-ve over. Ha Ha! At one of our friend's houses they have turkeys, rabbits, chickens, fish, 2 dogs and 3 cats.  Abigail loves to visit this friend!

Thanks Flat Stanley for visiting us in Kigali, Rwanda!!
Come again!

from Abigail

IJM Rwanda: Justice Secured After Children Who Witnessed Abuse Testify in Court

Justice was secured in a Rwandan courtroom thanks to the brave testimonies of children who witnessed a man assault 12-year-old Cadence.

KIGALI, RWANDA – Late last week, a man was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison for sexually assaulting 12-year-old Cadence.* The just ruling was rendered a week after two children gave testimonies in a hearing, recounting the abuse they had witnessed.

IJM worked closely with a Rwandan prosecutor to prepare for the criminal trial. IJM Rwanda Senior Consultant Attorney, James Nuwagaba, explained that they "teamed up" to work efficiently and to swiftly secure justice for Cadence. As the judge delivered the conviction, she said that the children's testimonies played an important role in the ruling.

Cadence has started to receive counseling for the trauma she endured. IJM helped the family purchase a goat as a sustainable source of income and will provide continued support.  

*A pseudonym has been used for the protection of this IJM client.


**LEAVE A COMMENT on International Justice Mission's Facebook page to encourage the IJM Rwanda staff of 19 Rwandans and 4 Americans. Click here to leave a comment.