Day 4, Part 1: Kigali as a Learning Center

Today was a day of learning.
When I woke up, I learned that the sounds of Rwanda's morning are these: persistent birds calling (sounds like Hawaii), a disgruntled rooster crowing, mangy dogs barking, and hammers pounding foundations into being.
At breakfast, we learned about the others in our group - 8 Canadians, an English mother-daughter duo, Rebecca Tinsley, and ourselves.
After breakfast, we learned about Rwanda from Jean, who runs Solace Ministries. He told us his survival story, interspersed between Rwandan statistics:
- Average age: 18
- Life expectancy: 47
- Annual income/person: $270
- Languages: Kinyarwanda, French, English
- Number killed in genocide: 1,000,000 in under 100 days.
Next, we learned about the women's health clinic at the Solace compound; women go to receive HIV/AIDS treatment, food, and comfort. They treat about 300.
We visited a few different classrooms and learned about the students there, who are learning business skills, computer skills, and how to deal with trauma.
Then we attended a service of 300 people, mainly orphans and widows, in a dirt-floored half-finished room with high ceilings and wooden benches. The first things one notices are the colors: bright headdresses, patterned skirts, pink fingertips. Then the faces: all ranges of colors, of shapes, of ages. Sitting up front in my khaki pants, I felt foreign and underdressed. Then the service began.
The preacher, a commanding woman in pale blue with gold-rimmed glasses, spoke in Kinyarwanda; our translator quickly followed in English. Each statement was followed by a response from the congregation: "tst tst tst" they reprimanded, or they waved their arms in the air in appreciation.
Different survivors were brought up front to show their scars and to give their blessings. Looking out into the crowd of faces, I found half of them buried in pairs of hands.
Then we learned how to end a service with celebration: dancing and singing, of course. A widow grabbed my hands; M became part of a circle of young woman. Clapping and laughing, we ended the service with a young boy's song.