Saturday Welcome Event at LWA Nduba Center

Afternoon Day 1

~ by Susie LeBlanc ~

When the gates opened to the center it was more than I expected and more than I hoped for! We barely stepped out of the car and were met immediately with lots of little hugs. Then I went right into a soccer game played with a beach ball. There were three little team mates to play against. One of them was a child on crutches (Kenny with spit bifida). I think I might have won if I hadn’t been called in to meet the adults. The room where we gathered was charged with joy and excitement as I watched friends from the USA reunited with friends from this center. For me it was instant affirmation of the decision I had made a year ago when I said “Yes, I WILL go to Rwanda.”

My biggest thrill was when I met a nine year old boy with CP named Souvenir! It was love at first sight. I had seen his picture in the Love With Actions picture directory and thought “I’d like to take him home as a souvenir.” I was also blessed with a birthday party and flowers. They did the same for Alice whose birthday was two days prior.

Then several of the mothers told us their stories. It was touching as each one shared the same difficulties of raising a family alone with a physically and/or mentally challenged child. Leah stood straight and tall in front of us as her mother shared about having her severely bowed legs corrected through surgeries and therapy thanks to LWA. Jeanne introduced us to her 9-year-old son Arnaud who lives with CP. She shared about her isolation before she met LWA. Her husband abandoned the family and even the grandparents said “do not bring that child around the rest of the family.” Their strength and determination was an encouragement to me. The last mom to share was Giselle, introducing her very outgoing and bright little girl, El Shaddai. During heavy rains several years ago their mud brick house had collapsed, crushing little El Shaddai’s leg, which was then amputated, so she was hobbling around with a heavy homemade wooden crutch. Thanks to LWA she has been fitted with a prosthetic and is back to attending school and living life. Recently she received a second prosthetic because she has grown so much in 2 years. These are just three of the 30 children being served at LWA Nduba.

We then all shared a “Kingdom Feast” Rwandan buffet, provided by our team, of rice, potatoes, vegetables, chicken, fish and so much more. Each mom and child, who most likely are eating only once a day due to poverty and food inflation, had a plate piled HIGH and huge smiles of delight. Then everyone had a big piece of birthday cake – a big treat! It was all so much fun I didn’t want to leave. It was a day of giving thanks to God for all he has done for these amazing moms and their children through the work of Love With Actions.