Posting a post requesting no post

It's official: at the end of February we're leaving Rwanda (we're going back to Italy for some time, at least a month, then we'll see...).

Our P.O.BOX expires soon, so please

DO NOT SEND ANYTHING BY POST!

Stunning gift!

For those who followed us here on the blog, after plenty of words, now it's time to let you see something: we fell behind with offering you pictures, but thanks to the holidays we've now managed to get all last year's shots ready, sorted and available for you!

There's so many of them that you can enjoy one album per day and keep going for weeks...

Have fun!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, or...

...when gifts become a little burdensome and generosity goes over the top!

A wonderfully funny Irish version of a popular and extremely silly song.

Click here, download and enjoy your last day of the Christmas period!

On Rwanda, not from us...

...but from the journalistic professionalism of the Guardian, so, if you were sceptical about our not-so-positive comments on this country, elsewhere widely praised, or if you just want to read more about its deep problems, we believe you'll find the below articles extremely interesting, especially because it is quite rare to see anything as strong as this apart from human rights specific publications:

on Paul Kagame's lust for power

on crushing freedom of press (a bit old but still very relevant and true to the current situation)

Happy New Year.. "a la John"

So this is Xmas and what have you done?

Well, we've worked with the poor:

trying to live with them, walking with them around their areas, visiting their homes or no-homes, striving to speak their language, and we think we've done decently well at all that, despite our faults, like keeping living as Western people, sending our children to a super-expensive private school, driving our car, playing tennis, eating much better than them;

and for the poor:

from children to disabled people, from the youth to the mothers, from street kids to Mattia's drunk friend, and this is the reason why the "church" didn't like us much, as some people told us bluntly: "you worked for us, not for them, that's why they don't want you".

trying to "do good":

we've sent crowds of children to school (from primary to secondary and vocational training), we reintegrated a few in their families (with some success...), we've taught them (more chess than English), we've let them sing (Gospel, and literally so, not just music, but God's word in music), we've saved some families from their hopeless surviving in the city taking them back to the countryside, we've given children loads of sport&grinds and even some first-aid&food, we've organised Christian dancing and bible evenings, we've had a few as adoptive sons for a while, we've taken  the youth to Church (until the "church"  put them aside), we've explained disability is a problem to tackle not a curse to hide, we've trained them on how to take care of their "special" kids, we've "physio-treated" them, we've funded very small businesses, we've created paper furniture items for them (starting to teach them how to do it), we've gathered them in a small cooperative or in several saving groups, we've provided a market for their crafts and commissioned some sewing work...

Another year over

It's been tough,

as the "church" has never been with us and often against us; as Rwanda is not an easy country (for its troubled present rather than past and its dependency on aid) and Rwandans are not easy people (from their lying habit to their tendency to take help for granted); as being white and rich here isn't easy either (the former is not our fault but race is an issue anywhere - the latter is and we've been trying to work on that, but it's a long way and perceptions are hard to change); as the language is very difficult (and that's a fact, though another fact is we could have studied more); as we were learning and shaping our work by the day; as poverty is hard to digest yet it cannot be solved by a family in a year.

It's been good,

as the weather is among the best on earth and the same goes for fruit; as the boys settled in well and have always been happy, at home, at school (where they made friends and learnt plenty) and on the football pitch, where they played with the local kids; as we've found a few friends, a couple of good people who helped us and many more who sincerely appreciated what we've done; as the short summer holiday and the current long Christmas break have been very nice, with the highlights of the animals and plants of the national parks (savannah and jungle) and the fun and beauty of Lake Kivu;  as people visited us and gave strength and encouragement to keep going, confirming us in our ways; as the youth, the disabled and all their parents are tiring but pleasant company.

It's been amazingly great,

as we've never felt more blessed ("Imana ibahe mugisha"/God Bless You, often just a formula, yet many times seemingly heartfelt), more fulfilled, more needed and helpful ("there are some people who are giving us hope and help for the future"), more "in step" with Him ("Jesus come back for street children"); as the boys have been our greatest supporters, proving themselves strong, righteous and faithful; as we've learnt so much about Him (we've seen Him in the people, we've heard His voice so loudly, we've felt His hand on our shoulders, we've found what following Him means), about us (what we are, what we can do, what we must do), about poverty, about history, about aid, justice and equality.

It's been awfully bad,

as having to chase away children and mothers is the worst thing that can possibly happen to you; as stress affects you in a lot of terrible ways (from your behaviour to your stomach...); as we came hoping that partnering with a church would help us to avoid a lot of negative approaches and instead it was that partnership which made everything so hard; as our sending agency let us down completely, never taking into serious consideration or even respecting our work, never siding with our Christian approach and finally treating us at best as simple employees and at worst as parcels for which to arrange flights&freight.

a new one just begun

an uncertain one, hopefully a better one, surely a good one if we keep being a unit, certainly a great one if we find out His way and follow it with complete, faithful abandonment.

-----

The near and dear one

So many of you to us are dear

and really you all felt near 

throughout this year

so thank you for reading, listening, writing, sending, praying, thinking!

A Happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

without any fear

No fear of doing what we all feel called to do;

No fear of what is new, different, challenging;

No fear of doing what we know is right, whatever the cost;

No fear of being rejected, attacked, mistreated, for the good we do!