Christian HOPE International

16/06/2026

Today we travel to Kigeme - a 3 hour journey through the Nyungwe Forest, but that is for after lunch. A meeting had been arranged at 8.30 for Carmen to meet the Diocesan Accountant for a working breakfast. We were there on time but no-one else was around. We ate breakfast, and I wandered off to find the toilet when I noticed a very smart accountanty type man sitting at a table. I asked if he was the accountant - poor man had been there all the time, sat in a corner inside, while we were outside. Hard to believe he did not see or hear us! He understood what Carmen needed for our compliance so it was quickly over, just as well as we found out he was actually on leave!
The skies were quite clear and the Congo was easily visible across the lake. We grabbed our costumes in case there was a place to swim and headed through the gardens down to the lake. There was a jetty but no steps, so not ideal gor a swim. There were however boats to hire. A lad was there, we asked about a boat trip. He said yes! We went to get in a small boat but he pointed to a big luxury one. We climbed in and took some photos, after 10 minutes there had been no movement from the lad, so in my best Rwandan accent I said 'tu genday' (no idea how it's spelt but it means 'let's go'. He called someone on the phone who wanted 40 USD to take us out. Far too much, out we climbed. There was an interesting looking raft with a small bench which might have been cheaper but we had lost the urge to sail by then!
We returned to our room and finished packing. The hotel lads must have been told we were leaving because as we moved our case outside the rooms, they swooped on us and took our cases for us. We were very grateful as they are still heavy despite having offloaded 200 tennis balls between us! The gifts we have so kindly been given have obviously taken their place! The guys put the cases on their shoulders to go up the stairs - amazing! We settled in the cafe area and ordered a salad to share.
A young lady approached us, we then realised it was Leah, she is being supported by CHI to do her theology degree to become a Pastor. We had a pleasant chat with her, about how she was getting on. She has just passed her second year exams and is looking foward to her third year and completing her dissertation on "Worship and Christian Commitment". She thanked God for the blessing of sponsorship for her degree. We thank God for the CHI supporters who make this work possible. Lunchveaten, Pastot Berthe and John the driver arrived to take us to Kigeme. The Bishop had hoped to accompany us but had been summoned to Kigali by the Archbishop for meetings.
The journey through the forest was magnificent, the road is good with a few bumps, lots of bends and sheer drops without barriers! It is a mountain forest, and we saw lots more of L'Hoerst monkeys. We also saw a lorry which had come off the road. The lorries race around the bends so we were surprised to only see one 'derailment'.
John is an excellent driver and we arrived at the Kigeme Diocesan Guest House safely, where Bishop Assiel and his lovely wife were waiting for us.
We enjoyed coffee and snacks together and bid a fond farewell to John and Berthe, they would not be back before dark. Our rooms are lovely, and despite ressembling spaghetti junction, the internet assembly works very efficiently, and the router is right outside Carmen's door!
We had another short meeting with Assiel and his wife, regarding the itinerary. They too have to go to Kigali so we won't see them again until Friday morning. The days will be busy - a 6.30am start tomorrow. Lots to see and do! Thankfully a short blog and report for today and an early night. Thank you for reading this far and if you'd like to read more do go to our website blog at https://www.christianhope.org.uk/rwanda-2026
God bless

15/06/2026

A good night's sleep, hot shower and fruit with a boiled egg for breakfast set us up nicely for the day to come.
Boaz collected us promptly at 8.30 and we bumped along the murram roads out to Kabahire, a parish we had visited in 2024, to see work we were about to inherit from MPUK. Here we are today, seeing how the transition is going from their point of view! On arrival we were greeted by a few ladies, singing and dancing, they also gave us bouquets of wild flowers. So kind. The nursery children were already out in the playground practising their songs for their 'dear visitors'. The nursery school was built in 2020 but has become a victim of its own success with over 200 tiny students. It really needs 4 more class rooms to comply with government regulations!
We were serenaded with songs by the children. We decided to get the chaos over with early, and with Boaz's help launched 50 tennis balls into the throng of excited children. Initially some held onto the ball they had caught, others just threw them high in the air, and a few shared! By the end of the havoc session everyone was playing well with
the tennis balls, but break was over and we had to leave for a meeting with the Pastor Vincent and his team. We then went back to the nursery school to help with giving them their lunch - bread and porridge. Many of the children show very obvious signs of malnutrition, despite the CHI help with school feeding. It is evident that more needs to be done for the families to help them support themselves. We think lots of pigs may be needed! Prayers needed for livestock.
It was break time at the Pastor's house too and we were taken inside for boiled eggs and bananas. Very nice.
From there we took a stroll through the eucalyptus trees to meet some families who had been blessed with solar lighting. One young girl, Irene, had written a poem of thanks for helping her family with the light, so she could do her homework.
We walked past the parish church, where we had a look at the new benches which some of our supporters had fundraised especially for. They looked smart and sturdy.
We then visited Emmanuel who had received a pig funded by CHI, it had had 2 litters of 6 piglets, the second of which were nearly old enough to be sold on. He had managed to pay school fees and health insurance with the sale profits. A huge weight off his mind, we have no doubt.
Our next stop was at Jacqueline's, a mother of 5 whose husband had left when she was pregnant with their last child. Her house had been badly damaged in the storms during the rainy season and CHI had helped towards the repairs.
She said she felt very blessed to have received the help. Our last stop on the road was at Josephine's house. A low bench was outside with a coffee cup next to it, a small pile of chillies and peppers sat drying in the sun, and we could see her toothbrush and toothpaste on the windowsill..

At 94 she was still enjoying life and was a staunch supporter of the Pastor (whom she referred to as her son, because he was so good to her), and of the parish who supported her. She had never married, having suffered heartbreak when much younger. She had been selected to receive solar, which she really appreciated as it meant she could read her bible at any time of day or night. Indeed she read us a passage from 1 Samuel, in kinyarwandan, clever lady to be able to read, so rare among the elderly in Rwanda.
All the while wandering these paths we had gathered a group of children who wanted to get close and touch the muzungo, several times they were chased away but they didn't stay away for long! Even whilst we stopped in the church for a debriefing the children clambered around the windows trying to catch our attention! By now Samuel, the Archdeacon, had joined us, arriving in style on a picky-picky. He shook his stick in good humour at the children as they crept into the Pastor's garden - so funny! Lunch next, I was barely over our mid morning snack, but managed to fish out a nice piece of tilapia from the fish soup, which helped me regain my appetite!
After lunch we jumped in the car and headed to one of the Mother's Union lady's homes. Her family had been gifted a pig and they had waited till we were there to pass one of the piglets on to another member of the community, spreading the love. Squealy little things!
Then it was time to head back to guest house. We had a meal with the diocesan team booked later in the evening, so we showered off the dust, and started our blogging.
Dinner was lovely, Boaz, Berthe, Bishop Nathan, Samuel the Archdeacon, his wife, and a lovely young man called Bosco who is one of the theology students sponsored by CHI.
The evening was over all too quickly, and our time in the very beautiful Cyangugu is nearly over.

15/06/2026

After the final whistle in the Germany vs. Curaçao game, German players Jonathan Tah and Nmecha prayed together with the Curaçao players.

"In the game we are opponents, but after the game we are all Christians, we are all brothers." 🙏

More than just a game ❤️

14/06/2026

14/06/2026

An early start after a late night is never great, but when the shower is warm, the weather is good and the prospect of a boat trip to a beautiful island is on the cards, you cannot help but be grateful for the day ahead. Boaz, our man in Cyangugu, executive Secretary for the diocese, turned up at 7.30 prompt, and along with Samuel the Archdeacon, we headed out, taking some more very bumpy tracks to the point where the boats leave for Ishywa Island in Lake Kivu. Climbing into a wooden boat, which appeared to be stapled together, was probably not our most graceful moment. But we remained both upright and dry - which was definitely a win! We 'sped' across the Lake - African speed, enjoying the views of DRC on our left (probably less than a mile away - shhhh!) and the mainland on our right. Alighting the boat was just as graceless but we did it! Theoneste, the local pastor was waiting for us and led the climb up the steep path to the church. We waited in the vestry until all the clergy were robed and were then invited to join the clergy to process into church. Although not crowded, the congregation were all singing and dancing to welcome us. There must have been at least 150 adults and another 100 or so children too. Song and dance is the core to worship here, with a 45 minute sermon to help emphasise the readings! They also had 2 sessions of offertory, no Momo and phones here, all cash. We were surprised to see that was the case, as often in the poorer rural areas, which this definitely is, we often see gifts of food and crops given instead of money. When we asked about this we were told that there is never a surplus of crops on the island, and people are suffering from hunger here. Very sad.
Carmen prayed for the children and they went off for Sunday school, but not before everyone, including the pastor hit the floor for a full-on praise-in.

I cannot load videos in this blog so check out the blog on the website to see the dancing! https://www.christianhope.org.uk/rwanda-2026
From church we were invited to lunch at Pastor Theoneste's house. What a treat Tilapia, ugly but tasty! After lunch our first stop was to see the milling machine, kept in a shed by the Pastor's house. It is doing well, serving the community by making flour from soya, sorgum, maize and cassava, all of which are grown on the island. A small fee is charged but they make a good profit which is used to pay school fees snd school materials for the poorest, contributes towards feeding costs for the nursery children and has also helped pay health insurance for those who were struggling. What an amazing parish resource this has turned out to be.
We also went to visit some recipients of solar lighting and also pigs. Sadly after the pigs were distributed there was an outbreak of some type, which made many of the pigs die. Some, fearful of their pig dying sold them on quickly. One young man, Jean-Paul, had done exactly that, although he had had one litter of piglets from her, (one of which he had gifted to a neighbour) and had used the money he got for the pig and piglets to buy some land and to refurbish his home. He had also decided to buy another pig which he showed us, she looked very healthy but it would be another 2-3 months before she would be ready to breed. He had his Sunday best on when we met him, and was obviously quite smart, so we were surprised to hear he did not have a regular job but farmed his land and took casual labour where he could. He has 6 children, the oldest being 18 - he didn't look old enough for that either!
He had also been a recipient of solar lighting, giving him 3 lights, but recently the island has been connected to the main grid, so although he has mains electric connected he still uses the solar to save money. Like I said - smart. Life on the island is not easy but he certainly seems to have made the most of the small opportunities offered to him. We visited another lady, Thancire, also a mother of 6; she had resisted the urge to sell the pig gifted to her by the church. Her prayers answered, her pig remained well, and gave her a litter of piglets, 5 of which she sold, enabling her to buy her oldest son, who gets married this August, a plot of land. She still has her pig and a piglet remaining. She also makes compost from the manure which has increased her crops, and which she sometimes sells if she has surplus. Another example of how one piglet can really turn a life of poverty to one of hope.
We had climbed a long way up and then back down some slippy, slidey pathways, and Boaz, conscious of both time and safety decided to call a boat to collect us from this side of the island!
By this time, we had collected quite an entourage of cute children, who enjoyed posing for the camera whilst we waited for our taxi!
A sad thing we noticed were the number of children collecting water from the lake, we hope they are well trained on the importance of boiling the water before it is used. We had not seen water filtration systems in any houses, and do not know if they have water pumps on the island, but will be asking more questions tomorrow!
A pleasant boat ride back to the mainland and a bumpy car ride back to guest house had us 'home' by 4pm. On the way back we saw a man being taken for a run by his very wayward cow, which was acting like it was a racehorse! He was laughing thankfully, but we wonder how long it took him to regain control!
We got on with some work and then realised it was 7 and ought to go for dinner. We knew Bishop Jean-Pierre was still here, so called him to join us. Despite a fairly long wait for food, (we sometimes forget the relaxed life lived here), time flew by in his company.
Dinner eaten, goodnights said, it was back to our room to finish the blogs and reports, for an earlier night tonight!

13/06/2026

Our last morning in Karongi, and what bliss it was to finally have hot water in the bathroom. Breakfast was, as always here, delicious and having said our farewells to Vincentie and Delphine, we left, with the Bishop, heading to Cyangugu.
It was a comfortable drive down along the lake. We were meeting someone from Cyangugu en route and they were taking us to a 'forgotten' parish of extreme poverty.
Having swapped cars, off we went with Jonas, heading up into the Nyungwe Forest, the views were stunning and we could feel the temperature drop the higher up we went.
After 2 hours driving, a lot of it on poorly serviced roads we suddenly heard singing, surely we had to be nearĺy there. As we turned the corner the track was edged with clapping, dancing, singing men, women and children. It was overwhelming. We're just us, it seemed far too much! But they are a community who feels forgotten. Compassion let them down years ago, asking them to build buildings for them, but in the end, they chose another location.
Their happiness at receiving visitors was obvious.
We were whisked straight to the Pastor's house for a snack - boiled eggs, bananas and bread. It was nearly 1.30 so a very welcome meal. From there we went into the church for a meet and greet and a song - the church was full to capacity. Everyone was singing and dancing, and we had to weave our way through the crowd to get to the front. There were so many young people, and they were obviously loving having an audience to perform for. It was then time for us to help serve the nursery class their (very late)lunch - porridge, bread and an egg! 94 under 3's sitting on the floor in a not very big classroom, being given huge (in comparison to their little hands) mugs of porridge, seemed like a recipe for disaster, but even with boiled eggs and bread, not a drop was spilt, bless them. Most of them are suffering from malnutrition. This is a community in crisis. The nearest town is a 2-3 hour walk away, they go their to sell what they can (mainly mats and baskets made from grasses) to be able to buy food. Their own soil is overworked and infertile. There are very few livestock, they are too poor to own any. So no fertiliser available. From the nursery we were led back into the church for some more music and traditionsl dance. A few words of encouragement from us and a prayer, and it was time for photos outside before we took lunch with the pastor! Seemed like we'd only just received hospitality from this same table, which is now groaning under the weight of the food. We took our usual tiny portions! It was tasty.
Time now for us to go, its a
2.5 hour drive back. The first hour and a half on difficult tracks, and then after on a tarmac road, but even that was full of slow lorries. The driver really had his work cut out, it must have been a tough day for him. The Bishop of this diocese was waiting to greet us, along with other dioscesan staff members, along with our dear Bishop Jean-Pierre who had brought us here. It was a pleasant evening of food and discussion, but we still had blogs and reports to write so we said our goodnights and retired to our room.
Tomorrow is a new day!
Don't forget to check out the blog for more on today's adventures at https://www.christianhope.org.uk/rwanda-2026

12/06/2026

Another full day in Karongi lies ahead, our last full day this trip. We start with a fabulous breakfast of tasty potatoes, avocado, fruit, boiled eggs, and cake with fresh pineapple juice. Possibly our best breakfast so far this trip. After breakfast we wandered up the hill, past the school and on up to the cathedral. The cathedral ticks all the necessary boxes to be opened, but they are still waiting for permission from the government. It sometimes seems like it is more who you know than what you know!
We were joining a women's prayer circle to discuss Proverbs 31: 10-30. The women were fixated on not having enough 'capital' to be the perfect wife, not being rich enough. Lots of talk about being the best we can be followed, though being poor is definitely what colours their world. These are also the women whose families have been chosen to receive pigs, some already have them. Vincentie and a lady vet stood and talked about the importance of keeping the pig healthy. Some other ladies will be visited this week, to see if the pig sties they have built are adequate. They are all very excited to be getting a pig at some point as they can see how it can help improve their lives. At the end of the prayer session Carmen gave each of the ladies a tennis ball - they were as excited as the children are when they recive tennis balls. We wonder if the children ever got the tennis balls!
We walked back to the Guest House where the Bishop was waiting to take us to a school nearby. The church owns the land and buildings but the government supports the teachers and other requirements. We turned off the main road onto a steep, rocky road, which did not improve at any point. Although the rocks gave way to a very bumpy track, the road just kept going. The dust was awful at times as the wheels spun in the ruts. Eventually we reached the top and found the primary school - last building on the road, surrounded by 3 fairly sheer drops! Work was being carried out to strengthen one side of the ridge as it had suffered some dangerous rock falls.
The school had seen better days but was solid if a little worn! We met the accountant, who was acting head of the school. She gave us lots of facts and figures which made for interesting discussions later in the day. We asked her for her biggest challenge and she said besides needing a new printer, it would have to be more space for the nursery class. They have 94 in the nursery class - all in one room, with 3 teachers! They have plenty of land to build on, but as always funds are tight. We left with many thoughts running around in our heads. Lunch at the Romantic hotel - this time we called ahead with our order so it might not take so long!
After lunch we moved to the government aided school between the Guest House and Cathedral. We greet these children every day, I watch them going to school from 6am, they are a very visible part of life here, and very polite if a little curious! This school covers nursery to Senior 3 at present, but have secured government approval to add Senior 4. 5, and 6 from next September. As we arrived we were swamped by the younger children, some had covered thdir faces in mud, no idea what it was about, but it made us all laugh. There was a lot of cheering and shouting coming from their playing field - a teachers vs students volleyball match, we watched for a while, younger children jostling to surreptitiously touch our white skin and our long hair, then went into the school which was fairly deserted due to all the action outside!
We were given a tour, which included showing us the barbers shop, where for 10p the children could get their hair cut, although he said it would be £1.50 to shave mine off. In this heat it is almost tempting! Short hair is compulsory in schools for hygiene reasons. The Barber initiative is a grand way for a couple of the older children to earn some money whilst being a service to the school.
Another very interesting chat with the leadership team who, although young, were very committed to the longterm welfare and education of the children. It seemed to be a very caring and nurturing school.
We wandered back to the Guest House, where Carmen talked to Delphine about how to present the finances in a clear and simple way, Delphine seems to have grasped the concept easily - always reassuring!
Back to our rooms. I felt really tired so took a nap, while Carmen soldiered on with the website blog on the balcony, watching the sunset over Lake Kivu!
We took a small supper of banana and cake, accompanied by some uninvited grasshopper guests who kept us on edge. Eager to escape we felt it was time to head to our rooms, for our last night here.
Cyangugu here we come!

11/06/2026

We slept well in our lovely rooms. Bishop really has given the decor a lot of thought, its pretty and practical. He doesn't have twin rooms so we have a room each!
Breakfast was lovely, omelette, pancakes, and fruit, washed down with fresh mango juice.
We drove out to meet recipients of the Bishop's piggery project funded by CHI. Having turned off the main road, we were confronted with some really, really bad surface, Hilary and the Bishop went ahead to check it out - the Bishop is a cautious driver and rightly so on these tracks, but they decided it was doable, so onwards and upwards we went, with a few hairy moments, until we turned a corner and arrived in the loveliest, wide, grassy lane, with small houses on either side. We parked here, and were greeted by lots of local children, curious about the muzungu, one small child saw us, her eyes grew wide and then she hid herself in a corner, refusing to look. Poor little thing.
It was a 20 minute uphill trek from there to the first home, bit slippy and steep in places, but the Bishop and his staff kept us upright and moving!
Our first stop was at the home of Venuste and Marie-José,
he seemed very 'closed', though he had introduced his wife to me as "my baby', obviously a term of endearment. In a society where public displays of affection are not a thing, he definitely seemed very content with her. He proudly showed us his pig in its well shaded shelter, obviously very well looked after. He had been orphaned at the age of 7 and left to bring up his baby brother alone, no help, no advice, just survival. He has done well all things considered, bought his own land and built his own house, and is successfully raising his own children. He gets casual work when he can. A proud man whose eyes show the signs of past sufferings.
More mad moving to another pig recipient - Daniel, cheerful smiley and absolutely incredulous that he had been chosen to receive a pig, thanking God incessantly that he should be so blessed. He has 4 children and works as a farmer. His wife is presently taking classes to learn to sew. His pig was also well cared for. He talked about how he and his family work together to gather food for the pig.
You can see he feels positive about the future for him and his family.
Inspired by the pig visits, the Bishop took us to see the Diocesan piggery project supported by CHI which is where Venuste and Daniel's pigs have come from. The Bishop absolutely loves the pigs and has trained tbe staff on how to look after them properly. The pigs are clean, as are the styes. He has 3 very pregnant sows and a couple more a little less pregnant, then two more who have recently been inseminated. He has plenty of pens and has a stye rotation plan in place to ensure he has space for all. He also has more piglets almost ready for 'donation'. He hopes to have given 300 familes female piglets over the next 3 years. Male piglets are mainly sold to cover food and care costs, making this an incredible self sustaining community project.
We stopped for lunch but as the restaurant had an event on and told us it would be at least
a 90 minute wait for food, we gave it a miss. The Bishop had already ordered his drink, so we ordered a juice each - I think they went to pick the pineapples we were still there at least an hour! Don't come to Africa and expect anyone to rush!
We came back to the guest house to do some work, had a coffee and the power went out, which meant we couldn't access the internet for work emails, blog etc! We did what we could offline and then went in search of our next adventure! More scrabbling along the narrow, rocky, sandy, grassy paths which go up, down and across the hills. Not too far this time and all on foot from the guest house. Our first call was to Maria, her child had been one of many children who had been chosen to receive a CHI chicken, not to be confused with a KFC chicken. She lived in a rented house with no garden or space to grow food, so the chicken was a huge bonus, giving her both eggs and chicks, which in turn give her food and money. She was so, so thankful for her chicken. It wanders during the days, but comes back to roost IN her house each night!
Our next stop was a little way away, a wander along the 'High Street' of the local village, gathering stares and handshakes along the way. Then a good hike up the hillside to the home of Venuste and his wife Saphine. His house was on the edge of the hillside, 3 feet of space outside his front door and then a steep drop - I think I'd move my front door to the side - although the views were amazing. He was a lovely man, very complimentary about his wife who had given birth to the lucky child who had been given the chicken. He was so happy to have a chicken! Then he said it had not laid an egg yet! Lots of jokes about it maybe becoming brochettes after all, but he said he would never kill it as it was a gift from God. His dear old Mum was there, and she said, men marry women and find out later they can't have children, but they don't kill them because of it. Loose analogy but I guess it made sense. Such a lovely family. He had even bought special food for the chicken to help her lay, she was a friendly chook and happily ate from my hand and came for a cuddle. She felt fine and soft underneath, so no obvious problem, maybe just younger than they thought. In any case Vincentie from the diocese will check in a couple weeks and give them another chicken if no eggs have been laid!
Back at the guest house and the electric was still off, it was lighter outside so we sat on the balcony, as dusk approached, lights came on on the hillsides, at first we assumed solar power, a big building was still lit, so we assumed it maybe had generators, but as it got darker, more lights appeared. We sat on the balcony listening to the bleating goats, watching the lights twinkle across the hillside and suddenly thought maybe just a fuse had blown - its a brand new place after all, and we are testing it out! We approached the Bishop with our theory and asked where the distribution box was, he was dismissive of two old muzungu knowing about fuses at first, but in the end he got the keys and we went round to where it was. Sure enough some fuses were down, he didn't want me to touch them, I guess an old, dead muzungu is even more of a problem than a live one! Luckily a younger man appeared - no idea why he was passing the back of the building! The Bishop had more faith in him, or was less worried about him, I'm not sure which, but in any case he flicked the switches and light was restored - hallelujah!
Dinner by torch light avoided, we tucked into a tasty spaghetti bolognese (very unusual cuisine for Rwanda!) and then headed to our rooms to finish our work. Luckily I have data on my phone to post this, but the house internet seems to be playing up so Carmen is struggling to post a blog on the website - grrr! Before you mention it, hotspotting is not an option as last time we tried that, she took about 3gb of my data in less than 5 minutes as the onedrive started doing its thing - ouch!