blur

Needless to say, it's been a blur...

... but one of the most beautiful blurs.

Like the dance of winter sunlight on a bright, happy, yellow Penske truck.

Like the dizzy joy of finding an AMAZING Maryland bike trail...

...and the splash of new paint on walls built in 1938.

Like the happiness of pretending, playing, and finding out along the way...

... that even though Africa seems far away, we like it here in Maryland too.

All our love to you--the Baumans

PS: That's the State Capital building above, not quite our house :)

out of africa...

I remember writing this time a year and a half ago...trying to articulate the Land of a Thousand Hills to you-- a land of contrasts and contours, where....

...you feel like you have seen the deep darkness of evil yet, inside of only a day, also the very face of God.

...you hold a little one against your heart and know that the odds are against her to even reach the age of five, yet entrust her to the One who knit her together.

... you see the utter freedom and joy of your own little ones as they run and play and sing with Rwandan playmates.

... you feel the quiet majesty of being less than five feet away from a Silverback Gorilla in it's natural habitat.

Tomorrow our precious Rwandese friends will have a celebration for us, to thank us for "living among them". They will roast a goat in our honor, dance and sing and beat the celebration drums. We, the Bauman Tribe, are struggling to find a way to tell these ones what they have become to us... trusted friends, co-workers, mentors... and just how precious each of their lives and stories of suffering have become to us.. How to tell them the deep and lasting hope we have gained by living with them, by loving them. They will give each of us a Rwandese name, and at that moment we will be part of them. I think that tomorrow we will eat and dance and beat the drums with our hearts.. Maybe they will see that the day our plane takes off, we will never be the same...ever. But our plane carries us back to you all... the ones who have joined us, prayed for us, helped us. Our Rwandese names belong to you too.

caleb kiss...

Now, I am sure that getting a kiss from a face that looks like this is HIGH on your "life is now complete" list!! Caleb cannot resist baby Victoria, our Deputy Country Director's daughter (Jean Paul). Victoria is one of those perfect, beautiful Rwandan babies that steal our hearts here. She wakes to the sounds of cows lowing and chickens crowing on her daddies farm. She snuggles with her mommy and aunties and eats a high protein mixture of cereal that mostly makes it into her mouth! Victoria has a wonderful life and reminds us often of how good life can be for a baby here if we keep working hard towards increasing our child survival and child development programs. For many children here in Rwanda, just surviving to age five is the greatest trial they will endure. Victoria is so very, very blessed for this is not her case. Caleb and Victoria are special friends as children of our incredibly creative, infinitely compassionate God!!

It is this same compassionate God that has been talking to the Bauman Tribe about making an unexpected change--yet again--in our lives. World Relief has asked Stephan to become the Vice President of Programs. Wow... sounds pretty big! So if I was to take a snap shot of what that looked like, maybe the images would look something like this:

-Visiting our programs in Sudan, canoeing down the Nile with our Sudanese and Dutch nurses as they contemplate the huge task before them in a war torn country;
-Encouraging our Cambodia, Indonesia and China staff as they work through the many trials that accompany multiple disasters and difficult political systems, and;
-Strategizing with our Rwanda team as they consider the next phase of deepening our healing impact throughout the country.

So, with this little snapshot book, we announce to you our dearest friends that we will be relocating to Baltimore, MD (and the World Relief Head Quarters) in January 2007. We will be staying RIGHT HERE in our hearts and minds, as this promotion only affords the Bauman Tribe a BIGGER world to be a part of (Africa, India, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and right at home with our refugee relocation throughout America). We will not be leaving Rwanda until the new year, so please keep remembering us as we make this transition to another new culture... our own!

it's gonna pop...

It's amazing what can happen in a couple of weeks! Let's see... we have been doing lots of work and school, had wonderful visits from old friends and some new ones, too, a "mystery illness" that landed me (Belinda) in the hospital hooked up to an IV for a day, and four days flat on my back (I am fine now!!). All to say, we are still here in Rwanda...growing and learning and giving no matter what the day brings.

While Stephan was out on a recent field visit, one of our HIV/AIDS associations bestowed upon our family a huge gift... a live chicken! This is a gift of great sacrifice by those from the village. We were honored. The chicken quickly made itself at home by letting Caleb feed him huge African slugs and by taking walks through our kitchen (Caleb LOVED chasing him out of the house). Joshua and Caleb asked, " Do African chickens sound the same as American chickens?" My knowledgeable answer is YES... and just as loud!

Joshua and Caleb asked if we could give "Lee Lee," our chicken, to a family or village so they could eat the eggs and "get healthy." One of our staff members, Jean Baptist was going to be making the long journey home to visit his family village near the Burundi border. Now a young man, Jean Baptist was only 12 when the genocide happened but he remembers his father taking his family by cover of night to the forest where they hid for 3 months. He grows very quiet as he tells me, " You know, I do not remember ever sleeping at that time..." When they came out of the forest, his father was attacked and they slit the tendons at his ankles. From that day on, Jean Baptist became the one to work for the family. He has put himself and two siblings through school and supported both his father and mother. Today, Jean Baptist, took "Lee Lee" to his village to feed his family eggs.

Joshua summed it up well when he said, "My heart feels so happy right now it's gonna pop..."

natalia

I want to introduce you to Natalia, a precious part of our days here in Rwanda. Natalia plays with Joshua and Caleb on Tuesdays after school. Drawing is their favorite thing to do together. Natalia teaches them to draw poisson (fish) and her favorite bird is the “umosambi”. The boys teach her to draw “Thomas the Tank Engine” and 747 jumbo airplanes. Call it a cross cultural experience of the highest level (smile).

Natalia is a Rwandese orphan. Her father was killed in the genocide, her mother from AIDS. She and her sister live as an “orphan-headed household” on less than a dollar a day. To be honest, I have to remind myself all she has been through. Her little spirit is so resilient, her face so bright. She loves what every 12 year old girl loves—her girlfriends, sweet smelling soap, nice clothes and shoes. But above all Natalia loves to be hugged. When we were first getting to know each other, she was a bit shy, but now when she comes through our gate she practically crashes into my chest and throws her face into my neck saying “Mommy!!” We will stand there hugging for about a minute and then I will get the full report of the week in her language with bits of English and LOTS of hand signs!

fireworks and 24,025 kids

Happy New Year to you and your families! Here in Rwanda it is the “biggest” night of the whole year. They are celebrating with all night church gatherings, feasts, and fireworks from the local soccer stadium. It will be a quiet night at the Bauman’s, however, reflecting how truly wild and wonderful 2005 has been for us…

I just love this picture… it is one of our Umuyco “Mothers of Light” showing Kevin, the Mission Director for USAID (United States Agency for International Development), and Jean Paul, World Relief Programs Director, the growth chart for her child in the nutrition program. (Naturally, Stephan is behind the camera J). These women are my HEROES! Through the program, they are empowered to be change agents in their families and community for child health. With grace and humility, these ladies gave examples of this community-based program that has doubled the number of children receiving vaccinations, just about eliminated malaria, and reduced by 50% the number of malnourished children—all for 24,025 kids! Even the US Government is impressed with these stats!

We are so grateful for our calling here in Rwanda. May the poverty, pain, and suffering of Africa see the beginning of its end this year in 2006…

nohelli nziza

Merry Christmas from the heart of Africa...from our family to yours.

bubble boy....

Isn't this picture of Caleb and all his new friends great? If you look close you will notice Caleb is still in his PJ's, covered with homemade pancake syrup, playing with all his heart with the neighborhood boys. Some had seen bubbles before; some had not. For those who hadn't, serious squeals of glee and wonder emanated from our abode. Caleb LOVED being the "bubble master"--introducing his new buddies to some Saturday FUN!

Lady First...

I just LOVE this picture--the beautiful contrast of HOPE shining through! Jenna and the First Lady are holding beautiful little Rwandese orphans who are being helped through our World Relief programs. They are watching a traditional dance being performed by some very talented school children.

The distinguished gentleman at Mrs. Bush's side is Jean Paul. He is the Director of Programs for World Relief Rwanda, and Stephan's closest assistant and friend. Jean Paul led the First Lady through the World Relief sites, and faithfully translated the incredible stories told to her. We were SOOOO proud of the World Relief staff that day! Please pray for them and for Jean Paul. They are our heart here in Rwanda...

... and you are our heart in the world!

Mothers of Light

Last week we made it to Rwanda's "bush". After a extremely dusty, bumpy five hour ride through the Nuenge Forest (where poor Caleb got car sick while an entire village watched. but begin to feel quickly better when we saw a family of Baboons sitting by the side of the road), we arrived in Cyangugu. Surrounded by mountains and the beautiful Lake Kivu, we found the Umucyo program of World Relief in full swing. Umucyo, meaning "light," is a maternal and child health program which directly benefits the health of more than 22,000 children under age 5 and 31,000 women of child-bearing age. The ladies we met love their children very much. They are helped from the "Mother's of Light" group in preventative health interventions at the household level, including nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, immunizations, newborn care, and malaria and pneumonia interventions. In the picture below is an incredible group of moms who just finished a specialized cooking class providing nitrous meals using affordable, local resources. As we watched these moms carefully spoon fish stew into huge bowls, the eyes of these little ones grew bigger. Holding up their spoons, they thanked God for providing compassion to them through this good food. When they reached their "Amen," I couldn't hold back the tears. The dream of seeing the "everyday" needs of moms and children being met by each other was right in front of me.

Eva

WHAT A WEEK!!!! Our time with America's First Lady and Jenna was incredible. Laura is SO petite, with big blue eyes and a smile "as big as Texas". Rwanda deeply affected her as evidenced by the tears in her eyes after visiting Tatu, a 13 year old AIDS and genocide orphan now caring for all her siblings with support from World Relief and the local church.

Here you can get a feel for how beautiful the children are here. Baby Eva and I got acquainted with each other while we waited to Mrs. Bush to arrive. Her mother was there with Eva to show the First Lady a display of her knitting and sewing. Eva and I enjoyed our time together a great deal!!

aim for the sky

Stephan and I have a dear African friend who once told us, "Aim for the sky... and if you land in a tree, that is still very high up". The incredible wisdom of that proverb has struck us this week as Stephan visited our "Essential Oils" program. It could only be God's plan to help the poor through growing geraniums, extracting their oil, and processing for export to markets in South Africa and Europe. Essential oils are used in fragrances and cosmetics. World Relief certainly aimed high on this one, and the tree limb they landed on was a good one.

Here you see a geranium nursery. These geraniums will be replanted and managed by associations of farmers who raise them and then sell the leaves for distillation into oil. With geraniums, farmers here can earn ten times the price of tea. We are launching a company called "Ikirezi", meaning "precious", or "pearl", in the local language, to facilitate the production, processing, marketing, and exporting of the oils. We just received a generous government grant to continue our work here in geraniums.... Hooray for aiming HIGH!!