An Attitude of Gratitude

Saturday evening was full of beautifully touching moments. My dear friend Japan had invited me to visit his home. Japan is one of my Muslim friends who works on the site. He is 48 with two wives and 20 children! (Japan is a nickname given to him by his friends, as he works as hard as the Japanese.) Every day, he rides his bike 20 km to get to and from work (40 km in all). He is gentle, kind, and smart – really a favorite person of mine.

Since Japan lives so far away, the builders were worried that I would get lost finding his village. The assistant foreman for the site – Julius – offered to take me on his motorcycle. Julius is equally nice; he is 32 (?) with two children and one wife. He is very well educated and has been immensely helpful in explaining things and translating for me.

So, Saturday Julius was planning on arriving at 2pm. But, this is Africa, and things are never easy. On his way to pick me up, his chain broke and he spent three hours fixing it. Finally at 5pm, he picked me up, and we were off. After a half an hour ride down many dirt roads, we made it to Japan’s two homes (one for each wife). Clearly, Mzungus rarely, if ever, make it out this far in the boonies, so I was quite the center of attention. Immediately after arriving, we were surrounded by, no joke, 50 children. As it turned out, ALL of the children were Japan’s and his brother’s. CRAZY. One of the eldest boys went to get Japan (he was working in the fields). I took pictures on the digital (also quite a hit) while waiting. No one spoke English (except Julius)… Soon, Japan arrived and was SO PLEASED that we had made it. He had told his entire family that a Mzungu friend was coming to visit, and he thought I was not going to show, given the lateness of the day. He was so happy to introduce me to his family and neighbors, show me his home, and have his picture taken. It is the small things that count here in such a big way.

Right before we had to leave (only having been there for 1.5 hours – it was getting dark and motorcycles at night at just not a great idea), Japan’s son came running in with two warm cokes and two chapattis. He had run to the nearest trading center to get us the food and drink. Japan knew that I really could not eat the food that was made at his house, so he spent two days of his salary getting me something that he knew I liked and could eat. Julius and I quickly downed the cokes and had to leave… Just so sweet. Unbelievable.

Getting back to Eden Rock, I sat down to dinner (my friends who work at Eden Rock had my dinner waiting for me!) and chatted with Nelson, Brian, and Fred. These guys are all employees who have really helped me out (especially when I had Malaria). I was telling them about Rwanda and that I was leaving tomorrow. They were all quite sad, as they were excited that I was to spend my birthday with them (which I did not know until that point). As it turned out, each had gotten me a birthday PRESENT. Nelson and Fred are going to give me my gifts when I get home, but Brian got me an artificial red flower in a pink plastic vase with fiber optics coming out. He was so proud of the gift – he had made a special trip to town to get it for me. How lucky am I to have such a caring group of friends, eh?

I went to bed immensely satisfied and warm all over. So much gracious giving, all in one day.