Day Two (Monday) started with us taking a tour of the pharmacy and the medical clinic that was on the Solace grounds. They are in the process of builing/fixing up a new clinic that would be in the city and have a deadline of August to have it up and running. For the clinic, they are needing doctors and especially specialists to donate their time and services to provide surgery options to the local widows and orphans who cannot afford it.

Then, we traveled to one of the sponsored villages, Mugina. We joined a group of widows/survivors from the genocide in a worship session and meeting. They met at one of the churches that people were led to believe was a safe haven, but became a slaughthouse for many. Before leaving, we were taken into a mass grave. I couldn't bring myself to take any pictures, but as we walked down the room, there were caskets stacked up the walls on both sides of me and we were told that each casket could hold up to 10 sets of people's bones.

On our way back to Kigali, we stopped to see the field that Solace is preparing to hand over to the widows in a few years so that they have their own source of income. Solace is leasing the property for 6 years from someone else, then will hand it over to the widows.

Throughout the day, as we were driving, we got to realize the true poverty that this country lives in, but the orphan-headed household was very sobering for me. The picture that I have chosen for this entry is actually from the house we visited. The goverment will come in and build them a house, but that is all the suport they get. This picture is one of the two bedrooms in this house of 5 boys/men. What struck me was that on the table, there are a few other things off to the side, but also just a Bible and a toothbrush. Each boy has maybe 2-3 changes of clothing. The head of that household is 25 years old (10 years old at time of genocide and choosing to take in 4 other boys, one is now 22 and another is 20!!!). He does have a job but is barely able to support "his family". They all lost their parents in the genocide. His dream is to be able to go to university, but wants to also make sure that the rest of the family is taken care of.

We also met another orphan, John, and his two sisters, who share a house in the same area. John is currently in university. I didn't get to speak to him much, so I am not sure what he has decided to study.