Thank God It's Friday...

Phew, after a week filled with Uni work, late nights and not so nice realisations, the weekend is finally here!
And it's going to be a good one, it's time to go away with 4 of my favourites to a house on the beach... exactly what the doctor ordered!

It's time to leave the make-up, work and annoyance behind and head for a weekend of smiles, surfing and maybe a cheeky game of monopoly...

Catch you on the other side!

Megan 

xx

How was Kenya?

... Rwanda was great, thanks for asking!

So I know this blog is a bit late, but I've been really lazy busy settling back in! I learnt a lot this trip and wanted to collect my thoughts before I shared!

The hour by hour countdown started as soon as I booked my flight, and with days to go the real excitement and panic began to set in... I've never traveled this far alone before, what if my suitcases don't arrive, who's meeting me at the airport, and most importantly, WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PRESENTS!?

I finally touched down in Kigali, and was met by one of the most loving people I've been lucky enough to meet, Patrick! As soon as I saw him all my irrational fears worries were gone and it finally hit me, I was back!
Unfortunately my flight landed later than expected so I got the pleasure of staying in a lovely Rwandan hotel before my long and winding drive to the Orphanage in the morning. Needless to say I was gutted I'd have to wait another 12 hours before seeing all the kiddos, but it gave me time to gather my thoughts, have a baby wipe wash and a refreshing 4 hour sleep!

The wait made it all that sweeter when I was greeted by hundreds of smiling faces, hugs and high 5's- I was on cloud 9!

I spent the first day laughing with and loving onto the kids and catching up with old faces, and one special face in particular...

(Tara is so inspiring, funny and clever! The love she has for the kids is AMAZING and I honestly don't know what I'd of done without her...)

The kiddos absolutely LOVE balloons, and a wonderful friend, Sheila Peterman Luke, donated a whole bunch of them! The smiles were contagious and they played for hours!

You may recognise this sweet face from a previous blog!

I spent the rest of my day watching some magical drumming practice...

And taking a cheeky peak at the nearly finished sports ground...

A large portion of the next few days were spent rushing around sorting out the last minute preperations for the eagerly awaited Christmas Day! 

In between my trips into Gisenyi to buy more presents, we held arts and crafts sessions in the library making and decorating paper snow flakes! 

The kids put a lot of effort into cleaning the Orphanage for the Ministers visit...

There is a lot behind this story, and if you take a cheeky peak here you'll get a good idea about whats going on.

A lot has changed in the 6 months I've been away, and its hard to know where to begin explaining.So much amazing work has been completed by The Point Foundation as well as another handful of charities, the kids have all grown so much and have finished school for their loooooooooong Christmas Break! 

Among all this a ton of other stuff has happened and continued to whilst I was there...

• The wonderful new sports ground was finished and the kids spent hours playing Basketball and having SUCH fun on it! 
• Heaps of new bunk beds have been made so the children all have somewhere to sleep!
• 6 of the older boys have started internships at Pfunda Tea Company and absolutely love it... so much so I don't think a day went passed when one of them didn't make an appearance in their dashing red overalls! New shoes have been brought for all the apprentices so they can work in a safer environment too!
• The library has been filled with exciting new bits and pieces which made teaching and playing SO much funner!
• And did I mention how much the kids have grown?!

This blog is nowhere near as good, or as detailed as I wanted it to be... but it's already REALLY late, and I have SO much work on that I can't see when I'm going to be able to sit down and really finish it! Sorry!

Lots of Rwandan love,

Megan 

xx

Just Sayin'...

The weather in England is SHOCKING!
I know a lot of people are blabbing on about it, but seriously?!
We have freezing temperatures and horrid wind... and still.no.snow.
Either snow, or heat up; make your bladdy mind up Weather man!

And on the topic of snow, what's the big deal?
A white Christmas would've been nice... but in February?! Get a grip.
Snow soon turns to ice, which ends in injuries and the whole of England grinding to a very slow and unnecessary halt.
Plus, I wouldn't really call it snow, in England it's normally a pathetic dusting that only settles for a day or so, its NOTHING SPECIAL.

I know 'people' say this global warming stuff is bad... but no snow, no ice and a warmer winter sounds perfect to me! So cummon', turn your hairdryers up, leave the lights on and buy vegetables cradled in endless wrapping; in the short term it might cost you more... but a few years down the line when you're in shorts and t-shirts in February it'll all be worth it!

Heat up England, you know you wanna!
Over and out,

Megan 
x

p.s, look how sweet the little man looks!

Let the homesickness commence...

This week has been looooooooooooooooooooooong. So.Frickin.Long

So, I had an AMAZING weekend with my papa! It was so good to see him and we had such fun... However, it was not fun to say goodbye :-(

I can't find ANY photos with Phil in as well :(

And... I've spent most of my week missing these 4 TOO much!

Also, the lil' ginger ninja at the back has broken his arm
:(

And... I could really do with a dose of these beauties!

And... I'm not sure if I have mentioned how much I miss him before?

This week , I am horrendously home sick... 

And would do some very questionable things to be at home for a couple of days!

Over and out,

Megan 

xx

p.s, just for a little laugh, check out my wonderfully creative army outfit! Paha!

A special Moan...

I haven't moaned much recently, but I think that's because life is frickin' good at the moment and I know I have a fantastic year, with fantastic people in some fantastic places in front of me..

But, here's a little catch up of the past couple of weeks!

Don't be deceived by the smiles, it was COLD.

I went fishing on Sunday, which was so much fun (I'm a natural, and have now found my calling in life!).. and not only did I catch 4 fish (which are all in my freezer, and I have a feeling that's where they'll stay till I move out!), I also caught a horrid cold and spent the next 3 days trying to warm up... :-(

Again, the smiles are deceiving...

Also, who knew gutting a fish could be SO disgusting! Blood, guts and fish heads were EVERYWHERE! All that work gutting them, and for what.. the tinniest bit of meat. I'm leaving it for the fishmongers next time. yuck.

We won, 20-5

I played rugby on Wednesday and we won... All great news but I feel like I've been hit by a high speed bus, and even the most basic movements hurt wahhh.

I waited nearly 10 minutes for the moron  lovely coffee lady to make me a nice cappuccino; It was cold outside and I was excited for a little taste of heaven... How wrong I was! I can only presume she spent more time decorating the stupid coffee than making it. I may as well have drunk nail polish remover.

I got my tattoo on Saturday, and I am over the moon with it :) What I'm not happy about is how flipping itchy it is ALL the time!

One last little thing, I don't know if I mentioned that I miss this fella so darn much! 

And not just him, I miss Rwanda, I miss Noel, I miss all the kids and I miss Tara...

Take me back now please!

I'll moan to you later !

Megan 

xx

Until Today...

Until today, I was blissfully ignorant to the recession.. I always heard people talking about it, but never really realised what all the fuss was... After all, it hasn't affected me.
I always imagined that when the recession 'hit' it would all come at once... I'd leave my house one morning to find ALL the banks closed down, shops closing, everything in grayscale... and the world would literally combust and end.

And how wrong was I...Comfortable in my own little world I was unaware of the people the recession had really hit in England...

Until Today, I was unaware that irreplacable charities in England were suffering
Until Today, I was unaware that charities close to home who have helped SO many people I know were struggling to keep open.
And Until Today, I was unaware that Home Start Arun, a fantastic Family Support Charity which supports families in the Arun community overcome tough obstacles, were lacking funding...

And today, they announced...

'It's a sad week for Home-Start Arun this week. Due to lack of funding the Management Board has had to take the decision to close both the Family Groups from March....Telling the families this week has been hard, but we intend to keep fighting for funding...miracles do happen after all.'

The recession is happening all around us, and we're only going to realise the damage caused when it's too late... If everyone out there who has the means and can afford it, donated even the littlest bits of money to deserving Charities such as Home-Start Arun it would make a BIG difference... Give these lovely people a call on 01903 899707 or an email , admin@home-startarun.org.uk... you know you want to!

Dig deep and donate...

Happy Donating!

Megan 

x

Buduki

Today I have missed him more than most days.
It breaks my heart being so far away from him, Noel and Rwanda...
I thought I'd share his smiling face with you, as I know you'll love him too!

Today, all the kiddos had a performance from a local singer/dancer Stamina... 

Buduki is a fashion guru, and today he is sporting a particularly stunning number!

(On the right, Patrick is showing off his smooooth moves!)

Making Snowflakes in the library during my Christmas visit! 

He has an amazing artistic streak...

Buduki becomes my personal hair stylist...

Dressed up all smart after church on Christmas Day!

Opening his Christmas Present...

Sssh don't tell anyone... he had a little treat on his birthday...

During the summer..

My FAVOURITE photo.

Butter would melt...

Dress up time!

He's such a poser... not that I mind!

The first time I met this gorgeous chap! I cannot believe how much he has grown!

The love I have for this boy is indescrible and never-ending.

God, I miss him.

That's all for now...

Megan 

x

P.S I know it's been a while, but I'm nearly there with the Christmas blog... Just trying to find the words to pay justice to such an incredible place and experience!