We cleared out of Nyabiheke Refugee Camp yesterday – having done a lot of doable! But we had one more exciting change to make before we returned to the airport with all our friends from the U.S.
Often people who live in the refugee camps in Rwanda don’t make their way out of the camps. They may spend a little time in nearby villages or towns, but for the most part they are living, learning, and working in the camps.
That’s definitely true for the refugee kids in Nyabiheke. But we know that meeting new people and experiencing new things gives kids – everyone for that matter – the opportunity to broaden their minds and their approach to the world.
So, since we were headed to Akagera National Park for a game drive on the way to the airport, we decided to bring a busload of kids from Nyabiheke along with us.
Boys and girls from all different grades piled into the bus in the morning – chosen for their performance in school. They ate breakfast and headed out on a 2-hour roadtrip to the park – many of them having more exposure to the country where they live on that drive than they’ve ever had.
It was their first fieldtrip, ever!
We hired the kids their own park ranger who toured them through Akagera, finding the best wildlife spots and answering all the kids’ questions.
While there was no physical change at the end of this Changemakers 365 project – you could see the change on the children’s faces as they listened and discovered the world around them. And you can only imagine the stories they told to their siblings and parents when they returned home to Nyabiheke that evening.
