Written by Dan Bedard
Our preparation for our next adventure was about to begin, but before we could go to Kibeho Fr. Dominic needed to get a few things done. Kibeho was in our eye sight. Kibeho was the site that the Blessed Mother appeared to 3 teenagers in the 80’s also this was one of the site of the Rwandan genocide where almost one million people died. The day began in the normal morning routine. Greeting Fr. Dominic’s family and having breakfast discussing the day’s event before our departure. We first went to the school, the alumni students were now all leaving. I went to the gardens with Alex and Louis. We spent time to do some weeding and prepping more grounds for some planting. Peace asked us to plant some items in her personal school nursery garden. We planted together beets and onions of her personal favorites. It was a nice warm day and the clouds were gathering and at 1 pm we had a heavy downpour the first since my arrival in Rubanda. At this time Fr. Dominic needed to go to Kabale to get his vehicle repaired before we left for Kibeho. It was just amazing to drive up and have a full-service repair minutes after asking. No appointments necessary. Agnes, a headmistress who had come with us was dropped off home and there I met the first home native. Alex was staying at her home helping the family in organizing a web-site in tourism. With the car fixed we went home to prepare for our trip to Kibeho.
I slept very light. I was so excited to be going to another country and not necessarily Kibeho. In my heart I did not understand the true meaning and importance of this journey. We ate breakfast, packed our bags and left at 8 am. We went first to pick up Rosette, Fr. Dominic’s niece. Rogers was supposed to come with us but his late arrival from Kabale changed his plans. This turned out to be what it was meant to be for Rosette. Rosette was not prepared for the trip making us go and pick up Sr. Stella first as she prepared herself. We met Sr. Stella at their community where we stayed and chatted, and I could see the excitement they had for our trip. Picking up Rosette we left for the border. Rwanda was just 1 hour away. Approaching the border,
I could sense a change; that life was about to be different. We went from a tar road to dirt and the semi trucks were backed up for about 1 mile waiting to go through customs. Fr. Dominic needed to stay with the car and we had to go through the immigration office. I had trouble with the fingerprint machine and Fr. Dominic had missing paperwork. Sr. Stella came to the rescue. She had a nephew working at the border who assisted Fr. Dominic through the process. We then went through the Rwanda customs where I almost lost my phone by taking pictures in a restricted zone area. To my defense there was no sign. We were now on the way and what a different country. No animals grazing along the road, no one walking without shoes and NO SPEED BUMPS. Sr. Stella was such a fantastic guide, she knew the answer to every question we had and had many friends in the country.
The agriculture was vastly different. All the land was under control of the government. Every district had a different crop, and everyone worked for the government. The first district was all tea – at least 10 miles of it, then sugarcane, followed by corn and rice etc. In this valley was a small river which eventually had 30-foot bamboo growing on it’s edge for many miles.
Passing through the capital of Kigali, we were behind schedule and did not stop where Pope John Paul II had kissed the ground on his pilgrimage to Rwanda in 1995. Travelling about 20 miles on a dirt road we finally arrived in Kibeho near night fall.
Sr. Stella knew the parish priest and we went to great him. He came out to greet us but said he was with someone and could not speak to us and that he would greet us in the morning. As we were leaving he came right back out and invited us in, saying that Natalie would greet us. Because we did not know who she was, Father introduced us to her. With a warm welcome we sat down. As Father started talking we realized that Natalie who was sitting just inches from me was one of the three women who had the apparition from the Blessed Mother Mary. I was nearly frozen at that point in awe of the reality of what was happening. Racing in my mind was how we – Fr. Dominic, Sr. Stella, Rosette and me who lives thousands of miles away – could be so blessed to have this rare chance to talk to Natalie. God truly guided our path.
Father, through interpretation from Natalie, told her story of how it all happened with the Blessed Mother. We were then given the opportunity to asked Natalie 2 questions each. Fr. Dominic went first followed by Sr. Stella, Rosette then me. I will only share my questions. I told Natalie my inability in saying the Rosary. Natalie answered me by saying the Blessed Mother told me to say to you “don’t try but instead talk to me. In doing so I will guide you in saying the Rosary and if you struggle let me say it for you but continue to be with me and say all the prayers that you can till your done”. With this said, that same night I asked the Blessed Mother to help me and for the first time in my life I said the Rosary with the help of the Blessed Mother to keep me awake to the end.
My second question was what the true message of Kibeho was that the Blessed Mother told her. Natalie answered the same way. The whole world must repent and convert but specifically we as individuals must repent. Don’t look to others but we as individuals must carry out our own cross and ask the Lord for forgiveness of our own sins and in doing so we will be the light for others to see and this is how conversions of others happen, by our actions. If we all do this in the whole world then the true message will be heard and seen, the repentance and conversion of the whole world, one person at a time as asked by the Blessed Mother will happen.
With the Blessed Mother in our hearts, we went to Mass in Kibeho shrine and the next morning we continued our journey. Our next stop was not what I expected. The horror of the genocide was revealed to me. The Kwibuka site of the mass killings was in front of us. 29,000 people died at this site and a mass tomb was constructed. We walked through the crypt and the church which was grenade, bombed and burnt to the ground with all inside. We went through the sacristy which was left just as they had found it. We all left this site with a heavy heart.
As we continued our journey we were faced with the beauty of the countryside. There we stopped to regroup our thoughts. Just then the most amazing sight of a little boy on an all wooden bike went by us. Sr. Stella stopped the boy and we just marveled at the beautifully built all wooden bike.
Continuing our journey Sr. Stella asked us to stop at a parish. There we sat and enjoyed a light lunch and a beer as we got to share stories with the local priests. Our last stop in Rwanda was at the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy of our Lord. This is the site that Pope John Paul II came to pray to the Divine Mercy on his visit to Rwanda back in 1995. This is the only perpetual chapel with Eucharistic adoration in all of Rwanda. There was also a Grotto of our Mother Mary with the message of the Blessed Mother written in local Kinyarwanda, French and English.
At this point we were getting very tired so we made a mad dash back to the border and back home. Crossing the border in darkness the excitement that I first had entering the country was no longer there. As we were waiting for the car to go through again this is where I first felt the chilly air of Africa. We drove to Kabale to drop off Sr. Stella and Rosette who had a trip of a lifetime and departed for home. All were asleep except for Alex, Louise and Barbra. I did not feel my head hit the pillow, I was so tired.
This was the first and only time the rooster did not wake me up. I did not call home today because I was past the time frame. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 80 degrees. We ate at 8:30, enjoying eggs, warm milk, nuts and pineapples. I went into the garden with Alex, Louis, Barbra, aunts, nieces and nephews. We went to see how the garden was growing. We could see some crops peeking out of the ground. They were all amazed at the fact that uniformity of the garden but still hesitant about its outcome. Fr. Dominic had decided today to get all the staff at the school to go on a picnic to Lake Bonyonyi in Muko, Rubanda district. What a beautiful resort. I saw wooden canoes carved out of trees. They looked a little tippy but with their experience they maneuvered very easily. We had a nice meeting. All the staff administrators went through their list of items necessary for the new year. Fr. Dominic spoke about the commitment and dedication that all the teachers and staff needed for another successful school year.
We enjoyed a nice meal of roasted goat, rice and steamed bananas. Fr. Dominic walked the shores of the lake enjoying the beauty. It was here that I met a man from the Netherlands. He was here on an agricultural mission. We talked for at least ½ hour. His direction was using chemicals on the Irish potatoes and said he was struggling with this direction. This was my opportunity to educate on organic farming. He offered me to join his team. I of course declined telling him I had a better offer on the table.
We shortly left after a great day with all the administrators and staff. Arriving home, I spent time with all the nieces and nephews going through the phone and all my pictures while talking about America. After supper we had a nice social hour talking about the last couple days. Many family members joined us during this meal. Went to bed at 11 pm.
Waking up to my rooster this morning I slept very well. I finally was able to call Paula this morning 3 days had gone by since my last call. Knowing that the journey to Rwanda was hard, Paula was very happy when I called.
I went out and met all the family members and talked with them until breakfast was ready. After breakfast, Fr. Dominic spent time with his sisters and brothers. While waiting, I was playing kick ball in the front lawn with the nephews and nieces. I noticed a clothesline and I dropped it low enough and asked if anyone would like to play volleyball. It did not take long before we had a challenge going on team Uganda VS team USA. The home team was very dominant. Team USA made a valiant come from behind push but to no avail. We fell short 21 to 17. This was another truly bonding experience. Fr. Dominic had come out and did some filming of the match. We all celebrated with a hands-on football photo.
We than departed for the school. There, Sr. Brenda the Directress, Head teacher and Fr. Dominic brought me to the nursery garden. The soil looked very poor and sandy. We did not have a soil test kit on us, so we worked our magic together and made a garden plan. We first made a diagram of the garden. We decided that the site would be best suited for vine crops. Four hours later. Alex, Louis and I planted the 60’ x 60’ garden. pumpkins, butternuts, acorns, blue hubbards, carnival acorns, cucumbers, zucchini, beets and onions.
Sr. Brenda then came and broke up the fun for supper. We rejoined Fr. Dominic with the staff. and dined on chicken, Irish potatoes, rice, peanut sauce with eggplant, rice, boiled plantain, avocado and, of course my favorite, pineapples. We left for home afterwards.
Fr. Dominic and I set up the projector after supper to prepare ourselves for our TPIY presentation. We felt that the program would be very successful after last week’s verbal presentation. We asked Bonventre and his niece to watch with us, so we could get a reaction. 5 minutes into the video they were bored. We knew that we were in trouble. We sat around afterwards sharing stories with all for a couple of hours. Great evening again. Every day was a good day.
Next morning, we were up early. We were excited about the presentation and at the same time we knew we needed a lot of divine intervention to make this a success. We had a good breakfast and off we were, praying Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be like we always did on our morning road departures, this time with a special request on our TPIY presentation. We asked the Holy Spirit to come upon us we set up the projector which turned out to be a challenge. Fr. Dominic warmed up the group which was about 22 this time. With the projector finally working we took the same CD as the night before and to our surprise a totally different topic came up. This was the turning point it was so interesting to all. A headmaster of one of the schools became the interpreter. There was so much interest by all that it was hard to contain. After 2½ hours with plenty of questions and personal reflection it was time for Fr. Fidelis to say what he felt. Father told us that his bishop had just asked him 2 weeks ago if he could find a program geared towards family life. Fr. looked at both of us, thanked us for this presentation for this was exactly what he was looking for in his parish: a program based on the family. They all voted to have this program as part of their parish activity. None of this would have happened if it would not have been of the dedication and hard work of the two men who started this back home in Saco, Maine five years ago. David Dube and Ken Greenleaf. Fr. Dominic and I thank you both for your dedication.
Fr. Dominic and I then went to visit the Sr. Brenda’s Convent where we meet all her colleagues in the community. The convent has over 30 acres of land. Much of it was being farmed. What a great tour. We ate fresh peas, peanuts and potatoes. Great visit. Today was visiting day. We then went to the local Rubanda Health Center founded and run by the Medical Mission Sisters over 30 years ago. We were told that one of the founders of this health center was an American religious Sr. Joan from Philadelphia. The sisters ran this program that treats all emergencies and pregnancies, but anything beyond a major cut are referred and transported to nearest Kabale hospital about 25 miles away.
We then went to the seminary school where we had lunch with Fr. Paul and a seminarian. We shared many stories.
Our last stop of the day was at the school. The children were just arriving from their vacation back to school. I got to meet and spend time with many of them. They had many questions and I answered as many as I could.
We did a small tour of all the gardens that we had planted. Most vegetables had sprouted, and some had good growth. We were now in a dry spell. It had not rained in 3 days. We were out of water at the house. We brought five 5-gallon jerry cans for water. I took out the dowsing rods and showed them how they work. It pointed to water every time I used them. To Alex’s amazement he was also successful.
We left for home, we started walking in the dark but Father picked us up for the rest of the ride. We ate super afterwards I joined everyone by the fire and had a great chat session. Went to bed at 11:30.
Every day was a new adventure. We were up early with the rooster and I made my morning call to Paula. Life was getting comfortable. A routine evolved of meeting with the family every morning, eating breakfast and preparing for the days activities.
Today was Sunday and everyone was getting ready to go the church. Fr. Dominic had made plans to go to the out station for Mass in Kishaki. This was off the main road about 15 miles away. The road was very narrow. I called it the goat path.
The church was locally constructed in a shape of the cross. It was just build 2 years ago. Parishioners sacrifice a lot of sweat equity to build this church. Fr. Dominic celebrated an uplifting spiritual Mass.
Afterwards he asked me to say a few words to the parishioners. I was introduced to all the elders of the parish, afterwards we all settled in the catechist’s house for a meal and an afternoon session of conversation. This is very common on Sundays.
When we left, Fr. Dominic and I were given gifts of appreciation from the elders of the church. Sundays are relaxing days. This is the time to reflect on what has happened and what is coming. With 13 days left in the country and only 7 days left at the school, I knew much was ahead of me because I could feel the excitement in Fr. Dominic. The children were arriving from their vacation back to school. We were all ready.
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