This was never going to be an easy trip. Having spent five years living in Rwanda from , the country is still stacked full of memories for me β both happy and desperately sad. Although I had visited on many occasions since , this was nonetheless my first trip for over 9 years, and I was deeply aware that much would have changed β including me!
On that previous visit I had no inkling that I was soon to follow in the footsteps of my late Rwandan husband, Charles, and train for ordination. So now here I was, about to begin my first incumbency, using part of my sabbatical to reconnect with the country that had been my home and the people who had been my family.
In April , I was running a community health programme and Charles was Archdeacon. Days before the genocide began I had left the country for a short holiday in Kenya but Charles had stayed behind. I never saw him again. He was abducted and presumed killed, like nearly one million of his fellow Rwandans β Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
In the aftermath of the genocide I set up a charitable trust to support Rwandans through further education in order to help rebuild their own country. One of the couples the trust supported β Elsie and Nicholas β hosted me during my visit. Nicholas and Elsie live in the capital city, Kigali β a city that has changed profoundly over recent years, with huge investment from around the world. And confidence in the future is surely reflected in the bank interest rates β my savings account offers 7.
While in the city I visited Louis, a dear friend of nearly 30 years, and now Bishop of Kigali, and when back in my home village I was welcomed by Bishop Alexis, Bishop of Gahini, with whom I was able to discuss the possibility of a parish twinning. Following the genocide there has been a huge increase in the numbers of independent charismatic and prophetic churches around the country, perhaps partly because the reputations of both the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches were tarnished during the genocide.
