First Impression

When we got into Kigali, the airport was small, yet refined. I honestly thought there wouldn't even be a building, just a garage type shelter for the planes and people to stay dry. There was a nice big coffee cafe right at the entrance with some tasty ice cream. It was 3am when we arrived, and we were escorted to our hotel, which was a bunch of small one-room cottages next to each other lined with greenery. I was in a room by myself, since I mentioned earlier, I was the only female in a group of 15. Builders Without Borders is made up of men with some or lots of building experience, so I was definitely the odd ball in the group! My room was way nicer than I expected with a King sized bed and a tv set that only played one channel. My shower had no curtain, but I had running water! The first night, I was frightened, I must say. I kept the tv on to drown out the silence and shed some light, and prayed and prayed because I was in a foreign place and didn't even really know what was around me. Mostly, I was scared of animals being able to creep through the inch gap under the door into my room! But all I ever saw were these tiny lizards about the size of my pinky crawling on the walls. They were more cute than scary. I slept with a mosquito net draped over my bed to ease my fear of small insects.

The first morning there, with only 4 hours of sleep, we all went out to the work cite to start the building of the high school! Kigali Christian School is funded by Youth For Christ and is made for local kids to attend and is led by an American family, but all the teachers are Rwandan. So, we worked super hard the first day, and my main and only job was to hammer screws into the floorboards, but without kneepads, it becomes tiring! There were several Rwandan gentlemen helping build and learning methods of construction that made for putting buildings up quickly and efficiently. I saw the mission of BWB as inspiring because not only were they helping out this school tremendously, but they were also teaching which stands for a longer lasting gift.