Gashora, Rwanda: August 2010 - Friday Night, Movie Night.

On Friday night we held the first movie night in Gashora. People came from all over the village. We walked up from the hotel and when we got close to the Gashora Primary School children came running out of the dark night to greet us! They literally jumped on us!

We got to the school. We had a plan. Ryan was to get the projector. Michon had the computer. I was to get the two thirty foot extension cords. We were going to plug into the classroom at the opposite end from the computer lab and project on an end outside wall. That was the plan. First hiccup. No power in that classroom. Ok, no problem, they had an extension cord. Sortof. It was a mass of tangled wires that could be used to wire something. So, after 20 minutes of sticking bare wires into electric sockets and wrapping bare wires around plug in posts - tahdah! - still no power. Turned out that one of our fancy new extension cords was defective. So, plan B (or is that C?). We move the group to the second classroom and use the shorter extension cord. Again, 20 minutes of fiddling with wires and we have a connection. Power on! But when we turned on the projector and the computer....not enough electricity! So, we decided to go on battery power with the laptop...and we are ready for the show.

More than 80 kids and parents poured in the small classroom. I can't tell you how that is possible but the floor was covered with children as young as 5. We started by showing pictures that we had taken of the kids during the week. Well that was the biggest hit. They were roaring when they recognized someone. Then we put on the movie ET. I wish I could tell you that you could have heard a pin drop but that wasn't the case. People were talking and narrating the movie. We loved it. We watched about the first half and then it was time to wrap up. We all had the same sense of closeness with the group packed into the room. You weren't so much sitting in a chair or on a bench but sitting "with" the people of Gashora. As we filed out and the movie goers disappeared into the darkness we too quietly left feeling closer to this community. Things aren't easy here. Several times we thought about canceling. But perseverance is key. Maybe that is the same in North America and we just give up too easy. But this was so worth it. The next day were were asked, "When is the next movie night?"

Nick

DWC Team Leader

Rwanda 2010