My Host Family :)

I would like to introduce you to my host family so you get a better idea of each family member!! 

Dont they all have such great smiles!!

To Start, this is my host mom! Her name is Nyirambabazi Venantie but Rwandans like to be called Mamma and then the name of their oldest child. So Most people called her Mamma Mignone. I think I mentioned this before… but she is a teacher!! But not just any teacher… she is the head teacher (I think that’s like the principle or something) at one of the primary schools in a village not far from where we lived. I never saw the school but she was well known and respected in the community!!

Next is my host dad! His name is Dushimimana Etienne Mugande and normally goes by Papa Mignone or Mugande. When people asked where I lived I would say the house of Mugande and they would know who I was talking about for the most part :) He has many jobs or forms of making money but the main one is that he is a driver for the District Hospital in Kamonyi! He drives trucks and cars as well motorcycles and ambulances depending on what is needed by the hospital!! He also rents out other buildings he owns around town and has some land that farming is done on. But I am pretty sure he pays people to farm it for him!!

Now for the girls!! The oldest was 9 and her name is Mignone! She is very kind and has a lot of responsibility as the oldest!! She also keeps the peace most often I have noticed when other siblings are fighting!! She is a pretty good student and can speak a little English as well as some French and a few words in Swahili!! I think she is very smart!!! She also helped me practice my flash cards on many occasions to make sure I got the pronunciation right :) she has the biggest and brightest smile you’ll ever see and she is basically always happy!!!

Next in line is Viviane!! She is the second to oldest so I basically could relate to her the easiest!! I could see the spark in her eye and recognized it easily from my own mischievous ways!! She is 6 or 7 and just the sweetest thing ever!! She would always dance with me and loved to laugh at nothing :) She also speaks a little English and French but I don’t think she knows any Swahili.

Now for Keniya!! She is 4 and loves to be loved and listened to!! I couldn’t understand her but she would talk and ramble about who knows what!! And as long as I sat there and watched her she was happy!!! She also let me read to her in Kinyarwanda!!! Once I learned the sounds enough to read basically she loved for me to sit and read!! I had no idea what the stories were about but I loved every minute!!! She knew her numbers in English and how to introduce herself but that was all!! She is still in nursery school and has not started learning English yet though!!

Last but not least is Teta!! She is the baby of the family and I think she is about 8 months old!! At first she cried when she saw me :/ but by the end she preferred me sometimes over any of her sisters and would always stop crying and smile when I said her name :) I felt like part of the family when I was there for her first crawling session!!! She also started taking that first step and then falling while I was there!! It made me miss my new niece and nephew in America… but it was nice to still be around a baby!!!

I could not forget the umucozi (House Maid) Jane or the other boy that lived there Johnvier!! They were both very patient with me as I learned to wash my clothes and help cook and clean and helped me with flash cards pretty often!! I would like to say that Johnvier is so extremely smart!! He loves to learn and if given the opportunity he will do great things!! In school he studies Biology and chemistry and French and English and Kinyarwanda and math and probably more!!! I am pretty sure he is an orphan because he is not part of the family but has lived there his whole life!! He tries to speak English but understands way more then he speaks!! A little story to show how cool he is- One night he was doing something out of the ordinary and wouldn't tell me what… even though I was asking :) And he randomly turns on a light outside!!! Ok remember we don’t have electricity… I was so confused!! He takes me into his room and shows me that he has an old car battery and figured out how to wire a light bulb to it and hang it outside!!! That might seem really easy for some of you… but I for sure don’t know how and he had to find the wires and things to figure out how to do it!! AMAZING!!!!

I might have been teaching them to make silly faces... bahahahaha

Well that’s my family!!! They were pretty awesome and I loved them even with all the little things that annoyed me like crazy!!! hahaha