Ready to call it quits

I am going to be completely transparent.  Today I want to throw in the towel, call it quits, and end my work in a developing country. Providing a program that helps people in need is hard.  I would like to think that every one of the 40 students that Global Capacity supports is grateful, hard-working, moral, and honest.  But I know that's not true.  They don't get the best grades in school and they are not completely honest.  I was reminded of this today when our partner in Rwanda, Yvonne, emailed me with the unfortunate report that one of our students has been lying to us for months now.

This student has been supported by us for close to three years now.  I have pictures with him, he has sent letters and emails to me, and when I was in Rwanda I took him out to dinner for a special meal.  To know that he has deliberately and repeatedly lied to my staff and to me aches deep in my heart.  And it makes me wonder how many more of our students, our children who have no advocates of their own, who have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get an education through our scholarships, who we have sacrificed and gone to bat for while the citizens of their nation ignored and doubted their abilities, will do this.   

And then I remember how broken our students are.  How most of them have never had a parent-figure to model themselves after, to teach them right from wrong, and to instill the values that parents are supposed to instill. Most of our students are products of the genocide and were forced to grow up real fast due to their parents' death.  They are now the heads of their household and had to become guardians to their younger siblings.  

People programs are messy.  Our scholarship program is a people program.  We provide more than just school fees and materials for high school but also counseling, mentoring, and relationships.  We walk with 40 students throughout their six years of high school.  We lament in their sadness and struggles and celebrate in their achievements and joys. We provide counseling to them about their horrific pasts and encourage them to forge ahead into the unknown with a 1000% better outlook than they had been given.  

It is their brokenness that leads them to lie to us and disobey. But does that make it ok? How much grace can you give to someone after they repeatedly lie to you and hurt you?  And is grace more deserved if they hadn't had the chance to learn right from wrong or develop strong, positive character traits?  How much of a person's past can you ignore to justify their current wrongdoings committed against you? 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.   

Letter to our Donors: Think of yourselves as organ donors

Dear Global Capacity Donors:

Many times in everyone’s life the request comes along to donate money for certain causes.  Some people respond with a yes, others a no and maybe some others are sometimes. My husband and I have been missionaries now for six years and having been on the other side, words could never express what the word donor means. You know usually when you think of a donor we can think of an organ donor. An organ donor is one who gives their organs after they die or some even while still living for the purpose of another person to enjoy life in a better way. Think of yourselves in the same way.

Someone who donates their organs is sacrificing something of their own personal being for the betterment of another. Here in Rwanda, as A Voice for Rwanda, partnering with Global Capacity, you the Global Capacity Donor does just that…..you sacrifice to give us life here in a better way.

The students you sponsor are all part of the programs we do in working with the families or the individual student. We could NEVER do it without you. You have no idea how your donations contribute to the well-being of each individual student and their families. Living here on a daily basis we see the struggle of life. Global Capacity is a different kind of sponsor. The provision for the students’ needs besides school fees is unique. It reflects the care about them as a person.

For me, Mama Muto, who so many times previous to having Global Capacity come alongside and sponsor  the students we work with would dread each time a student would come with a need. I started to hate hearing my voice having to say sorry we do not have the money, or maybe next time. Global Capacity has allowed me to function not in dread or fear but more in peace knowing the funds are there if they get sick, needing transport of going to and from school, personal items, boxes of metal they can put their belongings in so it locks, shoes and sportswear. 

We are forever grateful to Global Capacity who is our organ donor. By your sacrifice you have made our lives and the students’ lives better.  We receive all the hugs as we are the ones here physically with them. We share with them their good times, sad times, challenging times and can help them grow physically, spiritually, emotionally and socially.  You have allowed us to be able to walk out in all these areas.

On behalf of myself, my husband Les (Papa Muto) and Michael  (Global Capacity Program Assistant) we thank you with our whole hearts. We send you all the hugs from all the students. Even today, one young girl Cadette completed her application as Global Capacity will be paying her fees for vocational school. There is no way to describe how jubilant she was when she left. The one word that I could use to describe what your donations mean to each every student would come down to the word HOPE.

Blessings to each and every one of you,

Yvonne (Mama Muto) - http://www.right2school.org/a-voice-for-rwanda/

Global Capacity News, May 2012: My Dad Was Shot To Death By Robbers

Student Spotlight: Cadette

Cadette’s dreams are beginning to come true thanks to the support of Global Capacity. Cadette is in her early twenties and only had the opportunity to complete school up to the 6th grade. She has had a difficult life. She was brought up in Tanzania and she survived war at the time she lived there. She is not without pain as she can remember the painful day her father was shot to death by robbers. She came to live with relatives in Rwanda, including her mother. Due to poverty her mother was not able to give her the things she needs. She is now part of a girls' home for older orphans and vulnerable young people.

With the help of Global Capacity, Cadette actually had a choice for the first time in her life regarding her future and schooling. She could choose to try to complete school starting at the 7th grade or go to Vocational School. She chose to begin a one-year program in Vocational School for hotel management. She has a mixture of emotions at this time of joy, fear, excitement and of everything else ahead of her. She began the program late however the school is giving her extra tutoring to catch her up. She did not want to postpone any longer a chance for the future.

She has to pinch herself in believing every morning she is on her way to school. Global Capacity’s sponsorship gives her all she needs to be a good student and to feel good about herself. There are no worries of how her fees will be paid, how she will continue to have transport, notebooks or internship requirements. All of these are paid by Global Capacity so the only worry Cadette has is to study and to pass. This is a luxury for most students to have these worries eliminated. She thanks Global Capacity with her whole heart.

Noteworthy News 

CNN aims at telling inspiring stories through its CNN Photos, using photography as the narrator. A recent story depicted the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide, focusing on the essential themes of love and reconciliation. The article Love is a weapon to destroy evil tells of the profound experience of forgiving and then loving those who have wronged us. Who better to do that than Gasperd, whose brother was killed by a man named Innocent. They both now stand arm-in-arm in reconciliation.

May 1 was Labour Day in Rwanda.  The nation celebrates the holiday to remember and honor the countless workers who have helped Rwanda develop into what it is today.  President Kagame gave an address to the citizens, which noted that 125,000 Rwandans enter the job market every year. Read more of his words.

Subscriber Sound-off 

A recent editorial in Rwanda's New Times newspaper discusses how Rwanda's traditional education system seemed to favor the academic disciplines of science and mathematics over art and literature.  In Where are our cultural creatives?, author Diana Mpyisi notes "As a country, we are known for inventing unique, home-grown solutions, which in the beginning usually baffles the world and later received global praise. Why can’t we do the same with our educational system and, unlike the global educational trends that focus on mathematics and science, place equal emphasis on art and design, as well as subjects in the humanities?" 

We want to hear from you! What academic discipline do you think is most important in helping an extremely poor country to grow and flourish? See the question on our Facebook page and tell us NOW!   


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Cadette: My father was shot to death by robbers

Student Spotlight: Cadette

Cadette’s dreams are beginning to come true thanks to the support of Global Capacity. Cadette is in her early twenties and only had the opportunity to complete school up to the 6th grade. She has had a difficult life. She was brought up in Tanzania and she survived war at the time she lived there. She is not without pain as she can remember the painful day her father was shot to death by robbers. She came to live with relatives in Rwanda, including her mother. Due to poverty her mother was not able to give her the things she needs. She is now part of a girls' home for older orphans and vulnerable young people.

With the help of Global Capacity, Cadette actually had a choice for the first time in her life regarding her future and schooling. She could choose to try to complete school starting at the 7th grade or go to Vocational School. She chose to begin a one-year program in Vocational School for hotel management. She has a mixture of emotions at this time of joy, fear, excitement and of everything else ahead of her. She began the program late however the school is giving her extra tutoring to catch her up. She did not want to postpone any longer a chance for the future.

She has to pinch herself in believing every morning she is on her way to school. Global Capacity’s sponsorship gives her all she needs to be a good student and to feel good about herself. There are no worries of how her fees will be paid, how she will continue to have transport, notebooks or internship requirements. All of these are paid by Global Capacity so the only worry Cadette has is to study and to pass. This is a luxury for most students to have these worries eliminated. She thanks Global Capacity with her whole heart.