Post from OA Volunteer, and Rebero Camp coach, Lindsay Henwood:

Working with the children of the Rebero Orphan Center in Kigali, Rwanda, has been a life-altering experience.

The feeling I have when I see children smiling because of a goofy face or scoring a goal for their soccer team is incredible.

All of the children from Rebero demonstrated their gratitude for Opportunitas Aequa and Hope Shines for being there just with their happy faces. However, there was one boy that caught my attention the second or third day of camp, but in a different way from the other children. Everyday he walked to the field by himself, and rarely spoke or smiled. The only words he ever said were that he has no parents and wants to come to Canada with me to learn English. His name is Jedeo and he is fourteen years old.

I realized that the Genocide in Rwanda occurred fourteen years ago. It was difficult to explain that I could not take him with me, but that I would do anything I could to help him. To this he would say, “Why can’t I come with you?” in broken English.

This experience really gave me some perspective into what many of the children are going through emotionally. I talked to the managers of Rebero, and they thought it would be best if I gave my contact information and that Jedeo’s guardian would reach out to me if they want help. I truly hope the soccer camp brought a shred of happiness into Jedeo’s life similar to what we saw it had achieved for the other children.

I feel so privileged to have had this experience and hope that I had as positive an impact on the children as they had on me.

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FYI: Lindsay is also starting up her own initiative, Football to Freedom, and she is planning on launching her first project in the fall, in Guatemala (so stay in the loop for that and/or join her on facebook).

Tomorrow, Ihene Mathieson tells us about his experiences in the camp.