The last Rebero Camp story is from OA Volunteer, Ian Mathieson:

After spending a week coaching and playing soccer with the children of the Ribero Orphan Centre, I noticed that they had a different perspective on a few things. I noticed that the children have a very different outlook on life and the opportunities that it presents, compared to the views that any regular Canadian/Western child has. It may be because they have fewer opportunities, or it may just be the way people in Rwanda are, but, either way, the difference was obvious.

Every day at the camp, there were 10 Litres of water and 2 big ball bags to be carried along the 2km dirt path on the way to the field where the camp was held.

The 5 OAers, including myself and 2 other coaches, started off on Day 1 from the Orphan Centre carrying the water and equipment. After about thirty seconds after leaving the Centre, the water and equipment was kindly wrenched from our hands from the luckiest boys of the bunch — or at least that’s how they saw it. All the way down the 2km path to the field, the boys argued and fought over who was going to carry the equipment.

For the next 6 days, this is how the morning began once we arrived at the Centre. After seeing this, I thought about how much children of the West could learn from these boys’ actions — allowing them to appreciate the simple pleasures that these boys so obviously do.

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Thanks, Ian.

I should also remind everyone that Ian was known by the kids in the camp, and in the surrounding communities, as ‘Ihene’ (’goat’ in Kinyarwanda). We would drive through parts of the area, and without fail (if Ian was in the car), we would hear shouts from the bushes and streets of “Ihene” — he made quite the impression on the kids of the community.

Also, I wanted to thank this opportunity and give a sincere thanks to volunteers Ian and Lindsay for their contributions to the project…wouldn’t have been the same without them!

Next posts will fill you in on the equipment and field.

G