A Glimpse of Goma

A short film by Evans about out time in Goma, entitled "A Glimpse of Goma."

Raw Video Footage

Here is some raw video footage from my flip camera of our time in Goma. Click the left and right arrows on the sides of the video to go to the next clip.



Note: This isn't everything. I'm working with more footage from our HD camera and will post some of that footage in another week or so.

Pictures!

View photos of our trip from various people (we'll be compiling a "best of" album soon):

Charlotte's Photo's

Verinsky's Photos

Steve's Photos

Evans' Photos

Evans' iPhone Photos

Mizigo Ipo Wapi (Where's the Luggage?)

Where’s the luggage? Have you touched your passports recently? T&F (tentative and flexible). Relinquish. Let go.

Team Goma phrases, repeated and heard many times. Some funny, some very serious.
Camaraderie, bonding, inside jokes. Keeps us laughing…a lot! Which is much needed when traveling and working with a team. And keeps us praying…a lot!
We started in a wait mode with a 9 hour delay in San Francisco, then 23 hours air travel, plus two overnight layovers. Yada yada yada. Then go go go in GOma for 11 days. Now back to the wait mode in airports and planes and 26 hours of travel. I’m grateful for this team of patient, tolerant people. Sounds impossible, but I’m having fun!!

Looking forward to embracing familia, but already having withdrawals at the thought of missing my teammates.

Life is about the journey, not the destination. That was the devotion this morning at IJM (International Justice Mission) in Rwanda. So true and so applicable at this moment. I hope I can keep that close to my heart in every season of my life.
Mungu awabariki (God bless you in kiSwahili),
Charlotte Martinez

Language Center

One of many adjunct projects of HEAL Africa, the Amani (Peace) Language Center is run by two brothers and good friends of the team, Stewart and James.

By the Grace of God

Driving back to Kigali from Goma, I talked with our Rwandan driver, Deo. Apparently we were driving through his home region. I asked him if any of his family still lived in the area, since he now lives in Kigali. He said no, going on to say his father and all six of his siblings were murdered during the genocide. After a moment of silence, I asked him how he had survived. He replied, "By the grace of God."

The people who came to kill his family also attacked him, taking a swipe at his head. "This one, he is dead," they said, leaving him to die with the rest of his family. I didn't get the details of how he survived since then, but for 4 years the government and militia fought each other back and forth through his home region. Deo didn't feel safe until 1998, four years after the genocide, when the gov't troops finally pushed the militias back into Congo.

Deo now has a wife and three kids: two girls ages 6 and 3, and a 2 year old boy. He keeps his hair cut very short, as a large scar atop his head keeps hair from growing. He's a careful driver, vary gracious and a wonderful person. I feel blessed to have met him and heard a small portion of his story.

I always thought the phrase "There but for the grace of God go I" still retained some sense of personal choice, some blessing bestowed on us that we were given by God. Deo's story reminds me that I could have been born anywhere, that his story could be my story, that all of those living can say, "By the grace of God, here I am."

Sent from my iPhone

Early Birthday

We celebrated my birthday early (actually Aug 6th) at a local Indian restaurant here in Kigali. They went all out: lights out, entire staff, mixed music, even got me up dancing! Video and more pics forthcoming. And yes, they let me keep the hat.