Home

Well, we are back. After some long flights we arrived back in Portland on Wednesday night at 8:30pm. Mili did really well on all of the flights. She has been getting over jet lag now. I suppose we all are. The first morning she woke up at 3:30am, and the second at 4am. Today she woke up at 5:45, and went to bed at a normal time. It is getting better for all of us. Christi has been enjoying spending time with her family and I have enjoyed spending some time with my brother. Christi is feeling well these days. She is getting everything set up with Dr.'s appointments. Mili and I were able to find affordable health insurance to get us through until my work insurance starts up again.

We had a great time in England. We spent a day sightseeing with another couple from the school in London. We spent a day in Oxford and the last day in Windsor. We paced ourselves since we were pretty tired.

We are staying with my in-laws this week. It is such a blessing to have such great support as we get readjusted. I was able to go into the school I taught at previously and see teachers and students. Today we are having a get together with my family. It will be so good to see everyone. I am looking forward to seeing my parents today too. We are looking forward to getting back to our church this Sunday as well.

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. There were a lot of tears. We made so many excellent friendships in the short time we were there. We will miss Rwanda immensely. We will miss our friends so much. Many we hope we will see again someday as we pass through each other's cities. What a great experience. I want to thank each of you for praying for us, supporting us financially, and following along with us on our journey. We are so blessed to have friends and family like you. We brought home some small tokens of our appreciation for each of you. We would love to find a time to pass it on to you if you haven't received it already.

Love,

Tony, Christi, and Mili

The Finishing Touches

I apologize for not posting recently. I wanted to send out one last update from Africa before sending out our final one upon arriving home. Things have been very busy lately with school winding down and meeting with friends that we are so sad to say goodbye to. Christi has been feeling pretty well lately. She had a great appointment with her midwife. She will have here last appointment next Thursday. Everything is going well with the pregnancy. She has still been busy with all of the bookkeeping lately. She is transitioning things over to another gal who will get things going for the school next year, but not necessarily a permanent replacement. Her sister Trina was here recently and we had a great time seeing her before and after her South Africa trip. It was hard to say goodbye not knowing exactly when we will see her again. She is looking forward to seeing family, friends, drinking a Dr. Pepper and eating Taco Bell.

Mili is doing well. She is growing up so fast. She is learning new words all the time. She has been playing in a field by our house with neighborhood kids almost daily. They love her and she loves them. It is hard knowing that she won't remember her time here. We are taking pictures so that she will at least have that. Emanuel, who works for us, said, "Please don't go, because I love you so much- and Mili. You could leave Mili and I will give you my son." We both laughed- not a chance! He has become a good friend and Mili loves him so. She is excited to see her Oma, and Opa (my parents) and Pop and Grandma Soup (Christi's parents). She said Grandma Soup while trying to say Grandma Sue and it sort of stuck. She kisses their pictures each night before bed.

I have one week left of teaching. I am so proud of the progress my students have made this year. It just goes to show you what a long school day, small class size, and dedicated parents can do for a child's academics. My class hosted a snack sale at our school a couple weeks ago. We raised almost $200 dollars for a local orphanage. The families of two of my students have or will be adopting children from this orphanage and will be taking it there to present to the nuns who run it. Next week my class will be having an international food fair to celebrate the 12 nationalities represented in my class of 15. I just found out that I will be teaching first grade at Centennial's Lynch View school next year. I am excited about it. This is actually where I would have been if I hadn't come to Africa this year. I am looking forward to seeing family and friends, catching up with my brother, eating good cheese, and seeing a movie in the theater. We are both looking forward to going back to our home church- Mosaic.

We will be stopping off in the U.K. on our way home. It actually ended up being cheaper for us to do it this way. The school pays for our ticket so they didn't mind either. Neither Christi or I have been so we are excited. We will be staying with a friend of our English housemate. We leave Kigali on June 12. We have a 10 or 11 hour layover in Nairobi. We may try to check out the city if our plane arrives on time. We have some teacher friends who are going to be meeting us at the Nairobi airport and flying on to England with us. We may try to do something together there, but we haven't worked out all the details yet. We then fly home to Portland. We will be arriving on June 16 after 9:00pm.

I can't believe things are coming to a close. We are looking forward to coming home, but at the same time we are sad to leave. We have so loved our time here. We have made so many great friendships and spent a year living in and with another culture. We feel so privileged and blessed to have been able to have this opportunity.

Pleas pray that the school will be able to find replacement teachers for next year. That the year will finish well and that Christi's position will transition well. For our transition home- we know it will be hard, but not in what specific ways. Please pray for Mili with leaving and not understanding exactly what is going on, for the plane ride, and transitioning back into our home. For Christi and the pregnancy and the transition and for me that I will be able to find some small summer work (anyone need their lawn mowed :) ), and the transition. Thank you all for participating with us in this adventure.

April Update

Well, we are getting down to the final weeks of our Africa adventure. We only have 7 weeks of school left before we are heading home. I have parent teacher conferences in two weeks. This is the final quarter of school. Teaching has been going well. I finished my tutoring sessions with the student and his mother I had been working with. He has made good progress and is on his way to becoming a great reader/writer. I am glad he will be able to finish the year out with the class. His mother also now knows how to help him at home, as well as his 9 siblings. His family gave me a really cool African shirt and Christi a really nice traditional dress as a thank you.

Since we know that we will be coming home we have been planning get togethers and trips for when we get back. We have been talking a lot about what we most look forward to with getting home and what we will miss the most with leaving. It ended up being about the same answer. We are most looking forward to seeing people that we miss so much, and we will most miss people whom we have made relationships with here. I have been talking with my school district about next year. I should know my teaching assignment in about a week. I was guaranteed a job when I get back, but I have no idea what grade or building I will be teaching in. The budget situation in my district is quite grim and everyone hired the year I was hired will be drawing numbers in case the cuts go that deep. They are proposing to cut about 37 teachers next year. This will raise class sizes.

We all went to Burundi to visit Christi's sister and husband during our spring break. Unfortunately we all got really sick. We had a really bad cough and high fevers. When we got back we all went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and cough medicine. I have been doing well this week and Christi and Mili are just about in the clear. They had been coughing all night and sleep was lacking- so it has been nice to wake up feeling rested the last few mornings. Christi had been having some heart issues and went to see a cardiologist. He gave her a very scary diagnosis and prescribed a drug that we didn't know would be safe or not with the pregnancy. He is an American trained doctor. We sent the EKG off to doctors in the States, thanks to Christi's Dad. They all feel that his diagnosis was not correct and that she should be ok. She did not take the drug that was prescribed and has been taking it easy, no caffeine, and walking instead of running in the mornings. We are trying to keep her work load from causing stress that could be a problem. She has been doing really well and we feel good about where things are now. She will have to get looked at when we get back. My insurance won't begin again for the family until October. We were able to get Christi health insurance for the pregnancy and she can use it to have her heart looked at when we get back. We have the insurance now since there is a six month waiting period for preexisting conditions- like pregnancy so we will be covered if there is any kind of emergency. We are blessed to be covered.

Mili is doing better after getting over her sickness and has been back to her active self most of this week. She is learning new songs and has been loving singing. The weather has been off and on rainy so we haven't been able to play outside every evening, but quite a few. I have missed the seasons, but I cannot complain about having an entire year of Spring. This weekend we will be going to a lake here in Rwanda for a night with another couple. There is a little beach that Mili is content to play on all day long. We are looking forward to having a night away with friends.

I have had an opportunity to meet some wonderful Rwandan people who have become my friends. I always love learning from them. Growing up in different cultures gives us different perspectives on things. A friend of mine who owns a local restaurant near my house recently lost everything when the building next to his caught fire. I like to go and hang out with him to practice language because he doesn't speak English. He was telling me about how the fire temporarily shut down the business and destroyed his apartment in the back of the restaurant. He then said, “But God is good.” I was amazed that he could say this so easily after such a loss. I brought my brother-in-law with me there when he was up last weekend and was able to learn a lot more since they both speak French. He said that there is a Rwandan proverb that says a fire brings rains, meaning that after the fire that destroys, blessings will follow. He looks hopefully toward those blessings and teaches me a better way to live.

parents and spring break

We are coming down from the elation of having my parents here for two weeks. It was so great. We loved being able to spend our days, our school, or new home with them while they were here. We got to take them around the country and to see some sights. It worked out well because many of the things we did were things Christi and I had not done yet. My parents both got to spend time in the classroom which was so much fun. Christi's sister, husband, and a friend of ours from Portland came down and we got to spend a little time with them too. Just before my parents left we spent two amazing nights relaxing at lake Kivu near the Congo border (we actually walked to the border and took a few pictures). I was ready for a break and to get out of town. It was such a refreshing time. My parents took Mili for a night and let us have a date too.

I am getting ready to do report cards and send them out this week. I am amazed at how much my students have learned. It is amazing what happens when you have parent involvement and small class sizes. It has been a lot of fun to get to be a part of this and to have this experience. The student who I have been tutoring is making slow progress, but will be able to finish the year out. I'm almost embarrassed to say what his reading level is because in the States he wouldn't be considered a concern. With his language level he wouldn't be much of a worry. I'm hoping to get him very close to or at grade level by the end of the year. Our spring break starts on Friday. We are planning on taking the bus up to Burundi for about a week. It's always fun to hang out with family there and get away for a bit. It will be Genocide Week here in Rwanda. Everything shuts down and we are told it is very quiet and somber- understandably.

Christi has been pretty tired lately. She took it easy this weekend and it seemed to make a big difference. We are hoping that she can cut back a little and take some more breaks during the week so she has the time to take care of herself and the baby. Mili is as cute and fun as always. Our friend Lisa who has babysat a few times for us taught her “If You're Happy and You Know it.” She sings and does the motions. It is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. We are going to try to take video of it. Maybe we can get my brother-in-law to help us out with that when we see them at the end of the week. She doesn't have all the toys and distractions that she would probably have in America so she is becoming quite creative in making toys and games. Stroller hockey is the newest one she has come up with. We played it for quite some time yesterday and had a good time. Picture it in your mind- whatever you are imagining- it's better. I hope you are all doing super well. Look forward to catching up with you in just a few months.

New News

I have been very anxious to write this blog. Christi and I were worried that someday Mili's sibling would not be able to say they lived in Africa and be jealous, but at least he/she will be able to say he/she was conceived in Africa. We are very excited about the whole thing. Christi is due on September 20^th. We had an ultrasound today and everything is looking really good. The nice thing is that a parent of one of my students is a midwife and is helping Christi and keeping a chart that she can take back to the States. A missionary lady here has an ultrasound machine and did it for us for free. You can even go to the doctor and get a 3-D ultrasound for $30 which insurance often doesn't cover in the States. We are in good hands and things are going well. Christi has had morning sickness- or maybe all day everyday sickness for a several weeks now. We are hoping that clears up soon. She is very tired and craving a lot of food you can't get here in Rwanda, but otherwise things are good.

Mili is growing up so fast. She is saying so many words, some alphabet, numbers, colors and lots of nouns. She is a lot of fun these days. Rainy season is here so we haven't been able to have our evening playtime outside and look forward to when we can start that up again. A lady who started the year at our school as the secretary watched Mili two weekends ago for her first overnight. Christi and I had our first date since being here and went out for Chinese, watched a movie and enjoyed a quiet night. Then she watched her again last Friday night while Christi and I went out for dinner with another couple. We felt so blessed and it was nice to not have to chase Mili all over a restaurant. She's a mover that one!

School has been going really well. I have a Rwandan student who has been struggling academically even with many interventions and one-on-one tutoring by a volunteer. The school has a policy that if it cannot meet a students needs they will not take the parents money so that they can go elsewhere and have their needs met. Unfortunately the support from home had been lacking and the school was seriously considering withdrawing him. I came up with a compromise and I started tutoring the student and his mother two days a week before school to teach her how to support his learning at home and hopefully get him where he needs to be. We have a goal set that he needs to make in five weeks. Please pray that he would be able to meet this goal and continue with our class.

Some of you may have seen in the news that there were some grenades thrown here in Kigali. We still feel safe here, but there is some tension rising from the upcoming elections that will take place in August. Please pray that things will continue peacefully and that it remain calm here.

We are extremely excited that my parents will be coming out in two weeks. They will be here from March 7-23. It will be so great to see them. We thank the church for blessing us in sending them here. It has been very hard for us with not being able to see family. My aunt Vicki just passed away. She was literally one of the most amazing women who ever lived. She was an amazing mother, teacher, grandmother, and wife. She has been struggling with cancer and health problems for some time. She always had a positive attitude and put others before herself even when she was in pain. She is leaving a big hole in this planet, but we celebrate that we will see her again some day. We wished we could have been at the funeral and seen family during this time. Thank you all for your support.

what's going on these days

I thought I would send out a quick note to let you know what we have been up to lately. We had a busy three weeks coming back from break. School fees were due and Christi has been swamped with work. Thankfully our African friend Christine has been able to watch Mili so Christi can get some things done. We just ended the 2nd quarter on Jan. 25. This meant I had a busy time of teaching, assessing and report cards. We didn't know until Wednesday, but Monday was a public holiday. It is Heroes Day. Every year the country nominates a new hero and celebrates all the past heroes. So we ended up having no school that day. A lot of teachers went out of town. We had contemplated doing the same so I scrambled to get lesson plans, report cards, and curriculum guides finished before the weekend started. We ended up staying home and having a relaxing time. The weather has been very hot so on Saturday I took Mili swimming. On Sunday we went to church and afterward went over to a friends house for a bbq and watched the Australian Open. We were the only Americans and everyone else was British so we rooted for Andy Murray just to be safe. On Monday we went to a birthday party for the sibling of one of my students and had lunch with a married couple that teaches at our school. It felt good to have some down time, but enough going on that we didn't get bored. I should be getting two new students this month which should add some excitement in the classroom. Things are still going really well with teaching and the kids are really making good progress. I'm having a good time. Mili is so much fun these days. She is saying all kinds of words and looking more and more like a little girl and not a baby anymore. If you haven't checked out our other blog you can see a lot more pictures of Mili- www.whippsworld@blogspot.com. We love the comfortable evenings and Mili loves running around outside. We have been outside each evening with our night guard Emanuel. He is working really hard to learn English and I have been taking Kinyarwanda (the local language) lessons, so we have been teaching each other. He and Mili chase each other around. She wasn't very comfortable with Africans when we first arrived. They are fascinated by her and have a tendency to surround her. This sort of freaks her out and she was scared at first. She is now comfortable and loves the people. She can say “what's up” in Kinyarwanda which the locals go nuts over. We are looking forward to my parents coming in early March. This is very exciting for us and it should be for them too. My Ugandan refugee friend ended up having a family emergency and left to go back. He was hiding in the city when I talked to him last, but I haven't been able to get a hold of him since. We are praying he is okay and safe. If you ever think of questions that go unanswered by our emails and blog, feel free to shoot us an email and we will try to answer them. We so appreciate hearing what is going on in the lives of our friends and families and miss you all very much. We have decided that we will only be here for one year. We will be coming home in mid June or early July. Thanks for all your emails, prayers and support.

Lake Bunyoni (the beginning of our vacation)

This is our luggage coming over on our canoe.

This is the cabin we stayed in, with a beautiful view of the lake.

Our trip to the island was a canoe ride, where Tony got to help paddle.

The first full day there we took the canoe back to the main land and hiked up this hill (pretty intense) and to a village where we saw the blacksmith work.

These kids followed us the whole way up and back.

Christi helping air the fire for the blacksmiths.

The second day we took a 45 minute boat ride to the main land (other side of lake), and hiked about an hour to visit the Batwa Pgymy village. This is pretty much the whole village. They danced and sang for us, even the kids. It was an amazing time.

Here Mili and Christi are on the boat.

A view of the lake: