So … I lied. In my last post, I said that we would be able to keep Moses tonight, but it didn’t work out. The other families that arrived today were delayed by a few hours and by the time everyone got back to the hotel, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion was closed for the day. We have to pick up Moses’ travel document from them, take a copy to the orphanage and check out, and then take the original up to the U.S. Embassy so they can process his passport. Tomorrow, we will be doing all that, and all the families will go together. We did pick Moses up around 11:00 today and took him back to the hotel for his nap. He wanted both of us laying down right by him, and he fell asleep with his hands on my neck and his face about 3 inches away. So sweet! He is getting more and more playful each day. Lots of smiles! It was definitely harder to leave him tonight, but soon, very soon that will not be the case!

This morning Nyanja took us to the genocide memorial here in Kigali. It’s hard to even express the depth and range of emotion that I felt. I have studied Rwandan history and know all the facts about the genocide, but … well, there are some things that books and movies can never convey. One of the last exhibits is dedicated to the children who were killed. I had made it through the museum up until that point, but as we walked out of there into the gardens, I couldn’t help but weep. Not just a few tears … I was sobbing. I surprised several gardeners with my blotchy, wet face. The garden area is very beautiful and peaceful with neatly groomed hedges, flowers, and pathways. They have 258,000 victims buried there in mass graves. There are still fresh flowers being placed on the graves and signs that say, “Never forget. Never again.” Nyanja said that before the genocide, there were only 3 orphanages in Rwanda. Now there are 300. Only 29 of these are registered, and only 1 has all the proper paperwork in place (hence the reason all the referrals are coming out of Home of Hope). Now, those children who were orphaned during the genocide are having babies that they can’t take care of and creating more orphans. Nyanja did tell us that Rwanda is a much better country after the genocide than it was before. People here have had to learn how to reconcile and move on. They are committed to healing and improving their nation.

We went to pick up Moses right after that. I’m sure he wondered why I held him so tight! While we were there, the police brought in a baby that had been found just hours earlier, abandoned on the side of the road. He was days old. This is the second baby that’s been brought to the orphanage just in the three days since we’ve been here. The sisters told me this afternoon that they decided to name him Moses, too.

We are glad that the Himes and Higgins families made it safe today! It was wonderful watching them meet their children for the first time. It’ll be fun to watch all the kids interact and play together in the days ahead.