New Website

I have changed sites!!!!!!

Please Visit http://web.mac.com/amanda.e.moore for all new updates, pictures and videos.

Wonder Women

One aspect of African life that never ceases to amaze me is the strength of the woman. It is not rare to drive by a woman trekking up one of Rwanda's thousand hills with a baby strapped to her back, a potatoe filled basket on her head, while also weaving grass into rope. I recently saw a woman nursing her baby and harvesting carrots at the same time. In many African cultures woman are given the weight of the work. Often, the woman are expected to give birth, feed the children, prepare meals, clean the compound and work the fields. Yes, basically they are expected to fill the majority of the day to day essential needs.

As countries develop, and woman find more independence, positions in the household are changing. In fact, in Rwanda there are many women who hold high government positions. The mayor of Kigali is a woman and the general of state protocol is a woman. Today I visited with a Rwandese lady who lost her husband a few years ago. She owns her own Inn and rents rooms out of her house. I recently spoke with a friend who gives college scholarships to orphans. The orphans must go through a rigorous application process in which they are interviewed. One praise she had for the girls who were selected for scholarship was that they had a new sense of confidence and empowerment that is lacking in older generations. Rwanda has begun speaking to Secondary students about issues such as equality and strength. Great news!

The strength of ladies in rural and urban settings is very commendable. Unfortunately, in rural settings, equality and gender roles continue to be weighed heavily on customs. While many may argue as to whether the expectations of woman is abusive or cultural, no one can look at a Rwandese woman without speaking a word of amazement at their ability to multi-task with strength, coordination and elegance.

Here he is!

Many people have been asking for proof of my Jack Hanna experience. So, here he is in all his wild animal glory!

Gorillas in the Mist

Friday morning I woke up in the volcano National Park. The park is located in Northern Rwanda and the scene it beautiful. The area hosts five volcanoes. At the base of the volcanoes is lush farm land and thatched roof huts, farther up is the rain forest that houses anything from elephants to golden monkeys, clouds cover the peaks of the volcanoes making for a beautiful scene. The fascinating mountain gorillas are one of the volcano National Park's superstars. You may be familiar with the work of Diane Fossey. Fossey's famous research was conducted in the volcano National Park and today tourists can visit Fossey' tomb as well as the family of gorillas in which she conducted most of her work.

On Friday morning, I along with three friends arrived at the Gorilla Tourist center at the base of the volcanoes. We were placed in a group with 4 other gorillas trackers and a guide. The guide informed us that we would be searching for Amahoro Family of gorillas. There are 13 members of the family. After a brief lesson on the gorillas, we took off for our journey. We drove on rough dirt roads, through farm land and villages to the base of one of the majestic volcanic mountains. Once we arrived at the base, we took off for an hour and half hike up the side of the mountain. The hike was through dense jungle, which naturally made the entire experience that much more exotic.

Our guide led us to the Trackers who had tracked the Amahoro family of gorillas that day. We left our backpacks and waterbottles with the trackers and our guide led us 50 more yards down a path. We stepped through a row of trees and there in an open area of the forest was the family of mountain Gorillas. We were so fortunate to see the gorillas at this particular place, usually the gorillas are hidden by the trees during feeding time.

We were only aloud one hour with the gorillas, and the hour went by very quickly. During that time we were able to watch the gorillas in the open and also feeding among the trees. The gorillas are such intelligent animals. I was truly fascinated by them. The Silver Back was massive! His head was the size of a three year child.

Two young gorillas were playing very close to us. They were rolling all over each other and wrestling. One rolled right off of the other and straight into my legs. I wanted to scream, but held it in due to strict orders from our guide. Later during the hour we were watching several of the gorillas feed, one gorilla walked out of the forest and straight towards our group. The gorilla walked up to me, grabbed my pant leg, tugged a couple of times and then walked off. Yet another scream worthy experience!

The day was incredible, I was truly fascinted by these creatures. There are only 700 mountain gorillas left in the world. They all live withing Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo.


To top off an excellent wildlife excursion, we me Mr. Wildlife himself...Jack Hanna! Jack frequents the Gorilla Nest Hotel where we were staying. I was able to meet Jack and his wife and snap a photo with him. Jack Hanna has been working in Rwanda with the wildlife conservation group.

Now I am back in Kigali ready for another week of school. The trip was an excellent break from a frequently hectic week. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part KICS. The other day I was visiting with one of my student's parents. She looked around my room and then at me and said, "Do you ever just stop and ask yourself how you ended up in such a great situation?" I do, and I all I can do is give thanks!

A field trip to CfA

Last week I had the opportunity to take my class on a field trip to Cards from Africa. Chris Page, founder of CfA, was gracious enough to take us on a tour of the facility. CfA begain in a small room with two orphans, a table and some recycled paper. Today, CfA staffs 55 orphans and exports cards around the world.

Check this out!

This is a message from a friend of mine, Chris Page. A couple of years ago, Chris left Great Britain to begin the CARDS FROM AFRICA program here in Kigali. CARDS FROM AFRICA was desigend to promote the well being of Rwandan orphans. Today there are over 55 orphans who make Cards out of Recycled paper. Many of these orphans are the head of their household, now they have a steady salary to sustain their family. In addition to a salary the children receive emotional and spiritual counseling.

What a wonderful way to promote the Kingdom here on Earth!!!



CARDS FROM AFRICA is honored to have been chosen as the first Rwandan business to have reached the finals in the BBC World competition called The World Challenge, out of over 800 entries from 120 countries. Please vote for them now by clicking on this link and voting for CARD AID - CARDS FROM AFRICA

http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/voteform.php

It will take you less than 30 seconds! You can watch them at the following times in Rwanda on BBC World, &/or read about them in Newsweek next week:
Saturday 14th October at 1130 & 1630 GMT
& Sunday 15th October at 0430, 1530 & 2230 GMT

For more information, please go to their website www.cardsfromafrica.com and

THANK YOU for your vote!

Soccer, Oprah and a Prayer

I am realizing more and more that having little bits of America is more precious to me than I thought. This morning the KICS teachers accompanied Kyle Beard to a Rwanda ladies Pro-soccer game. Kyle was scouting out the players to add to his Rwanda Ladies National team. Being the Soccer pros that we are, we were a lot of help scouting out girls. (Not at all)

Occasionally, we peered over our People, Oprah and TIME magazines to check out the game. Unfortunately for Kyle, a friend of ours had just given us a massive stash of American magazines.

In all honesty the game was fascinating and I met a 12 year old Rwandan girl who became a quick friend. The two of us had a good conversation. She asked me why I loved Rwanda, she told me that she loved to draw, I told her that Rwandans are strong people and have a great desire for peace and growth. She asked me to pray for her as she will be taking the national exams very soon. This exam is extremely important for Rwandan sixth graders. If a sixth grader does not do well on the National Exam, they will not move on to Secondary school and the chances of economic growth in their family is slim.

Pray for Rwandan youth, they are the future of this country.

I'm Back

The school year is finally under way and I am adjusting to a teacher's schedule. I have to admit I did not realize how much time goes into teaching. I wake up at 5:30am get ready for the day and am off to school by 6:45. In the evening I spend about 2-5 hours prepping for the next days. Sheesh, good thing I am not married!!

I am enjoying my class greatly. I am learning the art of teaching a classroom made up 5 boys and one girl. Middle School boys can be quite interesting at times. I am learning a lot about sports, computer games and various other masculine things. I guess the students are enjoying me as well. The other day I received an eloquent and beautifully worded compliment. "You don't teach geeky like other teachers." I'll try live up to such a task!

Besides school rolling along, my living situation has also changed. For the first 5 weeks Kyla and I jumped from several homes, mostly living with the Jenkins family. At one time during our stay with the Jenkins there were 12 people living in the house. Five Jenkins, 4 Ugandans, and 3 American teachers. Sounds like a movie. You can probably guess that things were kind of loud and crazy at times, but we had a lot fun together. Now, things are very quiet in our house. I have moved from the top of a bunk bed to the master bedroom and our numbers are down to 4. The Jenkins recently left for a 3 month stay in the US, so the KICS teachers are house sitting while they are away.

Taking care of a house is quite a challenge in itself, add living in a developing country and the fun begins. The first night we arrived to an empty house we were met at the gate by our cook. She told us that while we were out we ran out of CashPower and Gas. In Rwanda we pay for electricity in advance. A monitor indicates how much money and power is left in the house. A smily face changes to frowning face when it is time to reload. Well, I failed to check that and we ran out. Gas, was something I was not prepared for either. Thankfully Elly, our night guard, was a great help. He grabbed the empty gas can used for our stove and Lauren, Elly and myself piled into the Jenkins Prado that we are using while they are away. Elly took us from place to place and in a just an hour or so we had power back in the house and gas to cook with.

I mentioned previously the vehicle we are borrowing. At the moment I am the only one driving the massive SUV. I never thought I would say this, but I am now thankful for the two door Standard Geo Storm my parents bought for Marcus and me in our teen years. No really, knowing how to drive a standard car is a big deal in Rwanda. I am enjoying the freedom to drive and adjusting to the crazy roads and motorbike that whiz past me constantly. Being that Kigali is a very hilly city, first gear and four wheel drive is coming in handy. I am still learning how to back out of incredibly steep driveways (I almost rammed into someone's gate the other day) and dodging pot holes and pedestrians has also been a test.

Rwanda is full of interesting experiences, sites, sounds and stories. Everyday I experience hilarious Africa moments. Just the other night I was babysitting for the Brogdon family, some friends of ours in Kigali. Later that night, when I arrived home I realized I had forgotten to put the Mosquito Net over the children after they went to bed. Last night, at the Brogdons house I was apologizing to Jessica Brogdon about forgetting that important nightly ritual. We both started laughing about the whole situation, imagine having such a conversation in the states? Mosquito Nets?

Africa moments are quite common, the other day I was driving to school and we followed a massive truck full of about 30-40 men in Light Pink uniforms The men in Light Pink uniforms were prisoners. Behind the truck was a small pick up truck with two guards standing in the back. The two guards were holding large guns. An interesting site for a morning commute.

Thank you for your prayers as I adjust to Rwanda. We are holding a weekly bible study at a local campus in Kigali. Just some good conversation about the life of Christ. We have been studying various stories of Christ's life from the book of Luke. The questions, comments and answers are interesting, thought provoking and educational as we seek to know the Rwandan culture.

Prayer Needs:

1. Pray for Wisdom as I teach my students.
2. Pray that we can make good connections to Rwandan ladies as we plan to hold a Sunday afternoon bible study at our home . The study will begin in November.
3. Pray for Rwanda and her people.