In two weeks time, the first of three groups visiting partners and projects in Rwanda will, God willing, arrive. For some of those who will be part of those groups this will be the first time they have been in Africa or on a Comfort International visit, for others they will be returning after many previous visits. Although we managed a one group visit last year the Covid years have added a special longing to be back with our dear friends and partners.
The first group to arrive will be from Arbroath Academy. We have had several great trips with the school, and with an emphasis on youth to youth activities, we are really looking forward to introducing the school students and teachers to our wonderful partners and projects. Izzy Henderson, one of our trustees, will be a staff member with this group.
This will be followed by a Bishopbriggs Community Church and Sandyhills Parish Church group. Both churches operate a partnership with the Karongi Good News International genocide survivors’ groups and we will be spending the best part of a week visiting those groups. Becca Hoyle and Aileen O’Donnell head up the sponsorship admin for Comfort Babies (Rwanda) and SKR Nyabisindu respectively and we will also be looking forward to time with those projects.
The third group is an ‘all comers’ group with people from Oban, Aberdeen, Dumbarton, Linlithgow, Hamilton, and Edinburgh. This will also include some group members visiting our partners in DR Congo, Burundi and South Sudan. It will be our first chance to visit the new project among the Batwa in Burundi and we look forward to building relationships with them. We are also hopeful that the building of the Comfort Transformation Centre will finally be underway as the access road is almost finished.
Next year is our 25th anniversary and a great time to consider a visit to our partners and projects. We try and book flights around 11 months in advance so if you think this could be your year for the trip of a lifetime now is the time to think and pray and get in touch (rebeccandombe@comfortinternationl.org). From pancakes at Good News Guest House to trampling ‘chondo’ to make mud bricks, from sports and crafts with the Street Kids Rescue children to lifting up our voices in song with our African brothers and sisters, from harrowing accounts of trauma to uplifting stories of recovery and restoration and from the shiny new buildings of Kigali to the volcanic rubble of Rusayu we look forward to special times both this year and next.
