The Third Trip To Africa
By Judy Knight
This time, in June 2004 there were 4 of us who went to Africa. Effrom Harrison, Kiro and I spent an afternoon in London. Maji Devi left the next day and went through Amsterdam. We met up in Nairobi, Kenya where we rested up and then took a bus.
First we visited Kiro’s brother Hassan, and his family in Kampala, Uganda.
Then we took another bus to Kigali, Rwanda and were greeted by a big crowd of more of Kiro’s family including his sister Halima and her children and his sister Zaujiya. We went to Halima’s house for dinner and a party.
In Kigali we met a lot of people. Only one of my favorite times was the party by candle light with Gatera and his workers at the construction site. In this photograph of us all together you would never know just how black it was.
We waited for yet another bus and then went on to Butare, Rwanda where we saw Cyrus in the yellow shirt. Kiro met him when he’d been in Butare the previous January. Maji, Effrom and I met him for the first time. We also met a lot of children.
Then it was on to the Rwanda/Burundi border and all our friends there.
When we were back on the bus driving through Burundi to Bujumbura we saw at least a hundred people walking on the road to church. I photographed from the bus window.
The first thing Effrom did in Bujumbura was get his hair washed. Then we met people.
Effrom, Maji, Kiro and I paid for a big meal in a local restaurant and invited everyone to come.
Then it was back to making acquaintances, hanging out, eating, resting and listening to music.
Effrom left to go to Kigali and Nairobi, but Maji, Kiro and I stayed and were on the radio.
After the radio show Maji and Adjobalove played in the sand at Lake Tanganyika. A year and a half later Maji returned to Nairobi and they were married.
Spes and Felix invited us to dinner.
Then a little more hanging out and Maji, Kiro, Jeff Mugabo and I were on another bus to Gisenyi, Rwanda.
In Gisenyi we had a lot of things to do (which you can see on the projects page), but less time. Then we were on the bus again through Uganda to Nairobi, Kenya. There Maji, Kiro, Zaujiya and I met up with Effrom who had made friends of his own. All of us saw him off on his plane back home.
It was lonely without him but we managed.
Our friend Asia saw us off at the airport.
A year later in June 2005 Effrom, Maji, Kiro and I had a reunion dinner at Au Lac on Brookhurst to celebrate our experiences together.