At HopEthiopia/Rwanda we have had a lot of diversity with what we have been doing for ministry. One day we are participating in a fashion show, Project Runway, and the next day we are wrangling over fifty kiddos at a school. Yet one of my favorite days thus far has been working with the men’s ministry through HopEthiopia/Rwanda.
In the men’s program they work specifically with men that have graduated from the Iwawa Island here in Rwanda. Iwawa Island is a drug rehabilitation program that’s model is to take criminals and return them into role models, and they do so on an isolated island in between the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Rwanda for an entire year. In this program they focus on teaching former drug addicted and delinquent males in carpentry, construction and tailoring plus general knowledge in commercial agriculture and husbandry, traffic laws, motorcycle handling, ICT skills and literacy for those who didn’t manage to attend school at all. Once graduated, typically over 900 men each year, they simply enter back into the world… however this often leaves these men falling back into previous habits.
In the states, when people go through any form of rehabilitation program there is typically a form of transition housing for them to reintegrate. However in Rwanda it is less common, and HopEthiopia/Rwanda saw this gap. Their program is centered on Christ, and empowering these men to use the skills they have learned at Iwawa or before. Of these men, some of them did not know Jesus before entering into the home… BUT NOW they do! Solely based on the relational piece that is exuded in this program house.
I am so thankful that we have been able to share time with these men, and challenging them with WorldRace style team building activities, worship with them at the land, and even a talent show. ACTUALLY HILARIOUS.
Meet their smiles, please… this video is precious all around.
xoxo
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breaking out the training camp games haha. This all looked like so much fun!
I smiled at how training camp games showed up again on the race! It looked like you all had a lot of fun and at the same time brought joy to the men. I’m proud of Berry for trying the stilts!!