The Rwanda Series

Meeting The Prime Minister Of Rwanda

By ThinkJP.Consulting® Copyright© 2015 - All Rights Reserved

When we deplaned in Kigali, we spotted the Prime Minister’s wife, with a whole group of others awaiting our arrival in the diplomatic area where our passports would be stamped.  Among them were Ezekiel and Irene, Jean, and Jacques whom you will hear more about later.  Of course we had to wait for our luggage and as fate would have it, three of our four pieces were missing.  The good news was, the one piece that did arrive contained all the letters and goodies that our Rwanda friends in Michigan had sent with us for their family and friends.  The bad news was, we had no clothes.

We were happy that our carry-on luggage contained all of our toiletries and meds, so we didn’t feel it would be any hardship to make it through the night.  Besides, we fully expected the rest of our luggage to arrive the next day.  We forgot that there was just one flight per week into Kigali.   Selfishly, I was envisioning a shopping trip and some new clothes out of this ordeal.

Of course we had to go to baggage claim.  We were so thankful that the Prime Minister’s wife was acting in our behalf, and though she was unable to speak a lot of English, she was able to get an interpreter involved so that we could at least place the claim.  I waited in the center section with our carry-on luggage, and the bag that had arrived.  All the people that had come to greet us at the airport waited with me while Jack and the Prime Minister’s wife placed the claim for our missing bags. 

Of all the times in my life I wished I could speak another language, it was now.  I had never been anywhere before that people didn’t speak my language, even Mexico, so I was feeling very uncomfortable that I had no way of communicating with these people.  We exchanged a lot of smiles, which is a universal language.  Not being an outgoing person, I was praying that Jack would return quickly and rescue me from this awkward situation.

When they finally got things taken care of with the luggage, we learned that it would be several days before we would connect with our missing bags, if ever, as there was not another flight expected into Kigali until the end of the week.  I was really feeling tired and still a little nauseated, so I was anxious to leave the airport and go to our hotel. 

The Prime Minister’s wife was so sweet and wouldn’t allow me to carry any of our bags.  Once we were with her, she insisted that we were treated at the same respect level as she.  When we were outside, I picked up one of our carry-on bags to load into the vehicle, but she quickly took it from me.  Her personal bodyguard quickly went to take it from her, but she waved him away and said something to him that I didn’t understand.  As he fell back into place, she personally put my bag into the vehicle.  After that, I knew that we would be safe, and well cared for.

We couldn’t all fit in the Prime Minister’s vehicle with the luggage, so it was determined that we would follow behind in Ezekiel’s car.  The Prime Minister’s wife was not ready to separate herself from us just yet and quickly jumped into the back seat beside us.  The security guards were in front and behind us, but her personal bodyguard was totally bewildered as there was no room for him in the vehicle with us.  Apparently he had strict orders never to leave her side. However, again she said something to him I didn’t understand and he reluctantly went back to the secured vehicle.  You could tell he was not happy, but Mrs. Prime Minister would not relent.

We were quite surprised when the whole group came up to our room with us.  We needed two elevators to accommodate everyone.  I longed for a shower and some serious freshening up before meeting the Prime Minister for the first time but didn’t feel that I could use the bathroom comfortably or relax for even a minute with everyone packed into our room.  Mrs. Prime Minister made sure everything was okay with our accommodations, and then we all went back downstairs to go to their home for dinner.

I looked and felt like a sick, weary, traveler.  We arrived at the Prime Minister’s home and stopped at the security gate that was guarded by several soldiers.  Inside the gates, the Prime Minister waited to welcome us to his home.  He apologized for not greeting us at the airport, but explained how difficult that would be.

It was a wonderful night that I will never forget.  Jack and I were treated like royalty in their home, and my heart was even more taken over by these beautiful people of Rwanda. After being served soft drinks and wisely given an opportunity to freshen up in Mrs. Prime Minister’s personal bathroom, we were seated on each side of the Prime Minister as a very lovely dinner was set in front of us. We tried to explain to them about my airsickness, but they didn’t seem to understand and kept putting things on my plate.  I tried to eat some of everything offered, though I was still feeling a bit of nausea. I prayed that God would take care of me tonight because I fully expected to be very ill.  I was pleasantly surprised that neither Jack nor I got ill that night.  We had a nice time getting acquainted over dinner and took an instant liking to the Prime Minister, whom we felt honored to call “Papa Chris” on a more personal term.  He told us that he had arranged for us to have a personal driver, guide and interpreter that he trusted implicitly.  We later learned they were brothers. 

Back at the hotel, I couldn’t help but think of the amazing set of circumstances that brought us here to Rwanda.  There was no doubt that God was leading in this trip, and we were both confident that He had a very specific plan for bringing us here.  Still, in spite of how much I liked these folks, and wanting to trust God, I hoped that Jack would accomplish everything he needed to during this visit so he wouldn’t have to return, and above all, that God wouldn’t ask us to move to Rwanda.

We enjoyed a restful night and was awakened at the break of dawn to all the new sounds of the tropical birds.  It was so peaceful just lying there and listening to them sing.  The peaceful atmosphere didn’t last long, once we were up.  Even with the electrical adaptor we brought I wasn’t able to use my curling iron, and we could only use our hair dryer on low for a few seconds at a time.  Of course we blew the breaker before we realized this.  The people at the hotel were all so helpful though, and got us working in short order.  I wondered what would this day hold. 

THE END