Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving, belatedly, to all of my friends and family in the United States.

We have much for which to be thankful, even in these challenging times, and on behalf of ARC Rwanda I would like to thank the foundations and individuals who continue to support the work of the Income Generation Program.

The work continues despite the holidays. Tomorrow, Monday December 1, I will be going to Gihembe Camp for a three day planning workshop for our 2009 IGP/VSLA Program.

On Tuesday we will have all of the refugee animators from the three camps together to do a small training session on how to support the savings groups that will be sharing out there money at the end of the year. I plan to attend as many of these share out meetings as possible and will try to post photos of that.

Then on Wednesday and Thursday the IGP Coordinators will be meeting to finalize our program plans for 2009, now that our sources of funding have been confirmed.

Deepest thanks, again, to our generous and supportive sponsors. We could not do our work without you.

Weaving A New Tomorrow.

"They say that the tree of loving,
Shine on me again,
Grows on the bank of the river of suffering,
Shine on me again.

If only I could heal your sorrow,
Shine on me again,
I'd help you to find your new tomorrow,
Shine on me again.

Weave, weave, weave me the sunshine
Out of the falling rain.
Weave me the hope of a new tomorrow,
And fill my cup again."

--"Weave Me the Sunshine" by Peter Yarrow

The women whom you see here are refugees, from Kiziba Camp, who have spent the past three weeks in Kigali at the Gahaya Links workshop learning how to weave traditional Rwandan baskets.

These beautiful works of art are sold in the United States by Macy's Department Store through a project established by two Rwandan sisters, Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana, to provide village women with the training that they need in order to make baskets of export quality.

When the training is finished the women will return to Kiziba Camp with a purchase order for baskets and the materials that they need in order to make them. In addition to producing baskets they will also train others, so that the activity can become well established in the camp.

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Gahaya Links to visit our groups. I found a warm welcome and many smiles on the faces of these women who are learning to weave a better future for themselves and their families.

Vote! The Whole World Really Is Watching.

November 4 is Election Day in America and it should be a holiday here as well, as everyone's attention will be riveted on the results from the USA.

Have no doubt, the world is watching, because what happens everywhere is very much influenced by the outcome of our elections.

This headline from Newsweek is just one example--"The World Hopes for Its First President."

So please, treasure your democracy and cast your vote.

Billions of lives depend on it.