This African proverb literally translated is “time will cook an elephant in a very small pot.”  I am told that the meaning, however, is that “with time, things become possible.”

After many discussions with my colleagues upon my return, we have decided that a small group of us will return to Rwanda in September to do some teaching (and some learning!) at King Faisal Hospital in Kigali. We were invited back by the pediatrician and Deputy Director of Nursing, so we will take them up on that offer and return to further our friendship with the neonatal nurses at their hospital. As you might imagine, there is much excitement in the NICU at the University of Kansas Hospital right now!

Steve and I went to the Kansas City Wizards game last night and spoke with our friend Sam Pierron who works in the Wizards’ office–and who was responsible for getting soccer balls for us to take to the children at Urukundo and Les Enfants. We told Sam that some of the children at Urukundo had challenged the Wizards to a match, and his reply was that anything is possible! I will start looking for a pot for that  elephant!

During our trip I once again became overwhelmed at how much there is that could be done in this country, and how I am just one person with limited resources. As always, I was reminded in many ways of how things seem to work out the way they are supposed to if you just persist. (Okay, I’m a slow learner and a skeptic!) The first reminder came in a visual form: 

For those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning, you might remember that I talked about a beautiful sunset that I saw from the air on the flight to Kigali last year. That sunset, for me, was an indication that the trip I was starting was going to have a significant impact on my life.

Since then I have had many reminders of the commitment I made last year to make a difference and to give back. Often it is simply an encouraging word from a friend or a stranger, sometimes it is a donation of medical supplies from a vendor at a conference I am attending, or the tireless gathering of supplies by my colleagues that would otherwise be thrown away. This year it started with the rainbow we saw on our way back to Kigali on our last night in Rwanda. Rainbows symbolize promise to me, and I think the promise in this rainbow is that if I persist in what I set out to do, it will happen.

Since returning several people have approached me and asked if I would be willing to share our trip with some group or another, and to tell what One Good Deed is all about. My friend Carla introduced me to her husband, Danny, who is the “Bean Baron” in Kansas City. He owns the Roasterie, a local coffee plant in our city. Danny visited Rwanda last fall and was as taken with this country as I have been, and he has offered the Roasterie as a place to do a fundraiser and he will provide the best coffee in town! We are planning this now.

Barbara from Oregon called to hear about the trip, and she offered to donate a beautiful childrens quilt that she made that we can use for a silent auction fundraiser. Once again, the generosity of others has humbled me. I may be just one person, but I see now that many more are joining me and we are pooling our resources and anything truly is possible.