In the summer of 2006 eight people from churches in Martlesham, Kesgrave and Rushmere flew to Rwanda, a tiny country in eastern Africa, and worked with children in Hope Village as part of a short-term mission project with CMS. Three years on, one of these eight is returning to the same area near the Rwandan capital of Kigali as a leader along with twelve others (a total of four leaders and nine young people!), all from the churches in Martlesham, Kesgrave and Rushmere. This year’s team does not depart until the 13th of August, yet there has already been a lot of activity in preparation for the Route to Rwanda project. The total cost of the trip is well in excess of £20,000 and as a group the team aimed to raise £13,000. This required the organization of a series of carefully planned fund-raising events.

All the way back in February, six months before the actual trip, the team held an “Auction of Promises”. All of the young people, leaders and some of their families and friends made their own promises and put them up for auction. These promises ranged from cakes to house cleaning; from floral arrangements to a weekend in London. The evening was a fantastic success; bidding was both fierce and generous and the total amount raised was around £1,500, enough to send a whole person there (and back!).

In April the second major fund-raising event was held. The Route to Rwanda team put on a barn dance and most of the guests donned their checkered shirts and neck ties to dance away to the fantastic sounds of “No Spring Chicken” and their accordion in style. During the evening, all of the guests sat down together to eat a Ploughman's dinner, prepared by some of the team; this in itself was a great team bonding exercise as they frantically tried to arrange dinner for dozens of dancers. All night long the atmosphere was buzzing and no-one shied away when it came to grabbing a partner and participating in the dances. It seemed that everyone who took part, despite ending up highly confused by the dances’ complicated steps, enjoyed the evening, which was reflected by the fact that the evening raised enough money to send another entire person to Rwanda.

The last of the three big fund-raising events was a murder mystery evening, held in the church at Rushmere St Andrew’s. All willing Route to Rwanda team members dressed up as potential suspects for the murder of the Dowager, played by youth worker and Rwanda group leader Karen. The team had as much fun as the guests as they were interrogated upon their involvement in the death. All but one team of investigators were at a total loss as to the identity of the true murderer but nobody lost heart and the evening served as a vital contribution to the all important Route to Rwanda funds.

Mid-May the team packed their bags for their first trip together, to Oxford. Although the journey was 2933 miles short of the 3071 miles to Rwanda it was no less important; the group travelled to the CMS headquarters in Oxford to take part in a briefing weekend. The team met the other groups who will be experiencing Encounter trips with CMS this summer to places such as Kenya, Tanzania and Romania. The young people and leaders learnt about photography and writing, and how to use them to share our experiences with others, as well as discussing issues such as how to cope with culture shock. This was done by playing a rather interesting game which left most of our group only able to talk using sounds like “eed” and “rouu”. Meeting the other groups and swapping stories about fund-raising and raising awareness at home really brought it home that the trip was soon approaching. It was also a chance for everyone to talk about practicalities such as what clothes to take and the best kind of sun cream.

Since that weekend the Route to Rwanda fund-raising efforts have continued and the team has, thanks to the generosity and support of family and friends, raised and received the amount needed for the trip. Everyone is now well prepared, dosed up with vaccinations, and the Route to Rwanda choir has been formed, with a repertoire of songs and a singing lesson planned! Now the only thing left to do is to pack bags and arrive on time for the flight...

As the very final arrangements are fine-tuned and we prepare to leave for Rwanda in under a fortnight’s time, the team thanks everyone who has contributed to our trip in time, money or any other form and we ask for your continued support, encouragement and prayers.