POST AND PHOTOS BY BAILEY ADAMS // PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2016

Last week we welcomed more than 700 mothers, caregivers, community members, and local leaders to our farm in Rwanda for a very special GHI Thanksgiving celebration - full of song, dance, and delicious food. For the seventh year in a row, this event has been a time to honor the harvest, celebrate the families enrolled in our program, and give back to our local community. In addition, it’s a celebration of the power of food to create community and foster better health – the very core of our work in Rwanda.

While Thanksgiving is traditionally an American holiday, the ethos and spirit is also very Rwandan. During the traditional Rwandan festival of Umuganura, or first fruits festival, families would gather to feast and give thanks to God and their Ancestors, not only for the harvest, but for all the good things in life. It was also an occasion to bring together Rwandans from all social classes to celebrate together and cement the social fabric of the nation. Unity, sharing, and hospitality were, and continue to be, key values of Umuganura.

At our GHI Thanksgiving celebration we channel these same values by exchanging food, stories, and light moments while our most vulnerable families and neighbors, local government officials, and staff sit side-by-side to share a meal.

For days before the celebration the farm teemed with activity as flags and decorations were hung, thousands of potatoes were peeled, and a feast was prepared. Our staff worked well into the night, cooking and singing under the stars.

Before we enjoyed this wonderful feast, we heard testimonies from our partner families, watched as beautiful poems of thanks were recited, and joined in as traditional songs and dances were performed.

After everyone was well-fed, caregivers presented GHI with gifts from their home gardens in a beautiful moment that epitomized the power of giving thanks and giving back. We were able to continue the cycle of unity and sharing by redistributing these generous harvest gifts to our most vulnerable neighbors and community members, further demonstrating the power of food to foster community and inspire change.

At GHI, we are constantly reminded of the many things we have to be #thankful for. Events like these are the perfect opportunity to for us to say thank you and murakoze cyane to the many people that make our work possible, and to recognize the incredible power of caregivers to create real change in their lives. Happy Thanksgiving to all and as always, Turi Kumwe!

#GratefulGhi

--

Icyumweru gishize ku ifamu yacu mu Rwanda twakiriye ababyeyi barenga 700, abarera abana, abantu baturutse mu muryango mugari ndetse n’abayobozi b’inzego z’ibanze mu rwego rwo kwizihiza umuganura wihariye wa GHI – wari wiganjemo indirimbo, imbyino n’amafunguro aryoshye cyane. Mu myaka irindwi ikurikiranye ishize, ibi birori byabaye umwanya wo kwizihiza umusaruro, kwizihiza imiryango yabaruwe muri gahunda yacu ndetse no kwitura umuryango mugari dukoreramo. Icyiyongeraho, ni uko ari ukwizihiza imbaraga z’ibiribwa mu kubaka umuryango mugari no gutegura ubuzima bwiza kurushaho – akaba ari nabyo zingiro ry’ akazi dukora mu Rwanda.

N’ubwo Thanksgiving (umuganura) ari umunsi mukuru wizihizwa mu muco w’abanyamerika, filozofi yayo n’uko iteye bihuye cyane n’umuco nyarwanda. Mu gihe cyo kwiziza umuganura mu muco wa Kinyarwanda, cyangwa se kwizihiza imbuto, imiryango yarateranaga kugira ngo yizihirize hamwe kandi ishimire Imana n’abakurambere, atari ukwizihiza umusaruro gusa, ahubwo ari no kwizihiza ibintu byiza byose biba mu buzima. Ikindi wari umwanya wo guhuza abanyarwanda bo mu nzego zose maze bakubaka igihugu gishingiye ku ku ndangagaciro y’umuryango mugari. Ubumwe, gusangira, no kwakira neza abakugana byahoze kandi bikomeje kuba urufunguzo ku ndangagaciro z’Umuganura.

Mu kwizihiziza umuganura wacu muri GHI natwe tubinyuza muri izi ndangagaciro bikubiyemo gusangira amafunguro, inkuru, n’ibihe byiza hamwe n’ imiryango dukorana y’abatishoboye, abaturanyi, abayobozi b’inzego z’ibanze hamwe’abakozi bose, tukicarana tugasangira amafunguro.

Iminsi myinshi mbere y’uko tuwizihiza, mu murima wacu aho dukorera hari hari akazi kenshi cyane mu gihe twamanikaga imitako y’utubendera, abandi bahata ibirayi , uko niko twiteguraga ibirori. Abakozi bacu bakoze ijoro ryose, bateka banaririmbira hanze ku rumuri rw’ukwezi n’inyenyeri.

Mbere y’uko twishimira ibi birori by’akataboneka, twumvise ubuhamya bw’imiryango y’abafatanyabikorwa bacu, twumva imivugo yo gutanga amashimwe, ubundi turirimba indirimbo zo mu muco wacu turanazibyina.

Nyuma y’uko abantu bose bijuse, ababyeyi bita ku bana bashyikirije GHI impano z’ibyo bejeje mu mirima yabo; wari umwanya mwiza cyane wo kwerekana imbaraga zo gutanga amashimwe no kwitura. Twabashije gukomeza gukora uruziga rw’ubumwe no gusangira binyuze mu kongera gutanga izi mpano z’umusaruro w’ibiribwa tukabiha imiryango y’abatishoboye kurusha abandi mubo duturanye, abagize umuryango mugari n’icyiyongeraho tukagaragaza imbaraga z’ibiribwa mu kubaka umuryango mugari, ndetse no gukangurira abandi gutuma habaho impinduka.

Muri GHI, buri gihe twibutswa ko kimwe mu bintu byinshi tugomba gukora, tugomba #Gushima. Ibirori nk’ibi ni umwanya w’agahebuzo kuri twe kugira ngo dushimire tuti murakoze cyane ku bantu benshi batuma akazi kacu gashobora gukorwa, ndetse no kugaragaza uburyo ibyo abita kubana bakora bifite imbaraga zikomeye mu gutuma habaho impinduka zigaragara mu buzima bwabo. Umuganura mwiza kuri bose kandi nk’uko bisanzwe iteka, Turi Kumwe! #GratefulGhi

GHI Thanksgiving 2016!