Sometimes life asks us a question.
Not loudly.
Not with a carefully planned roadmap.
Just a quiet little “What if?”
What if you stepped away from everything familiar?
What if you said yes to something that scared you?
What if, instead of waiting for the perfect time, you simply trusted that it was time?
For me, that question led me to Rwanda.
After many rewarding years in consulting, I found myself presented with an opportunity I couldn’t easily explain away. An opportunity to step outside my comfortable, familiar life in Canada and spend 15 months in Rwanda as a volunteer.
And I said yes.
At 60 years of age – I am here to work, to learn, to serve and to contribute. But I suspect that is only part of the story. I also came here willing to be changed.
My husband has accompanied me, and this makes this adventure even more meaningful. Together, we have left behind the routines, comforts and familiarity of home and arrived in a place that is already teaching us to look at life a little differently.
There is excitement, of course. There is also uncertainty. There are moments when I wonder what I have gotten myself into!
But perhaps that’s the point.
Growth rarely happens when everything feels comfortable.
Over the next 15 months, I want to share this experience honestly — not as an expert on Rwanda, and certainly not as someone arriving with all the answers.
I want to share it as a learner.
I want to introduce you to the Rwanda I am experiencing: the people, the places, the work, the challenges, the laughter, the unexpected moments and the lessons that find us when we aren’t looking for them.
I want to share the beautiful moments. And the difficult ones. The things I understand immediately. And the things I don’t understand at all.
Most of all, I want to document what happens when we have the courage to step outside the life we know.
Maybe this will simply be my record of 15 months in Rwanda. Maybe it will become something more. I don’t know yet. And for once, I’m comfortable not knowing. So, welcome to my Rwanda chapter.
This is my journey — documented, shared and lived one day at a time.
Let’s see where it takes me.