One of the teachers at the Learning Centre passed away last night, after being hit by the grenade on Wednesday. I will have to sub for his evening class until they find a new teacher. I think he just got married a year ago and has a very young child. We may visit his family to see if they need anything. Pray for his family, please. And pray for me, so that I can take on another class and be a good teacher to both.
The funeral car parked at the house
Rwanda’s newspaper New Times has been shut down for the past few days, so there is no official information about the number of victims wounded or killed in the bombing. Everything I know has been word of mouth. According to the school director, 37 were critically injured and 3 deaths have been confirmed.
I will be attending the funeral this afternoon.
4:40 PM – I just returned from the funeral. It turns out that he just got married last year and his wife is pregnant. It is very, very sad. However, it was heart-warming to see the many droves of friends and family that came by to pay their respects at the house. There is such a strong sense of community here. Apparently in Rwanda, as long as you know the person who has passed away (it does not matter to what degree of familiarity), you are expected to come to the funeral. The family members wore beautiful white dresses – I was told that when a spouse passes away just shortly after a wedding, the widow and the relatives wear white to honor the dead.
The car carrying the coffin.