Komera Team: Santa Barbara Middle School Kids Ride in Rwanda

Figure out what it is that you genuinely care about. There are so many things to take on in the world . . . If you get a map for yourself of all the different things happening, and you really feel what you?re drawn to, you?ll be able to follow that and stay committed to that for the rest of your life and it will be a true joy. Find that thing.

~ Angelina Jolie

 

IMAGINE...

"Hey Mom, can I ride my bike in Rwanda this summer"

Imagine asking your mom or dad that when you were 12 or 13? However old you are today, what would your mom or dad say now?

7 kids from Santa Barbara Middle School (yes, you read about their school?s Ride 4 Rwanda here, saw them giving Angelina and Brad Project Rwanda jerseys last winter and telling them about coffee bikes) asked their parents that this past spring and just returned from a three-week journey they called Komera Team. Komera means ?Be Strong!? in kinyarwanda and the hills of Rwanda echoed with the sounds of middle school muzungu and Rwandese big and small as Alex, Britta, Eliana (pictured above interviewing Angelina), Rivers, Sophie, Henry and Max pedaled from the savannah of Akagera in the east, to the volcanoes of Byumba and Ruhengeri in the north, along the shores of Lake Kivu in the west, and through the valleys of Butare and Nyamata in the south. Their mission was to meet and greet and share the earth and sky with as many Rwandan people as their two wheels introduced them to. To share smiles and sweat, wonder and joy, greetings and giggles.

 

COMING OF AGE . . .

Henry Wilson, the youngest and smallest middle school muzungu of the group kicked off the journey with his bar mitzvah the weekend before Komera Team left. As part of his ceremony, Henry was asked to do a mitzvah (an act of kindness.) Henry decided to work for Project Rwanda and donate a portion of his gift money to bringing coffee bikes to Rwandan farmers. Henry?s mom decorated the entrance to the temple with a coffee bike and Project Rwanda brochures, calendars, jerseys and cycling caps. Henry ended his ceremony with a speech about Project Rwanda and why he felt it was a worthy mitzvah. As people gathered outside to toast with bread and wine, you could see calendars and brochures in their hands.

That night at Henry?s party, his proud Mom and Dad showed a video of the ride of his life. Henry ended the show with more words about Project Rwanda, why it deserved support and why he was going to go ride his bike there. Heavenly cyclists were smiling as they looked down on Santa Barbara that Saturday night watching young and old trade in their yamikas for bright caps of blue, green and gold. Little did farmers and families half way round the globe know that on another hilltop in a faraway place called California, a little muzungu named Henry was dancing to celebrate his coming of age, to honor their hope and hard work happening in Rwanda, and preparing for a visit.

To ride along with Henry, click here for his video

 

SOPHIE'S JOURNAL . . .

For the past twenty-one days I have been riding my bike with 6 Santa Barbara Middle School students in the Land of a Thousand Hills. The land I am talking about is the small country of Rwanda, located in Central Africa. Instead of driving across the country in cars like most tourists, we chose to ride our bikes over Rwanda?s thousand hills. Early on in our journey, I came to realize that there was no way I could possibly get the same feel for the country in a car as I got on the bike.

When you?re in a car, you are stereotyped. Stereotyped as a muzungu-a white person. Wealthy enough to travel. Wealthy enough to think you can make a difference by going to third-world countries and watching people through Land Rover windows. I believe that the best impression you can make to someone is from the saddle of a bike, defying all expectations of what a muzungu is. When you ride by local people and say a simple "muraho" or "mwaramutze" you shatter their previous thoughts about muzungus. It?s just another way to say, I?m not just here for me-I?m here for you. Children previously asking for agachupas (water bottles), bon-bons (sweets), and amafaranga (money), start smiling, laughing, waving, and often pushing you to the top of the next hill. This is what I love about biking in Rwanda, the smiling faces, the faces filled with surprise, excitement, and joy.

To see Rwanda from the magic of two wheels along with Henry, Sophie and Komera Team and go to: Komera Team Video