• Alma is {still} 8

    NOTE: this is part of a series of blog posts that I SHOULD have written long ago. Events and things that I do want to share with others, and have a record of for us. So here they are – woefully late…and that’s on me. mea culpa. So our youngest is now 8. That makes…

  • Washing Feet

    NOTE: this is a cross-post from our team blog www.wordanddeedafrica.com that was written by our intern Alexis. Since it’s about Susan and her work at the feeding program I thought I’d share it here …but you really should be reading that blog! Every Monday and Friday women and children from all over Gitega province walk…

  • kids we(a)re home

    The two older kids are were home from Kenya on their Christmas break. As of yesterday, they’re back at school in Kenya. The time really does go by fast when they’re here. We had a great time together, We got away to Tanzania to the same place we’ve gone camping for the 4th year in…

  • abana

    abana

    hey everyone… umwaka mushasha mwiza….happy new year. Just a quick post to share some pictures I took the other day when I accompanied Susan to visit the home of a widow who attends the feeding program. She lives in an IDP camp (Internally Displaced Persons…basically refugees who never cross the border) not too far from…

  • Noeli Nziza 2019

    This year is our fifth Christmas in Burundi. If I’m counting right, since we were married that makes: 8 in France, 5 here, 1 in Kazakstan, and the remaining 9 in Canada. Despite being here several years, there are definitely still parts about it that feel odd. It still feels strange to go camping at…

  • Micah is 13

    {PART OF THE MEA CULPA SERIES OF POSTS _ where I post things I should have written a long time ago. yeah…that’s on me.} So we now (yes…months ago) have 3 teenagers in the family. Micah turned 13 just before the kids headed back to school. Yes, every kid changes a lot every year..but his…

  • Rainy rainy season

    This time of year is really the heart of the rainy season. It’s supposed to be raining. Just not this much. This is actually a very rainy rainy season. Sure there are some annoyances about it: trying to dry clothes, go for a run, and the incessant darkness. However, it’s pretty easy to look over…

  • What a difference a decade makes

    {PART OF THE MEA CULPA SERIES OF POSTS _ where I post things I should have written a long time ago… yeah…that’s on me.} {{{ Apparently, this was something I wrote almost exactly 9 years ago in 2010 after we had moved back to France. Not sure why I never posted it…but here it is…

  • Katavi {Pt.II}

    Katavi {Pt.II}

    {PART OF THE MEA CULPA SERIES OF POSTS _ where I post things I should have written a long time ago… yeah…that’s on me.} The second day we got the same guide and saw some new things, some of the same things…but it was great. {again…almost all these pictures were taken by Jonah…} Also…I suppose…

  • Katavi National Park {Pt.I}

    Katavi National Park {Pt.I}

    or: How to see amazing African animals without the normal crowding and cost. {PART OF THE MEA CULPA SERIES OF POSTS _ where I post things I should have written a long time ago… yeah…that’s on me.} In August we decided to take a road trip that we’ve been talking about for a few years.…

  • How Low Can You Go?

    How Low Can You Go?

    One of the strange things we have found living up here in Kibuye is that our perspective has shifted.   A lot. When we first arrived in Burundi, we lived in the capital, Bujumbura. As we explored the city we saw a place that was very economically underdeveloped. It felt almost quasi-rural at times, with…

  • ‘Tis the Season

    ‘Tis the Season

    On Friday night our family set up our Christmas tree.  As is our Christmas tradition, the evening we decorate the tree we have snack supper, play Christmas music, and it’s when it really starts to feel like Christmas is coming. There are some things that go along with Christmas that feel so siimilar, so familiar.…

  • Home again, home again…jiggidy jig *

    Home again, home again…jiggidy jig *

    The big kids are home!  They landed in Bujumbura a week ago Saturday, and we stayed overnigight in the city.  I’m quite convinced that it will never not feel strange to have to pick up your kids from an international flight when they come home from school…but such is life #ThisBurundianLife Already in one week, we’ve…

  • For November 11th.

    This is a re-post of something I wrote after visiting Normandy just before the 70 anniversary of D-Day, and I feel it still reflects my feelings on a day like today. This year marks 100 years since the guns were silenced on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.  The signing…

  • Something a little different.

    This is just a one-time notice that I’ve started another site to share some writing / thoughts I have.  OK – the truth is that I started it several years ago – but never had the courage to actually share what I wrote.  So before I change my mind and delete this post…here it is:…

  • Yee-Haw (?)

    Yee-Haw (?)

    In keeping with the theme of themed birthdays here in Kibuye, when our youngest turned 7 (!) we were surrounded by cow-boys/girls. Having spent half of my school-years in Alberta, and rural Alberta at that – is perhaps why the whole ‘cowboy’ motif is lost a bit on me.  I feel like there are real…

  • #NotHowIGrewUp

    #NotHowIGrewUp

    Of course it’s true that the more time we spend living and working in a place like Kibuye, the more things that once seemed strange become commonplace. Despite that, there are still many things that cause me to stop and appreciate the difference between how I grew up, and the childhood our kids are having.…

  • Kenya dig it?

    Kenya dig it?

    We spent several weeks in Kenya last month, for various reasons. Some of them good, some hard, some both. Leaving Burundi seems to always be at leas a partial adventure in and of itself. You never really know what you’re going to get. Cancelled flights, road closures, or like this time, the ‘system’ is down…

  • close and far

    One of the strange things about living in a place like Kibuye is that so much of our daily lives take place really close. I mean – like measured in several hundreds of meters from our house. The kids’ school is about 30 m away – we can see and hear the kids in their…

  • Baby Moses & Mama Clairia

    Baby Moses & Mama Clairia

    NOTE: in case you don’t follow our team blog (which you really, really should) here is a post Susan just wrote over there. About 5 months ago, a baby boy was born in a field just up the hill from our hospital. For reasons we will never know, the mother left the baby there and disappeared.…

  • Community. Kibuye-style

    NOTE: in case you don’t follow our team blog (which you really, really should) here is a post I put up a while ago on what it feels like to live here. There are probably many things that make living here a fairly unique experience for our team. Living in arguably the worlds poorest, hungriest,…

  • Christmas in Kibuye (the third)

    Christmas in Kibuye (the third)

    So a while ago we celebrated our third Christmas here in Kibuye. Seems strange in many ways – that we have already been here long enough to celebrate Christmas for the third time. Feels strange that we have made this place our home that we only visited for the first time when we arrived here…

  • The youngest gets older

    The youngest gets older

    It’s hard to say things about the age of your youngest child and not sound like a quasi-senile old person. “I can’t believe you’re so big” “seems like you were just born” “But you’re my baby” etc. But – there she is….six years old. First grade. Lost her first tooth last week. For her birthday…

  • Micah is 11

    Micah is 11

    Look at that – He’s ELEVEN! So Micah’s birthday being in August seems to frequently be not ‘at home’. This year was the end of our time in Canada (in fact, Jonah & I flew to Kenya on his birthday) This pattern has played out a bit in the past: Last year he turned 10…

  • Divine Love

    Divine Love

    NOTE: This post – written by Susan – was originally posted on our team blog: www.mccropders.com What I’m about to tell you is a love story.  This is one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever experienced.  It involves unconditional love, costly sacrifice, incredible patience and perseverance.  But this is not your usual love story. …