Day Two

It's 10pm here, very late by how the world turns around the equator. The sun rises around quarter-past five, and drops suddenly at 5:30 or so. We're adjusting to a schedule that maximizes our daylight time, especially around the beautiful light that is to be had near dawn & dusk.

This morning was spent doing planning, setting up equipment & taking over the Wellspring/CLA site office as our documentary HQ. The rain was torrential and long, unusual for the rainy season. Normally the rains come in around 1:30, pound for about 20 minutes, and the sun returns soon after. It was bleary when we awoke, and it stayed that way until the end of the afternoon.

Today we stretched our legs as a shooting team, getting our first bits of footage. We shot at Gisozi, a national genocide museum created with western funds. There is a small but very deep cemetary on the site where 250,000 bodies from around Kigali were buried after the genocide. It was moving to walk through the museum and see the great pain and unresolved hurts on the faces of the Rwandans walking with us through the exhibits.

In true Rwandan fashion, we shot footage of the eternal flame that blew out about every twenty minutes.

Today, with everybody together, we surveyed the true scope of what we are trying to accomplish. We have some incredible opportunities to shoot people & places that very few have access to. For example, in the Rwandan government, we have interviews with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the State Minister of Education, and an influention member of parliament. These are three of almost three-dozen major interviews or locations we have on to film. We have a lot to accomplish in the next 10 days. Pray for wisdom and skill as we try to refine our plan and finish what we came here to do.

I'm trying to get some pics up but the dial-up isn't cooperating... check back tomorrow!