The holy draft.

Le 16 mars    Being religious is pretty much the equivalent of being a free-agent during the draft season – you can be sent anywhere. Except in the religious realm, draft season is your entire life.

We’ve had quite a few changes since I first arrived in Gisenyi. Now, a few more have been added to the list. In the fall, Sr. Lumiere took the National Exam in Hotel and Restaurant Management. With the release of the scores a few weeks back, the Provincial in Kenya decided that Sr. Lumiere should make the most of her good marks and start studying at Rwanda Tourism University College – Gisenyi branch.

Yay! I was so happy to get the news. Sr. Lumiere is wonderful in so many ways and it’s wonderful and enriching to have her around.

And then a few days later, we got some more news – with Sr. Lumiere’s addition to our community, we would have to be sending our Sr. Josephine to Nairobi. Not even Kigali! With the nun-shuffle, Sr. Lumiere is coming here, Sr. Josephine goes to Nairobi and a Kenyan sister will be heading to Kigali.

It’s sad to see one of my dear sisters go, but all were very accepting of the news because, as they say, “it’s all a part of the life.” And they’ve grown used to it. Where we had a loss, there was also a gain. Besides, there’s nothing much that these sisters can get flustered or frustrated about, because they say, “C’est ca que Dieu veut.” (“That’s what God wants.”) It’s a nice way of looking at everything beyond our control. I like it.