Memory Dance has made an appearance in Rwanda!

We have received our new families! In a family there is a mother, a big brother/sister (counsellor) and us (cousins). I have 16 girls that are eager to learn and happy to be in a family. My girls are age 15 to 18 and come from all parts of the country. In this village, the family is really important because it is a way to know these girls deeply, it gives them a sense of belonging, a family (which many do not have), and to make them feel comfortable. This village is not a boarding school. They do not want to have a institutional feeling here because they think this would not help these vulnerable kids that have grown up feeling unloved, alienated and alone.
The girls think I'm kind of strange. Mostly they just giggle and stare at me when I talk with them. I'm not sure if this is because they think I'm funny, they are shy, or they don't understand. Some come to the village with pretty good English skills and some, barely any. Next week we are going to be doing an English intensive with all the new kids to help them out before they start school in January.
Their reaction to me is similar to many rural kids in Rwanda. They think seeing a foreigner is more exciting than an ice cream truck (if they had such things) and more entertaining than TV. Crowds of children will follow you and stare at you with wide eyes. The really brave ones might talk to you. When you speak in Kinyarwanda or in English they think it's hilarious. They are very curious about you and the kids/youth that speak English will often walk with you for way so they can practice.
Tonight we are having a New Year's Eve Celebration where they kids will be performing traditional dance, hip hop, comedy, music, drama and poetry. From what I've seen from peaking in on some rehearsal time and leading memory dance chain as a warm up for the hip hop group- some of these kids have mad skills! I'm really excited to see the performances and hopefully we can share some dance moves over the year... maybe I can trade some Michael Jackson moves for some traditional Rwandan dance moves. :)