Ice Cream and Dreams

The dream started with Claire. She hatched this crazy idea that one day, every boy at the center would be able to eat ice cream. We both thought it was pretty far fetched in the beginning. It would be expensive and a logistical nightmare. 

But as Claire was preparing to leave Rwanda, she wanted to give the boys one final gift and she wouldn’t settle for anything less than an ice cream party. So, last Friday, she and I piled into the EDD truck and headed for Nakumatt (a supermarket with pretty much everything you can imagine) to get the ice cream. 150 plastic spoons and 16 liters later, we were back in the truck praying we would get to the center before it melted.

scooping away

We scooped quickly into plastic cup and tin plates and passed the sloppy mess to all of the boys. A few asked, “Does this come from a cow?” Most just sat and scraped their plates or cups until they were clean. At the end, we had a bit of melted ice cream left over so Claire poured it over the boys’ heads.

Total chaos

As I sat and watched the boys savor each and every bite, I couldn’t help but think how lucky they were that they ended up on EDD’s doorstep. This center has allowed them to have a childhood again; something, which was stripped from them the moment they ended up on the streets. They can go to school, have 3 meals a day, play, eat ice cream and have dreams: all things any kid should be entitled to.

For more about the ice cream extravaganza, check out Claire's Blog. Be sure to look at some of her other posts too!