Life is a compilation of contrasts. So is Africa―and today was no exception. Several of us on the Women of Faith team are traveling in Rwanda with World Vision and today was amazing.

The early part of the day was delightful; we visited a village where World Vision is working their miracles. Between seeing sponsored children (and those who are yet to have a sponsor) we met six orphaned teenagers who have formed a team to start a little business of baking bread. As they demonstrated their bread-making expertise, they explained that they each had younger siblings at home for whom they are providing. “That’s why we need a business,” the only boy stated. (He seemed to be the head baker!) We were impressed. And, when we tasted the bread we watched them make, which had been baked in an outdoor brick oven, we were even more impressed.

Our next stop was for lunch in the World Vision office in Nyamagabe, Rwanda. While there, Lisa Whelchel had the opportunity to meet the young girl she sponsors through World Vision. The little girl walked to the office with her mother and was adorable. As Lisa approached her, she was very shy. They had lunch together and, at first, the little girl was quite shy. WV provided an interpreter and soon the little girl and her mom were very bonded to Lisa. Lisa fed her lunch, gave her a little doll, and an M&M or two. The entire experience was heartwarming.

Contrast that with the second part of our day. We visited the Murambi Memorial to men and women who were victims of the 1994 genocide.* Fifty thousand men and women were brutally killed there in less than twenty-four hours. What we saw and heard was heartbreaking.

I can barely grasp the goodness of people who reach out to help the most needy and innocent of people. It is overwhelming and warms my heart. At the same time, I can barely grasp the brutality of people who would slaughter a race of people just because they wanted to. Life is complicated. Sometimes our hearts are warmed and at other times, they break.

*Genocide is the act of a government and its collaborators to destroy a part of a population under its control. It’s an intentional act of multiple murders aimed at destroying the presence of the victim group.