I was only able to spend 2 days of Brad’s entire 8 months in Rwanda on site. After all those months of skypes, emails and photos it was quite something to see all he researched and planned in action! Emotions were running high Monday when I reached Rwink @ 2 pm. I greeted all the staff…they were excited about my arrival after more than a year…but really sad anticipating Brad’s departure. We all sat down for our first all hands on deck staff meeting…really to honor Brad for all his hard work and dedication in putting together the music program. However, his impact doesn’t end there. In his 8 months in Rwink, Brad became woven into the fabric of the library and the umudugudu (village). Not only did he develop the music program and all that entailed, but he did English training classes for staff, using his skills in ESL that he honed while teaching in Korea for 2 years. He also volunteered his time for the Sunday School Enrichment Program, becoming an invaluable part of the team. And he simply was Brad. There was always a throng of kids around him and most nights the neighborhood kids followed him home. He involved himself in their lives…talking to parents about the importance of making sure kids went to school….asking kids if they were going to school regularly….inviting them to come for music and drumming class and afterwards directing them to the library for story time. Brad’s physical presence is missed in the community….but his contribution and the legacy he left has been firmly planted and will only continue to grow. I suspect Rwinkwavu hasn’t seen the last of Brad.