The gang altogether before we ran. Even Marshall joined in.

Hello, everyone. Sully here. Below, you will find a blog written from Russell MacDougall. I planned on writing about everything Ubaka U Rwanda upon return of our trip. However, Russell, decided to go for it first. I can tell you this trip was truly special. All of the trips feel that way, but this one goes down as one of my favorites. There are many reasons for this and I think Russ hits on them very well, I am so happy for others to hear a different point of view. I am also happy for others to see how far Russ has come since his first visit. He truly understands the kids, the home, Rwanda, and what we need to do to continue to support. It warms my soul. Also, we have A LOT of photos from this trip, so stay tuned for another blog post that will serve as a photo dump. Thank you again so much. ENJOY. - Sully

From Russ:

We just returned from our annual trip to Rwanda and this year is one I will remember for many different reasons. It was our fourth time returning to Ubaka and although it was our shortest trip to date (because of flight issues and work restrictions), it still delivered heartfelt moments, plenty of laughs, and a true once-in-a-lifetime experience for our entire group.

EVODE

As Sully mentioned in his blog leading up to the trip, Evode has been dealing with some serious health issues and has spent a lot of time in the hospital recently. While we visited, we learned that he is currently on dialysis three times a week with each session taking 4-6 hours. This has left him very tired but he is doing his best to keep his spirits up. During the week we were there, he learned that one of his sisters is a match and should be able to donate a kidney for him. This transplant is relatively new technology in Rwanda, only becoming available in 2025, and is still done by a foreign physician who trains local doctors with each procedure. Because of this, we are unsure when Evode will be able to get the transplant and there are still some boxes to check before he is even added to the waiting list. He knows his battle will be continuing for some time but this news gives him strength to keep fighting and know that he is getting closer to recovery.

While we didn’t spend as much time with Evode as we usually do in an effort to give him time to rest, we could still see that spark in his eyes as he told us stories from the past, gave us updates on the boys, and spoke about the new boys he had brought home this year. His strength recovered some while we visited and his laugh is still a constant presence in the home and a joy to hear.

ERIC AND JACQUE

We have two new boys in the home now, both are younger, and while they were pretty quiet around us to start, it didn’t take long for their personalities to emerge. Eric is quick to smile and loves to express himself through coloring and dance. He was the quieter of the two, but could be found orbiting around one of us most of the time, hoping to show us something or have his picture taken.

Eric stays out of most of the pictures but he knew he had to share his art

The boys had a blast cutting their pieces of cake

Jacque lets his facial expressions do all the talking. He is so charismatic and silly with his smiles and reactions. Because of the language barrier with the younger boys (with most of them just starting to learn English while Amanda and I are slowly learning more Kinyarwanda), we rely on these exaggerated expressions and charades to communicate and Jacque took to that very quickly. He also ended up being one of the better goalkeepers during our tournament and, even though his team didn’t win, he had many big saves and was very brave blocking the shots of older kids!

Dizo shows off our tournament teams and bracket.

UBAKA IGIKOMBE (Ubaka Cup)

It was our third year doing our soccer tournament with the boys and we tried to mix it up a bit from previous years. We decided to have teams of only four players to try and open up the field a little more. The yard at the home is a good size, but when you have 10-12 players on it at once, it gets a little crowded and there is less of a chance for special plays and goals. We also decided to switch up our captains. In previous years, we always split up the best players among the older boys and had them pick their teams. This year we decided to flip that process on its head and have a group of the youngest boys be the captains, choosing their teams with us in secret. This led to some interesting selections where the boys chose their teams based more on friendships rather than talent. Sully and I were shocked, as some of the best players fell until the last round!

Team Ganza - Revis, Lewis (Alumni), Ganza, and Is-yakha (Alumni)

Team Dizo - Patrick, Christian, Fisto, and Dizo

Team Elisa - Sungura, Gabrielle (Alumni), Samuel, and Elisa

Team Jacque - Sully, Amuran, Yves, Russ, and Jacque

This mean looking team were the expected cup winners and they were tough. Team Clever - Bonheri, Reponse, Kevin, and Clever with frosting.

Team Elize - Joel (Alumni), Tom, Jean Deu, and Elize

We were also able to have some of the older Ubaka boys (now men) play in the tournament with us because they came by the house to visit that day. We had four returning men join the teams, with Lewis, Isyakha, Joelle and Gabriel jumping into the mud pit of a yard (it is the rainy season) and laughing along as we slipped through nine games of soccer.

In the end (and spoilers here), my dynasty as an Ubaka Igikombe champion ended at two years. Because of how many players we had, Sully and I split games on our team and I was the one on the field when we got beat 4-0 in the semifinals. Because of this, we were able to sit back with Amanda and watch as a new team was crowned champion with an overtime victory! It was incredible to see how excited the boys were to have this tournament happen again and for them to get a chance to raise the Cup, which we had left there last year and they took incredible care of. There were plenty of smiles and excitement for the champions “water bath” (think gatorade shower for winning coach of the Super Bowl) as Sully drenched them with the cup and then let them celebrate. Maybe next year I’ll get back in the winner’s circle!

RUNNING

On Thursday (4/30), we put in our miles around Kigali as the physical aspect to our yearly fundraiser. For Sully, this meant running a few hours in the morning. For me, it meant taking a long walk around the Rebero district when I woke up. I enjoy this day for many reasons. First, I like walking around and being in Rwanda. The city is very peaceful, even with all the noise that is going on. There is something about the many hills you climb and the views that you find atop each one, looking down into the valleys below. It is a very rewarding trek.

The second part of the day, which I like even more, is when the boys get home from school and we make our yearly journey up to Kigali Pele Stadium in Nyamirambo. Sully takes off with most of the boys to run all the way there, while a couple hang back with me and walk. This year it was only Fisto and Samuele who stayed with me, but we talked about many things as we walked. Fisto took me on a new route to show me more of the neighborhood, including the school that Eric goes to (where he started the year before he came to the home).

Once we reach the stadium, it is play time for the boys. They added fields outside of the stadium itself and a huge game of soccer always breaks out. Others will sit and relax and some will take the time to run around the track or do other workouts on the turf field. Because of a holiday, the boys didn’t have school on Friday, and we were able to spend more time at the stadium. It wasn’t until large storm clouds started coming our way that we decided to make our way home.

And THIS part, is the part I would want anyone who has read this blog to experience someday. When we leave the stadium, we all walk together in one big group of 20+ people. We make our way through the streets of Kigali and the boys are relaxed, happy, and so open to talk about many things. They ask all kinds of questions and we share stories as we make our way back home. It is always a highlight of the trip because of the feelings of togetherness and friendship we experience as we all move as one. Sully often tells the boys “turi kumwe,” which means “we are together,” and this 40-minute walk home is the perfect example of that.

If you are looking for the number of miles we covered, we didn’t keep an exact count. We believe that between Sully’s running, my walking, and the journey to the stadium as a group, we were close to 100 miles on that day. We honor the fundraiser and the money that is donated not just with the miles covered but with the laughter shared throughout the day.

Elize with the million dollar smile at the park…and an elephant

AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK

As Sully mentioned in his previous blog, the big trip this year was a once-in-a-lifetime experience not just for the kids, but for us as well. I can’t thank Russell Osgood enough for what he did for our entire group by dreaming up this idea and making it a reality for everyone.

Our day started around 3am, corralling the boys and getting them ready to load on a bus so we could be on the road by 4am. Because of some last minute stressing, planning, and an early morning Bruins game back home, the three of us slept between 1-3 hours the night before and were hoping the bus ride would be a chance to catch some sleep before our day in the park. It ended up being anything but, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Crowded vehicles bumping on down the road

The boys were full of energy and excitement. The 2 hour 15 minute bus ride was filled with music, singing, dancing, clapping, and cheering. For many of the boys, this wasn’t just a chance to see animals, it was the opportunity to see more of their country as well. Few of them have been outside of Kigali, except for on the trips we’ve taken in previous years. By the time we got to the park, they could barely contain their joy.

In Akagera we met up with Russell Osgood (they nicknamed him Kabiri which means “two” or Russell Two), Seth, and his son Will. They were able to stop by the home earlier in the week and spend time with the boys, but their time in the park together was a much bigger experience.

We split up into five groups, each having their own safari jeep, driver, and tour guide, and we took off to see what we could find! We spent close to nine hours in the park, including a break for lunch, and the excitement never wavered. Everyone was able to see elephants (including a couple who started chasing our cars), white rhinoceroses, zebras, cape buffalos, hippopotami, giraffes, crocodiles, impalas, baboons, bushbucks, waterbucks, and plenty of different species of birds (there are 480 different species in the park). A couple groups were able to see a roan antelope, which the guide said is one of the more rare animals to spot. Two of the groups were able to see a small group of lions. It is said to be a blessing from Rwanda when lions are spotted in the park.

Seth picked up right where he left off from 2023

The day was filled with excitement, not just when we spotted an animal, but also when we came upon another car in our group, with people yelling back and forth about the things they had seen. It's hard to put into words how powerful this day and experience was. I know it is something I will reflect on personally and with the others who I was able to share it with for the rest of my life. The amount of joy and wonder that you could see on every kid's face has left an imprint on me. I am beyond grateful.

Maybe my favorite picture. Lewis used to live with us and has been driving for the family and Evode. He also has been helping with the kids. Judging from this picture, they clearly love him.

MOMENTS

These trips are made of moments, activities, conversations, experiences, games, downtime, and togetherness. Here are a couple of those moments I’d like to share with you:

May 1st is Evode and Becky’s oldest child's birthday. This year their daughter Keza turned fourteen and while she had a sleepover planned with her friends, she wanted to share it with her Ubaka brothers as well. So, they bought a cake and celebrated with the boys by singing Happy Birthday to Keza, who then looked at the cake and told them it was for them and not her. She then led the singing of Happy Birthday to the boys and together we cut them all cake, which is a very rare treat in Rwanda. Of course with cake comes frosting, and afterwards we had plenty of boys with frosting dotting their faces. Some, most notably Clever, decided to use it as a face paint, completely covered themselves with it, and wore it proudly the rest of the day.

Keza and her friends also played many games with the boys and it was a fun and different dynamic to see them interact with girls around their own age. Some were all about it and others were very shy!

After Akagera, the bus ride home was a mix of sleeping for many of the younger kids (and us adults), while most of the older boys kept the party going with more singing and dancing. When we returned home, we had lost power and many of the boys ate dinner and, finally giving in to their tiredness, went to sleep. A group of the older boys wanted to stay up and so they sat with Amanda, Sully and I, and we talked about our experiences in Akagera. This conversation continued for some time when, in the middle of talking, one of the boys farted…loudly. Everyone was lost in laughter, but when it came time to own up to the “umusuzi” (fart), everyone denied it. This led to over an hour of laughter, accusations, defenses, reasonings, and past experiences brought to light to discover the guilty party. In the end, we never discovered the truth behind the toot, but it was that perfect level of tiredness where you’ve entered absolute silliness and we all pushed ourselves to stay awake a little longer so we could laugh a few more times.

Finally, Amanda and I are now at the point where we understand the boy's schooling enough to know when a boy will most likely be graduating and moving out of the home before we come back. This year, I went in knowing it would be my last time getting to be around Amuran, and I was going to be sure that I spent as much time with him as possible. Amuran has been with Ubaka for over ten years. He and his brother Gabriel came together from Uganda when they were very young. Gabriel moved out two years ago to become a chef and now Amuran finds himself on the same path. I could type thousands of words about this boy (soon to be man) but this blog is quite long already, so I will keep it shorter.

Amuran has the kindest heart and he studies and tries so hard to accomplish his goals. He is a leader among the boys; they call him Bishop because he leads them in prayer. For a long time, many involved in Ubaka believed he would become a preacher, and he still might some day, but first he is going to become a chef. He is soft-spoken, goofy, and wants to pick your brain about all the recipes you know and food you like. He sat with me many times trying to help me with my Kinyarwanda as we traded words back and forth in our native languages.

When we had the big reunion two years ago, I got to see the emotion on Sully’s face as he welcomed back countless men that he hadn’t seen for many years, most since they were boys. I saw how much each new arrival impacted him and how excited they were to see him.

Amanda and I have gotten a small taste of that when Gabriel returned to visit the last two years, but we didn’t share as deep a connection with him as Sully did with these other men. Now, with Amuran, I will feel it completely because of the memories I have of him. Because of how much I have seen him grow and for how much I wish great things for him.

We always end our trip with a group meeting with all the boys where we tell them how we feel, how we plan to return, and how much we love them. Some boys will use this as a chance to say similar things to us. Usually a couple of boys will start crying. Amuran was one of the last to stand up and talk before we left. He spoke of his love for the Ubaka family and how thankful he was that he was able to go on a trip where the animals he has seen in the pages of books came to life in front of his eyes. He talked about how happy he was to see us again, including Seth, and to meet new friends, Russell (Kabiri), and Will. He finished by leading the group in a prayer for our safe travels back to America.

I’ve never cried at one of these goodbye ceremonies, but looking at Amuran and thinking about our friendship had me blinking back tears.

Seth saying goodbye after a day they will never forget

TURI KUMWE ( We are together)

That was a lot of words. If you read all of it, I can’t thank you enough. Ubaka has become more and more of an important part of my life as the years go by and every trip fills me with so much love and happiness. If you have questions about anything I shared, please reach out to me; I’m always willing to talk more about these incredible boys. If you could share our story, we would appreciate it, and if you have donated to us this year or in the past, THANK YOU. You have made it possible for dozens and dozens of street children to feel safe, feel love, and to have a home, an education and a chance at a future. It’s an incredible thing to do for someone you have never met. Please know that these boys understand and are incredibly thankful for you.

If you have the opportunity someday, you should join us on a trip to Rwanda. I guarantee it will change your life.

Turi kumwe, (We are TOGETHER)

Russ

Thoughts From the Trip 2026

Ubaka Rwanda