The (Rwandan) Christmas Song

I have had very few white Christmases. Though the seasonal music of my childhood spoke of ice and snow and Jack Frost, most of my Christmases have been more along the lines of a Heat Miser holiday-so I was ready to spend Christmas just south of the equator. However, this Christmas season I have been even more struck by the disparity between holiday music and the realities of Christmas in Rwanda. Finally, listening to The Christmas Song for the millionth time, I decided to re-write it to reflect my Christmas experience here with a little help from my fellow Rwanda YAGM.

The video link is below, followed by the lyrics. Hope you like it!
Noheli nziza, Merry Christmas!

The Rwandan Christmas Song by YAGM Rwanda

The (Rwandan) Christmas Song

Corncobs roasting on a charcoal fire

Mosquito netting by your nose

“Mwami Yesu” being sung by a choir

And folks wrapped in kitenge clothes

Everybody knows

Laura wearing kitenge and teaching the YAGMs
how to cook at orientation!

Kigali Chorale Christmas concert 

Adventist choir singing on Christmas Day!

Banana trees and avocado

Help to make the season bright

Motos beep, with their headlights aglow

And make it hard to sleep tonight

Banana trees and rolling hills in the
tiny village of Mumeya.

Chad and the famous head-sized avocado.

And when it comes to Christmas day

Well, you won’t find any reindeer or a sleigh

And though there won’t be a spangled tree in sight

You may see Christmas seems a little more right

Christmas Cantata in Kigali 

No trees, no stockings, no gifts but the
savior-and what a gift He is.

And so I’m offering this simple phrase

To kids from Huye to Kivu

Stunning Lake Kivu

My sweet Laura and I in Huye, Rwanda

Although it’s been said many times, many ways

Merry Christmas,

Noheli nziza,

Merry Christmas to you.

Noheli nziza from our family to yours.