Wading River church youth connect with Rwandan children through art and faith

Five teens from the North Shore United Methodist Church in Wading River recently returned from a mission trip to Rwanda where they spent more than a week connecting with local children through art, dance and worship.

From July 7 to July 18, the teens traveled to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, on a deeply personal journey that not only made them new friends and memories, but also strengthened their own friendships with each other.

“They took care of each other,“ said Palesa Ramohlouoane, the youth group’s chaperone, who grew up in South Africa and coordinated the trip. “They also did not have a moment where they were hesitant about participating.”

The teens primarily participated in art-based activities through an organization called Art With a Mission, founded by a man orphaned by the Rwandan genocide. For several years, the Wading River church has supported the organization, raising money to help purchase art supplies and send orphaned and fostered children to school.

For the teens, the highlight of the trip was bonding with local children despite a language barrier.

“They were very happy to do art,” said Daniel Scielzi, 14, of Wading River. “They would always help you, and they’re very good at art, too.”

The youth group participated in workshops led by English-speaking volunteers at Art With a Mission. They were given a short prompt and told to put their thoughts down on a canvas. “Most days that we did art, that’s what they expected us to do — just let the paint brush show our mind,” said Cyril Turner, 16 of Wading River. 

There was also plenty of dancing. The Kigali youth taught the visitors traditional dances, while the Wading River group introduced them to a dance routine from the Pitbull and Ke$ha song “Timber,” popularized by the video game Just Dance. The group also took part in a fashion show with the local children.

The youth group experienced Rwanda’s natural beauty during a safari at Akagera National Park. But they also engaged with the country’s painful past during a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where they learned about the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which roughly 800,000 Tutsi people — an ethnic-minority — were killed by Hutu extremists. 

“It was really sad in there,” Cyril Turner said of the memorial. “They have vivid descriptions of deaths of children. There was a part of the museum where they describe how kids died specifically, and then like the kids favorite stuff, like their favorite food.”

Watch a YouTube video about the youth group’s trip to Rwanda here.

The youth group also attended church services in Rwanda. Sanku Assamagan, 15, of Riverhead, said the worship was “really different from our church, and I really like the atmosphere.” 

The Rwandans “weren’t afraid to be loud,” she said. There was dancing and performance at the service, which was “a lot longer than ours,” she said. 

“All the people would stand up and put their hands up and stuff,” she said. “They weren’t afraid to be loud.” 

For the youth group, the Rwanda trip helped them learn more about themselves.

“I’ve realized that I really like to be around people,” said Aishwarya Turner, 14 of Wading River. “When we got off the bus, all the kids held up a sign welcoming us, and then they came up to me, and they were dancing, and they grabbed my hand — just pulled me into the middle. I just had to dance with them.”

Riley Stark, 15, of Ridge, learned to venture “outside of my box,” she said.

“At first, I didn’t want to dance or anything. But over time I just learned, I have to dance and I just have to do it,” Stark said. “Instead of actually dreading doing it, I had fun.”

Turner said he “learned the true meaning of [being] yourself” from the kids in Kigali, who “express themselves however they want.” 

For Scielzi, the trip was a lesson in confidence. For Assamagan, it was a lesson in community.

“I think I learned what it means to be a family,” Assamagan said. “Because all of them were really connected to each other and they kind of brought each other up. They’re not related in blood… but they call each other brother and sister.”

“And they also act like one group. They act like one — like they’re a team, and they’re always gonna stick there for each other, they’re gonna be there for each other,” Assamagan added. “And I feel like it’s kind of a difference. In America, I don’t see that as much.”

The trip also brought the group closer together. 

“Every day after we left, we would all just hang out together and then just talk about the day. And we stayed up pretty late some nights till like, 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. just talking. We played Uno.” Cyril Turner said.

“I feel like I can tell these guys anything, because just talking to them every night, I started to build trust…”Assamagan said. “I was talking about things that, like, I never really told anyone else. So I feel like these are friends for a lifetime.”

The group said they remain in touch with some of the Kigali children through social media, and all expressed a desire to return.

“As we look ahead, this is not a one and done thing,” said church board member Diane Burkhardt. “The relationship between our church and that program, especially between these kids in that program, will continue. Personally, I’d like to help make it possible for them to go again, maybe in 2027.”

On their last night in Rwanda, the youth group shared a traditional goat feast — an unexpected but meaningful gift. “The way that it happened was very, very special,” Ramohlouoane said. “We knew it was a message from God that He’s pleased with us.”

The meal also left them with a humorous memory. “Thursday night, the owner of the home came home with this cute-as-a-button goat. We all went up to pet it and say hi to it,” Scielzi recalled. The next morning, he woke up early and suddenly heard “a bloodcurdling scream.”

“That night, we had goat for dinner.”