Back in Kigeme after 8 weeks leave!

Back after eight weeks of leave!

Yes I was away for 8 weeks, 7 in Canada and 1 in the Netherlands. It started as a sick leave and became a 4-week holiday. And now I am back in Rwanda.
There is much to be done!! Where to start? Well it just happens. Valens, whom I have written about before and whose school fees I pay, was nowhere to be found this week, the first week of the final term. He finally showed up at lunch time Friday and told me a frustrating story: frustrating for 2 reasons. Firstly it is complicated and Valens has good French but somehow the Rwandans don’t pass on information as concisely as they could so I got lost in the details. Secondly, the news was bad: he was not at school this week because last term, the 15th of July, he was caught off campus (not in class time, so not skipping!) and told that after the holidays he was to come back a month late, the 25th of September. To make it worse, his friend Pacifique was also accused. The prefet claims he saw both of them and Pacifique swears up and down he was not there. An expulsion of 5 weeks for walking along the road off campus! Valens had come back from my housegirl’s house to see if he could get his report which he had kept in safekeeping in my house. She had the key. I am desperately trying to find the “Prefet de discipline” to see why this very severe punishment was given. He could have cleaned the dorms, or the latrines, but miss 5 weeks of last term before a national exam which will allow him to choose a specialization for the last 3 years of high school?? I clearly have to hear the other side!!!! I will keep you posted.
Had a long discussion with Theodore Prefet de discipline. This severe punishment is to show the students they mean business to enforce the rules. Apparently the principal had threatened the students that you could be expelled for the rest of the year!!!! I think I have negotiated a 2 week suspension (rather than 5)provided the boys write a request for pardon and a lessening of the punishment!! Pacifique ended up lying in this request for pardon by saying he had broken the rules when he had not. We decided he had better defer his word to that of the prefet.
This prefet, by the way is no bully. He is trying to run a school almost single-handedly because the principal is often absent and the prefet des etudes has been away since January for a “formation politique”. He came back yesterday but will resume his duties a bit later as he has not seen his wife or little girls for all that time! Getting back to Theodore, he admitted to me that he is under pressure from the rest of staff to be stricter and that he decided to flex his muscles.
I will have I discussion with the principal and Theodore on Monday. Hope I can convince them to look at other ways to enforce rules.
Happy ending: boys' pardon accepted and they can come back to school provided they bring their parents.

Michelle and Thomas visit Rwanda!

I am much behind with writing to keep you up to date. It's August 4 today and I want to go back to April and early May, when Michelle and Thomas came to visit. They were most supportive and enthusiastic and it was very affirming to have them spend time with me and show such a genuine interest in my work with the schools. Michelle was able to confirm the fact that Rosedale Presbyterian Church has committed funds to support a number of secondary school students at Kigeme high school, by paying the school fees and incidental costs for school supplies and personal effects. We have chosen 6 students whom we will start to help immediately. These same students will receive some training in leadership, organization and entrepreneurial skills in preparation for their role as camp counsellors in a vacation camp for very poor children from primary school to be held in November 2007.
Here are some of the highlights of Michelle's and Thomas' visit. We spent an hour of (quality) time with a group of 13 mountain gorillas two of whom were competing silverbacks. These dominating males weigh more than 250 kilos and we were able to observe them from only 3 meters away! It was rivetting to be so close to these magnificent animals. We also accompanied Valens to his parental home so we could see where he lived and meet his parents. We left at 7am and took short cuts by going straight up the mountain and down the other side. Seven and a half hours later we arrived at his house. It was the last Saturday of the month, so we passed many a road crew fullfilling the "umaganda " requirements of community clean-up. This remote part of the province is rarely frequentded by abazungus (white people) so we caused quite a commotion as we came marching through. At one point, around noon, we had 100 or so people walking behind us, hoes over their shoulders. I have perhaps only walked this long in one day on two or three other occasions in my life. Very tiring but quite rewarding. Before we left to meet up with the motor bikes we had ordered for 4 pm, Valens asked me to give his father some advice. His father had come to visit me in Kigeme back in March to thank me for paying Valen's school fees. At that time I had offered to pay Evaste and Chantal's ( Valen's brother and sister) fees also, provided he promised not to sell any of his animals or land. This time, at his house, I praised him for supporting his childrens' going to school and urged him to continue to encourage the three children to stay in school.
Thomas and Michelle were wonderful guests and my first visitors. It makes a big difference now in the way we communicate. They know what I am talking about!

Michelle's and Thomas visit to Rwanda