Annemiek@Rwanda

Free Education for All : first nine years basic education

2010-02-13T23:02:00.000-08:00

February 12th 2010

Time seems to fly by. The Vancouver Olympics are starting. If I were at home, I would be settling in to watch my big screen TV. But I am in Rwanda, and I am working and it’s all quite stimulating.

This week I have been able to visit about half of the schools to see how the 140 student teachers are doing in their placements. One day, I took the college car with driver and visited some of the schools farther away. Yesterday I took a local bus for 15 min. and walked to 4 different schools all within a couple of kilometres from each other. This is a heavily Catholic part of the country with many of the schools being established and very well equipped. I take back my generalization about the Kavumu students’ English: many of the student teachers speak very well while others do appear to struggle. A few have confided to me that they believe their English is significantly better than the teachers of their placement school!

Since my departure in 2008, the government has extended free education to 9 years. Many of the primary schools have been enlarged from just P1-P6 by adding a 7^th and an 8^th year. These two years are now free and next year they will add a ninth year. What I still do not understand, is that the original boarding secondary schools (grades 7-12), still exist and as far as I can see students in years 7-9 are paying school fees. How is that for 2-tiered education! It seems that P6 students who receive high scores on the state exam are accepted into the boarding sec schools and pay. Those with lower scores go to the enlarged primary schools. I am still not 100% clear on this but one thing is for sure: more students are now moving on to secondary education than before.

English Anyone?

2010-02-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2010

I will try and shed some light on the confusion in Education. As I understand it, The Minister of Education declared English the compulsory language of instruction in December, 2008 with immediate implementation for the school year 2009. Up until that time, schools were permitted to teach in English but almost all taught using French. This past school year, 2009, all secondary schools were supposed to teach in English as were the P4-6 classes. Teachers did not speak adequate English and students were equally lost. Last November, state-exams were written in English by P6, Sec 3 and Sec 6 nation-wide, for the very first time. The results of these exams came out just as I arrived in Rwanda on Jan 17. Surprisingly, the results were pretty good. In the holidays (July 2009, November, December 2009 and Jan 2010 there have been trainings in English for teachers. MINEDUC had created some diagnostic tests to see which teachers needed these trainings. Apparently there were regions that had gotten hold of the tests with candidates getting perfect. As a result all teachers were trained. This took longer than expected so schools opened today Feb.2 instead of Jan.11

And what is the state of English in the schools? Teachers are speaking some English but the average Primary school child you meet on the road will greet with good morning and what is your name and not much more. The students in my college, who have all completed the High school programme in French, are very limited in their English. At the College the language of instruction is English and these students are being trained to teach Maths and Sciences in the first three years of Secondary using English. So far I have noticed that in meetings with students much Kinyarwanda is spoken to make sure everyone understands all that is being said. English is everywhere but in some ways nowhere. It will take more than a few years to adjust to this radical change.

Kavumu College of Education is my new place of work. I have a lovely house almost at the top of a steep hill running up about 200m from the main highway. My neighbour is Moira from Ireland. She has been a great answerer of my many questions. We are getting along well and will probably share the cooking. Moira teaches English at this college. Yes the language of instruction is English.

Getting impatient at In-Country Training

2010-02-03T11:05:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2010

Attempts to get to the my placement at the College of Education before Jan. 27 have not been successful. I will now do as everyone else and meet my employer (the registrar of the college) at the Employer workshop on Tuesday. We will travel to Kavumu College of Education on Wednesday.

In the meantime I have been roaming around Kigali, seeing some old acquaintances and trying to figure out through conversations with other volunteers what is happening nationally in education at the primary 1-6 and the secondary 1-3 levels. I have also participated in most Kinyarwanda lessons and realize that I knew way more than I thought. I might be much more successful this time round. Who knows?

My next blog in early February will tell you a little more about my placement at the Kavumu College of Education. Internet with my new portable wireless modem has been good in Kigali. I will be interested to see if the connection near Gitarama will be much slower.

Arrival in Rwanda January 2010

2010-01-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

January 19, 2010

Arrival In Kigali

My arrival in Kigali, Rwanda was last Sunday, January 17.

It feels good to be back and I have been warmly greeted and welcomed by the VSO Programme Office people. It’s great also to see Antonia with whom I am sharing a room during in-country training.

Normally schools start the first or second week in January. Because of the urgency to train teachers in English, they are currently being trained and the students will arrive on Tues. Feb.2.

This means I am waiting around doing less than I would like. The other new long-term volunteers will be here, at the Guest House Amani, until Wed. Jan 27. They have a fair bit to learn and there are the Kinyarwanda lessons every day- an interesting group of about 18 of which half are over 50. And to think that back in 2005 most volunteers in our group were as old as our youngest volunteer:27!

Moira Kelly, a volunteer from Ireland, who has been at the Kavumu College of Education this past year, is coming to Kigali tomorrow. I will meet up with her and ask her some more of the questions I have and see if I cannot go to the school before next Wed. It is only one hour by bus from Kigali and it will give me a chance to check out my house, see what is missing so I can purchase those things.

My programme manager Charlotte met with me today and she did not have the answers to many of my questions so I am counting on Moira. I will be getting some Ministry of Ed policy papers to read and some education documents prepared by VSO volunteers in my absence.

January 24, 2010

Attempts to get to the college before Jan. 27 have not been successful. I will now do as everyone else and meet my employer (the registrar of the college) at the Employer workshop on Tuesday. We will travel to Kavumu College on Wednesday.

2008-03-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

March 15

Halfway through another month!! Time is racing me by.
It’s Sat am. and I am at home which is rare. Wish you could hear the high school kids at the other side of my hedge playing drums. They are big hip height drums and there are at least 12 of them.
Well, I am still hanging in here. Good to see friends socially and through work. Week of the 3rd I spent 3 days in the Gihembe refugee camp with 5 other volunteers training teachers. I had been there 3 times before. It’s in the north and the refugees are Congolese Tutsis. The trainings we give continue to be based on participatory, active and inclusive teaching techniques that we have arranged in the acronym CAPACE. Capace is becoming more and more famous. I have had to say no more than once when invited to come and train. When I finished in Gihembe Fri pm I was off to Butare. The following day – Sat- 5 of us trained 60 students from Butare University. They are part of a club called Rwandan Village Concept and in this club they take on visits to schools and community based organizations to teach about health and hygiene, malaria and HIV and AIDS prevention and micro finance projects. Our task last Sat was to teach these, mostly young men, how to teach in a more active and participatory manner.
This past week my two colleagues Jeanne d’Arc and Athanase were away at a workshop on Art Therapy for children who are traumatized. Very curious what that was like. The former colleague will no doubt tell me all about it and apply it to her job as nursery school coordinator. Can’t say that for the latter. Since he has been in his job as Head of Education (15 months) he has been sent to dozens of workshops and never taken the time to tell me about them or show me his reports that he insists on writing in kinyarwanda if he writes them at all. Do we hear an edge to the tone? – even though you are reading.
The end of March is the deadline for getting new volunteers for Sept. You may not know this but replacement for Sarah was to have started in February. At the last minute he backed out and when we were offered another requiring a turn around quick yes or no, my colleague – guess which one?- sat on it for 2 weeks. He had not properly read the email!! I find it a shame that there is no transition between a next volunteer and me.
There is so much to do here!
While my two colleagues were away I have been on school visits 4 mornings this week. I was able to add 4 schools to the 10 I already have, where a teacher is working with one or two others to work on the CAPACE techniques in the P1-3 classrooms esp.in the English and French classes. These teachers, with one of their colleagues, will be invited to a workshop late June. There, I will work with the lead teachers and have them train others in the CAPACE techniques. One of my objectives all along has been to train the teachers and as we are nearing the end of my term….
In 2 and a half weeks time I will be off on a holiday in Ethiopia with Antonia. We will travel in the north mainly and try to visit a VSO volunteer who does similar work as I do. A day after I get back I will head for Europe – Amsterdam- and then Malaga to attend to some business. Yes part of me is a jet setter but here I am living in my comfy home with no hot water and a fridge!!! So I will be away from Rwanda for 4 weeks in April.
Still have not managed to secure funding for years 2 and 3 for the nursery school project. Am working with Can Embassy though and UNICEF is not yet off the radar. Well that’s it for now. Take care you all. O YES DID HAVE DOME GREAT CHOC EGGS because as I post this blog we are already 10 days later : March 25!!

2008-03-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

Feb 11
This is Monday, February 11 and the school year started January 7, 2008 for all students except those entering First and Fourth form in the secondary school.
Those entering first form wrote the sixth form primary national exam at the end of October 2007 and the results came out almost 3 months later on Thursday January 24th. These students then had to have a school chosen for them by their principals who all went to a meeting and this took almost 3 weeks. Students have to find school fees – about $60- plus a list of materials such as mattress, sheets, towels, a pail, a uniform , notebooks, pens etc that can come to about $40.This is a stressful time for parents who not only have to find the fees bit also may not agree with the choice of high school and who have then to go and stand in line at a school they want, to see of the principal will have their child.
Almost the same is true for the fourth former. They were able to choose 3 schools last year in form 3 and choose a section for the lat 3 years of high school. Sections might be accounting, literature, biology/chemistry, maths/physics, social sciences, primary school teacher training. They mostly get a school they did not choose. All principals go to Kigali for two days and fight this out – don’t ask me how – with the end result being that students also shop around to try top change the school.
Why am I bringing this up well, it just seems that these exams take a very long time to correct and that these students will have been out of school for the first 5 weeks of the school year, making the break a total of three and a half months.
I have had my usual crowd of students beating down the doors of both my house and office. Many of these students were in touch with me 3 weeks ago as soon as they had their marks. I was please at their consideration to come and see if they were still being supported by Jenny – who is back in England- or by my church or one of my other contacts back in Canada. Others however came today expecting me to hand them the money for their school fees. One boy who failed miserably would not take no for an answer and I had to take him outside the office and ask him to leave.
Today alone, I had 5 people come and talk to me. It is wearing to say the least.
I am also getting back into the school visits to see how my teachers are doing with their mentoring.
This week we have the nursery school teachers in for a training.
Not too exciting. Will write more later.

And now for my real job!

2008-01-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2008

Work is starting to take off again. UNICEF came to visit Kigeme this week, to see and hear about the Resource /Teacher Training Centre we established in the last calendar year. I say “we” but it was really the work of a co-volunteer, Sarah, who worked alongside me for a year. Last June-August, we had a short-term volunteer come and write a proposal to build such a centre. For the time being we are located in a large room at the secondary school here in town. When Emma the volunteer started to present the proposal to different organizations, DFID (UK) wanted to see it and invited the Minister of Education along. She spent 4 hours hearing our presentations, watching our trained teachers teach, and speaking about how necessary it is to change the methodology and programs in our Teacher Training Colleges for Primary teachers. The colleges are in fact grades 10, 11 and 12 of high school. She was clearly impressed with what she saw and for us that was a highlight of our work so far. They now talk widely about the CAPACE methodology, an acronym Sarah and I coined. MINEDUC does not just take in these projects however. So it was up to VSO Rwanda in Kigali to pursue this initiative. This is how UNICEF has come on to the scene. It looks as though they want to have three hubs in three provinces where a District, aTTC and a cluster of Primary schools work together with VSO and Rwandan technicians to improve the methodology taught in the TTC’s and used in the primary classrooms.
I am also looking for further funding for our Nursery School Project. It’s a three year project and The Royal Dutch Embassy funded the first year but this funding is not renewable. I am looking for about 20,000 euros for each of the 2 years. This project carries the salaries of a Rwandan Coordinator and a motor driver, feeds about 1500 children porridge daily, trains teachers in child centred teaching techniques with a focus on early years, meets with parents to raise awareness of the importance of education, distributes school materials, distributes furniture made locally and makes and distributes resources.
I continue to work with the small group of trained teachers who have all taken on a mentorship role with one or two of their colleagues. This requires me to go out in the field 2 times a week or more.As you see busy busy. Hope I can keep up the news on a regular basis.

Marie Jeanne, the answer to our prayers

2008-01-27T06:11:00.000-08:00

January 24
Claudine ( my house girl), bless her soul, helped me find a caregiver whom I pay and who comes 12 hours a day. Marie Jeanne is a courageous and compassionate woman and she started the work last Friday. Like Jacqueline, she has AIDS. She is on ARV’s and in good health. She washes the family, feeds them (food prepared at my house), gives them the various medications and washes the clothes. J is now able to sit up with difficulty, but she is unable to stand or walk by herself and is incontinent.
Making porridge every morning, a nutritious meal at noon and soup and bread at night. Found a liter of cow’s milk a day also. Fortuitously, while at home in Canada, 5 generous people gave me cheques for unforeseen matters. Well, this is such a matter so the care and food is paid for. It does take a lot of my time however and makes me very angry inside sometimes!
Unfortunately both Claudine and Marie Jeanne (caregiver) have become the target of insults and name calling coming from the sister as they move through town. Claudine had to hide in a store yesterday! The sister claims she is owed a salary for all the work she did and that she was chased from the hospital. I will try to appease her in the next few days and offer her some gifts of food. I have been helped by Pastor Samuel in all this and he spoke to Claudine yesterday. The harassment so discouraged her, she did not want to come to work for me and help prepare the food. I guess this is what you get when you barge in and try to change people’s way of doing things. I just saw it as a matter of life and death that’s all.
The two children are doing better. They drink the milk and eat with relish. Yesterday we bought some new used clothes (the kind you all throw in those boxes on a regular basis).
It was so nice to see them in clothing that has a colour and is clean. Dorucas has fleas and has passed them on to me. They hop on to me the minute I am in their vicinity. It happens in public transport too. So I am covered in bites and have to keep laundering my clothes and the bedding and resist scratching. Just to close this off, I have not finished speaking to the hospital people. I hope to speak with the head of social welfare to find out exactly what they do. It seems to me this should have been their work. Keep you posted.

A sort of sympathetic ear

2008-01-17T00:06:00.000-08:00

Wednesday January 16, 2008

I asked my friend Pastor Samuel (an older man and chaplain at the hospital) for some advice as to whom to turn to. He suggested I see the head of Nursing. He said he would get some more background on the family for me and see how he might also help. This woman decided to get the file and go and see Jacqueline. J was not in her bed, but outside. This was where I had found her the very first visit last Sunday afternoon. Then she was alone, lying on the grass in the hot sun. This time she was with sister and all the children, surrounded by many cloths and rags drying on the grass in the sun. The head nurse was visibly shocked to see this emaciated body and the collection of malnourished children surrounding her. I had already decided in my head that I wanted to get a “Garde malade”. Someone who can read and write, who has some common sense and especially some compassion without being turned off by this so neglected body. Jacqueline is an attractive woman, but she is filthy with nails that are malformed and feet that are full of jiggers. It was clear that the hospital should have intervened here and found some outside help and the head nurse acknowledged this more or less. To my surprise they had no people they knew who might take on this work for which I will pay. So, I have told all sorts of people I am looking for someone. I hope that tomorrow this someone will appear. I will ask them to wash, feed and make sure Jacqueline is helped to the toilet and is taught how to use a bedpan and given one!
So yes the nursing head was sympathetic and admitted that there was a missing link in the hospital to allow such neglect and not intervene. Not so for the administrator who stood outside talking. He immediately tried to cover his ass and say that they had lots of cases like this. That comment allowed me to drive my point home: the hospital needs to ask for funds to help care for patients who have no family. They have a social welfare department and here is something that dept can add to their list of activities. Speaking of which – there is not much activity in this hospital. Too many people either standing around talking to each other or just not findable! And the salaries are relatively good. Over my time here many young European medical students have done 3 month placements here and they have all said that there is too much lethargy amonf the staff. I will keep you posted on this.
Otherwise I am glad to be back here. There are lots of exciting things happening with my work. A plus tard!
Am looking forward to a visit from 2 good friends at the end of this month.

A heart-wrenching visit with Jacqueline

2008-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wednesday January 16, 2008

Yesterday my visit to the hospital was heart-wrenching. I went with some food and found Jacqueline by herself curled up on the thin plastic covered mattress with no bedding of any kind.
Jacqueline has been in the hospital for 5 weeks. The nurses say she had meningitis. She can hardly sit up. Is being “nursed” by her sister who herself has three kids at least, one of whom is a 11/2 yr old. In Rwandan hospitals, the family takes care of the patient: washes them, washes their clothes and cooks for them. Well, sister has done her share of this but she does it all by herself with 5 kids in tow. It is clear that Jacqueline has been malnourished during her hospitalization. The same goes for her kids. The sister’s family is as disadvantaged as Jacqueline’s. They are Batwas and marginalized in Rwandan society. Over the two and a half years I have known Jacqueline I have found her to be a good and loving mother, a persistent beggar but someone who is unable understand simple instructions which might allow her to help herself and the children.
J needs two people to get her out of bed and walk with her to the toilet. When sister is not there which is probably 18 of the 24 hours or more, Jacqueline wets herself. She lies in rags on a plastic mattress that are continually soaked in urine. Sister will change the rags and wash them once a day, but she will be peeing at least 2 or 3 times before sis comes again. That is how I found her yesterday – soaked in urine up to her chest and desperately thirsty and hungry.
The ward she lies in is not full. She lies in a corner by the window. Have I mentioned J. is HIV positive as is her Dorkas. Of little Alphonsine, I heard she has not been tested yet. Dorkas’s head is covered in crusts – a parasite one sees on many kids here. I have never seen then this bad on any child however – some of them look pussy and infected. Anyway , yesterday I was with just Jacqueline and I decided to feed her the food I had brought. When finished, I realized when I helped her to lie down again ( I had propped her up against another folded mattress), that she was sopping wet. She was wearing a rag between the legs -, a straight skirt and a pagne (the piece of fabric worn around the middle and tied in front). The thought of her sleeping all night in that mass of wet cloth, reeking of urine, made me rush back home. There I was able to find some old curtains and an old pair of boxer shorts. I went and covered her up again for the night. When I left her I took the soaked stuff with me and spent an hour washing them and boiling them on the stove. Throughout this visit, I was fuming with anger inside. All the more so because as I busied myself with Jacqueline, I had the whole ward staring me down with lots of whispers and laughs.This has been going on for more than 5 weeks and no one at the hospital has intervened. Jacqueline lying there is worse off than any Rwandan goat, sheep or cow. I vowed to myself to go and talk to the authorities the following day.

Back in Rwanda after almost 6 weeks in Canada

2008-01-16T23:53:00.000-08:00

Monday January 16, 2008
As some of you may remember, I started off with a bang writing my blog back in 2005 but stopped suddenly and never got back to it. This - not writing a blog or journal - and not being able to learn Kinyarwanda are the two things that bother me most. And time is running out as I plan to leave here in july 2008.

Since August 2005 I have been out of Rwanda seven times, probably a record in comparison with my volunteer colleagues. My excuse is to go and see mother in the Netherlands (been there 7 times) but I also need to leave from time to time just to cool my heels, get some energy and fill up on the good foods. Most times the transitions have been surprisingly easy, but this last time not so. That is to say I have little trouble sliding into my other life of luxury where I can eat and drink as much as and what I want when I want. Coming back here is a different matter.

This time I was in Canada (still passing through Holland to drop in on mother and sisters) for quite a long time - almost 6 weeks. I came back to Kigeme and found that there was no water. Claudine, my trusty and very sweet housekeeper ( housegirl) informed me they had been without for 3 days and there was a long line up at the water source a km away. I had my two large jerry cans filled though so I was ready. It was just the prospect of maybe several more days without water which kind of soured my return.

The next bit of news was that Jacqueline, my beggar lady, was in the hospital where she had been admitted 4 weeks earlier very ill. Jacqueline is HIV positive and has been reasonably healthy. She has 2 daughters: Dorkas and Alphonsine. Alphonsine was born in Oct 2006 and does not yet walk; Dorkas looks about 3 but might be 5. Her limbs – arms and legs are frighteningly thin. She is clearly malnourished. Normally I see Jacqueline 5-7 times a week . I then give her some leftovers or some vegetables to cook. Her little one is always with her ; Dorkas from time to time.

I arrived home late Saturday Jan 12 and took in the above news. Decided to deal with it the next day. Sunday morning, after church I wanted to go to the hospital. As I dropped my purse off at the house, sitting on the veranda were Dorkas with Alphonsine on her lap and three other children, the children of Jacqueline’s sister. Before going to the hospital I decided to prepare some food for the two girls. I did not feel like serving the other three so I tried to ask them to leave and ended up chasing them away. I actually did not have much food.

What followed brought tears to my eyes. Dorkas was sitting in the kitchen doorway, just as her mother does, with Alphonsine on her lap. As I handed her the plastic water bottle filled with milk (water and powdered milk), Dorkas proceeded to offer this to her 14 month old sister . Not for a moment did she hesitate or sneak a sip for herself. She just fed her sister. When I passed the bowl with food to Dorkas, she did the same – offered little spoonfuls to her sister. I had to take the spoon from her and offer her the food and then I saw how hungry she was. Dorkas’s legs are bone thin as are her arms. Her head, a;ways showing some white spots due to a parasite, now has big crusty welts all over her head. I remember thinking last summer: will this child ever make it and now things look even worse.

Visit to Gihembe Refugee Camp Sat September 2, 2006

2006-09-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

As part of an outing with a Global Education Working Group, I visited the Gihembe Camp in Biyumba, a city in the north of the country, about an hour’s drive from Kigali. There are a number of refugee camps in Rwanda. They shelter refugees from Burundi or as is the case in the Gihembe camp, refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Buyumba is quite far from the Congo, so many of us on the way to the camp were not actually sure where the refugees in Gihembe were from. We soon learned they were Tutsi’s who had fled from the Congo.This camp was actually established in December of 1997 at which time most of the refugees were transferred from Gisenyi near the Congolese border. In March 1998, the first count established a population of 14,248 persons. Subsequent movements took place until 2004.

The demographics of this camp are staggering: it is huge - 17,274 people of whom 10, 500 are under the age of 18! In this group there are marginally more females than males. In the next age group, 18-59, there are 1110 women and 537 men! There were no birth rate figures, but it must be significant, given there are more than 3000 children between ages 0-4 yrs. There are also close to 100 single, young, mothers under the age of 18. I missed the medical part of this tour as I was talking to the literacy educators, but I saw no sign of any birth control counselling. This camp is run by UNHCR with the following partners : Government of Rwanda (MINELOC), American Refugee Committee (ARC), Jesuit Refugee Service(JRS), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) , World Food Program (WFP) During our visit we learned that this camp is in effect run by the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The literacy program in this camp will be discontinued in December as there are no more funds. In September 2006 there were 271 adults enrolled, 33 men and 238 women. The Head of this program is very concerned about the future of these women, many of whom have been abandoned by their spouses. What will become of these women?

My impressions as I walked through the camp: Very friendly children and adults. There was a sense of structure and organization, but also of a very densely populated area. Speaking to the educators, one can see they work hard under difficult circumstances; not unlike what I see in the South Province of Rwanda. One marked difference is the quality of French spoken, however. The students I spoke to who were in third form preparing for Tronc Commun, were very well spoken in French, something one is not likely to encounter in the rural parts of the South province.

Heart Wrenching

2006-09-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Heart wrenching !

How can I continue to be so deeply affected by these students sent home yet again this week, in third term, to go get their « Minerval » Minerval are the school fees and school ends the first week of November. If you haven’t paid, you do not get your year. If you haven’t paid you cannot come into class and you cannot eat in the cafeteria. Students are being forced home. The “gérant” tells me that students are sent home to fetch their parents and bring them so they can explain the family’s dismal financial situation. At this time, 6 weeks before the year end, 200 of the 864 students at the high school behind my home, have been sent home. Thirty-two of 125 6th form students who write an all-important National Exam in November, have also been sent home. If in my small school there are 200 out of school looking for money, how many students are there in all of Rwanda roaming around the countryside? I do not know, but it must be significant!!
If you have been reading my blog, you know I support some students myself and that my church is now taking care of another 6! Well, every day I am stopped by students in the street who are looking for help:one story sadder than the other.
As I eat my lunch, I know they are wandering about not getting any food. I have to harden myself.

The group of six

2006-09-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

You will have to imagine the picture. Cannot manage the technology today!!!

The Group of Six
I have finally met the group of six students who will be helped with their school fees through a bursary fund which originated at my church in Toronto, Rosedale Presbyterian Church. It was the Youth Group of this church who decided they wanted to use some of the Outreach Budget to help students in Rwanda stay in school. From left to right, Thomas, Chantal, Béata,Clénie, Jean and Gustave will be assisted with their school fees, some personal hygiene materials and school supplies. As we sat around and got acquainted this afternoon, we went through the basic things they might need. As we moved from notebooks and pens, to geometry sets, one of the young people said that he didn’t have a mattress.
Three others also admitted, ashamedly, that they had been sharing the bed of a friend because they did not have a matress.When we moved to uniforms, all admitted they have just one pair of trousers or one skirt and one shirt. Two of the boys’shirts were worn to the point of having rips. One of the girls shyly came forward to say that she does not own a uniform and was wearing one borrowed from a friend. Shoes were another problem:most were wearing borrowed shoes. The young people understand we cannot solve all their material problems, but we will do our best to equip them with the proper bedding, plastic sandals in addition to their school equipment and toilet articles. Further activities we plan to undertake with these students are to provide workshops in leadership , organizational and entrepreneurial skills. The plan is that when they have received some training they will serve as leaders in a vacation camp for primary school aged children. In order that the young people from Toronto and also the rest of the congregation, will get to know the circumstances of these young Rwandans, we have asked the six students to write a letter once a term where they talk about themselves, their families and their asademic studies.
In our discussion today all students agreed they would continue to do their best to find some funds to help pay their expenses. Although this term we are financing the school fees 100%, we encourage them to come forward with whatever small amount they have been able to save.

Motorbikes banished from Kigali for a week!

2006-09-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

Motorbikes banished from Kigali for one week

From out of nowhere, a week ago, motorcycles were suddenly taken off the streets of Kigali! They were polluting, accident prone, unruly and considered undesirable by those who make the rash decisions this country sometimes has to live with.
Kigali is a city spread out over many hills with a relatively small centre. There are taxi busses (holding 22 people that drive on various routes but do not touch the down town area nor do they enter the residential areas. When one arrives at the edge of downtown with one of these buses, it was easy to hop on the back of a motorbike and for a dollar or two be quickly taken to your destination. The alternative? :Walking or taking a regular taxi, although the latter is too costly to consider unless you are a party of three or four. I was in Kigali yesterday and it was like a ghost down: just cars driving along with no bikes weaving through the traffic. Apparently though, the bikes are back!!! A meeting was held in the stadium last night with all the motards who thought they had lost their livelihood only to have it given back to them a week later. They will have to live with more regulations to improve the safety of their passengers. Well, there is no harm in that!

Back in Kigeme after 8 weeks leave!

2006-08-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

More about "staying in school"

2006-02-15T01:56:00.000-08:00

February 14, 2006

More about "staying in school"

Well Valens is a regular visitor at my house and he assured me after I had bought the two mattresses for him and his sister that his father wanted to come and thank me. Having been away in Kigali for a week, I returned to Kigeme last Saturday. Valens came to do some English and to have a talk with Antonia (who was visiting) and me. He assured me that it was quite possible his father might arrive sometime on Sunday and could he come and meet me. I said I would be home. On Sunday, Antonia and I had a quiet morning reading outside. At 2pm we dropped by my office to use internet for a bit and then I took her to the taxi bus stop where we waited almost an hour!! Having walked back to my house, I found Valens and his dad ( I didn't even get his name) sitting on my step. Of course I invited them in, offered them a Fanta and received his many thanks and a basket of passion fruit. From father I heard, through Valens' translations, that his other two children were in school but that he had been unable to pay the full amount of the first term. I ended up offering to pay school money for the other two. Dad had made the effort to pay some to get them into the schools, but without selling his land and/or a goat he will not be able to pay the entire first term without which the children get sent home. We are not talking a whole lot of money - probably a total of about $400 for the three of them for the whole year. I feel compelled to do this. Valens is a sweetie and works really hard. He is 20 in grade 9; he was the one that should have left school last December so the other brother, Valens, aged 18 and in grade 11 and Chantal who just passed the grade 6 nat exam in November, could attend school. I decided all three should be in school - Valens because at 20 he is still determined, Evaste because he has just 2 more years and Chantal, well, because she is a girl. I repeat to Valens and his dad that this is just for one year at a time, but I have a feeling this might be more of a long-term thing. Any way as we sat there talking I found myself throwing together a quick soup because papa had walked for 5 hours to come to see me and he was probably hungry. After a quick meal, we said goodbye with him pumping my hand in more thanks and making me promise I would come and visit the family.

Grace and her 4 girls

2006-02-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

January 31, 2004
Grace and her 4 girls

Pastor Félicien invited me last week to accompany him into the countryside just outside the village, to visit some families. He is the parish priest of Kigeme and has decided to take the time at the end of the afternoon to make his visits. One of my initiatives is to invite the forty or so pastors in the diocese to choose one family in their parish whose school aged children are not attending school for whatever reason. I would like these pastors to build a relationship with this family with the intent to perhaps lend them the necessary support to help them get their children to school. This would give insight into 40 families and the specific hurdles they have in getting their children to primary school. Anyway, accompanying pastor Félicien would give me insight into the plight of some of these families. We arrived in the yard of a small hut where Grace was nursing her youngest daughter seated on a bare, dirty, foam mattress in front of the hut. A toddler was close by playing with a small, empty, red tomato-paste can. There were two other children of Grace's, girls, aged 7 and 8. All four children were wearing faded, tattered dresses falling off their shoulders because the sleeves were worn through. Félicien had told me about Grace. Back in September her husband had decided he was too hungry and left for Kigali. He never came back. Grace was left with the 4 children and two goats. She works some fields at a distance from her house. The harvest last October was quite good. The upcoming harvest will be poor because of the lack of rain. She also had a small pen next to the house where she kept a neighbour's pig. A few weeks ago the neighbour sold the pig, but has never even mentioned giving her money for having used her pen. Grace keeps her two goats in the house with her and the children at night, because bandits come at night to try to take them away. When Grace took one of the children to the local hospital, her health insurance was not valid because the children were not written in on her identity card but on her husband's. Félicien will follow up on this: trace the whereabouts of the father through his family who still lives in the surroundings and order him back to deal with the papers for the children so that Grace can carry on.
At the end of the visit, Grace asked one of her children to say the Lord's Prayer. When she finished, Félicien commented she had more or less included all the elements but that they were a bit jumbled. Then the oldest girl took her turn. Her version sounded more fluid. It was quite funny when Félicien burst laughing and told me she had said instead of “Give us our daily bread”: “We do not know where our food is coming from, but please give us some”. Mother obviously has moments of humour in spite of her hard life.
I was able to ask Grace some questions about her children and about her situation. She is a courageous woman, who, although struggling, is able to care for her children and herself. She was thankful for the visits so far and sees it as an answer to her prayers that Félicien has come out of nowhere to help her get identity papers for her children.

To be continued.

In the mean time I have hit the clothing market in Butare. This is an extensive second hand clothing market where there are piles and piles of neatly folded, very clean but extremely wrinkled clothing. One could easily find some of the discarded clothing that we, in the west have all given away in the black garbage bags. I zeroed in on the children's clothes thinking of Grace's 4 children. I was able to purchase 2 dresses, 2 jumpers, a skirt and 4 Tshirts. Last week Félicien and I went to drop these off to Grace. She was very thankful. I shall keep this family in my mind and in my prayers.

The challenge to stay in school.

2006-01-31T02:08:00.000-08:00

January 24
Earlier, I wrote about Valens, the 20 yr. old student whom I support in his 3rd year of high school ( the equivalent of grade 9). He has started his school year with renewed confidence. Last weekend he went home to hear whether his sister had passed her “examen national” at the end of grade 6. Yesterday evening, he dropped by to tell me that yes, she had passed. The new school year started January 9 but without grade 7's and grade 10's. The grade 6 and grade 9 exam results came out a week ago and it takes another week for the students to learn which school offers them a place. There are no telephones to make a quick call to get the information. People have to walk to the district office to learn the results and then go back to the school to see where they might be placed. Valens could not tell me if his sister would actually be able to continue on to high school. Based on how good the results are successful candidates coming out of grade 6 are placed in the school of their choice. Secondary school costs money, however: about $400 a year if one counts residence, food, school materials and travel home. For a family whose income may be as little as $20 a month, such a sum would be unaffordable. In Valen's family there is a third child, a son, who is 18 years old. Although 2 years younger, he is 2 years ahead of Valens. Fortunately money was found to pay his school fees. In Valens' family there may be little money, but there is the awareness that school is important and a strong commitment to get the children there.
Such was not the case for 14 year old Claudine. I saw Claudine while I was having a chat with Vénantie, the principal of Kigeme Primary School. Claudine had passed the exam she wrote last November. She came to report to Vénantie, that her father was not allowing her to further her education. He had told her that she should stay home; education was only for the privileged and the rich, he had told her. The principal urged Claudine to go to the local government office to tell her story. That office will likely invite Claudine's father to come and talk and they will urge him to change his mind. Claudine's case is an all too frequent one where a girl who wishes to continue, is not allowed to do so. Vénantie urged Claudine to come back the following day to tell how things had gone. Vénantie told me that every year at this time it breaks her heart to see many young girls thwarted in their efforts to continue their education.

January 31
Valens went home again this past weekend and reported joyously yesterday evening that his sister Chantal has started first form in a secondary school. School is an hour and a half walking from home, so she will be in residence. The family were happy with the 12, 000 francs I had sent with Valens to buy a mattress for Chantal. This afternoon I will make a run to Gikongoro to buy a mattress for Valens also. I reckon sleep and food are two important factors for academic success wherever one goes to school.

Back in Rwanda with my crew

2006-01-13T01:16:00.000-08:00

Back in Rwanda with my crew!
Have been a bit lax with no entries for almost 2 months. I did sneak to Holland for 3 weeks and there indulged myself like a mad woman in food and drink and spent a ton of money on myself and on things to take back here. A pleasant surprise in Holland was the fact that the clothes I had left there in July were miles too big. I had to find a friendly Moroccan in Bussum to have them taken in. This did mean I was allowed to shop some to get decked out for the few festivities I attended – my own Birthday party arranged by friend Ineke and the 25 th wedding party of my cousin Willem and his wife Pien. Those two really know how to party! Then I mustn’t forget the Christmas and New Year’s at Elise and Jan Willem’s. Mother and I also went for many a lunch and a dinner or two and of course mammie’s 94th birthday on Des 27. Anyway, I was looking forward to going back with some trepidation mostly due to the fact I had gotten quite lazy. And being back almost a week it still feels OK.
Jacqueline, who comes for food frequently, was glad to see me but gestured to her ragged and filthy skirt asking if I had brought her a new one. I had not, but am now resolved to buy her a new one even though I have decided Jacqueline is not very likeable. She always asks for more and does not help herself very well. Quite pathetic, but not likeable.
Claudine, my help, looked after Jacqueline three times a week while I was away. That is to say she came to my house three times a week and cooked for Jacqueline and watered the garden. The latter was necessary as it only rained once during my absence. Since I have been back it has rained practically every day. Claudine was happy to see me and excited about the clothes I brought back for her. She is also pleased I now have 3 working radios. She has one on all day and I have to ask her to turn it off during lunch because I just cannot bear the music and chatter. The garden is looking good. My sister Myra’s carrots were duds unfortunately so we will now try the carrot seeds I got from Richard and Deb Holdsworth. The zucchinis are growing as is the corn. There are some cucumbers and beans and swiss chard coming and I am going to seed some more flowers and try the tomatoes. The latter are so cheap and quite tasty at the markets, that it is hardly worth the trouble. As far as my plot is concerned, the climate is great but the soil is very poor. We have applied a second bit of compost – from my garden waste after the first compost came from the local cows. Speaking of we, I come to Valens, the student whom I helped stay in school at the end of the school year by paying the remaining $35 of his school fees. In exchange - we established this in November - he was to help me in the garden. Before Christmas, which was just after the school year ended, we decided I would support him this coming year also. School feels are about $300 plus supplies and toiletries. Before I left, Valens told me he wanted to start taking photos and was looking for an old camera. There is a lot of interest to have your picture taken here. Also people want their weddings and parties photographed and they are willing to pay. Valens figures he can get some extra money by doing this and hopes to help pay for his brother’s school expenses, not to speak of his younger sister who also wants to start secondary school but is still waiting for the results of the national exam she wrote in November at the end of grade 6. Anyway I did find a neglected camera in Holland and put a roll of twelve in which he shot today and will take to town tomorrow to see how they worked. My aunt and uncle in Bussum handed me 25 euros before leaving and I bought film for him so he can get started and make some profit right away instead of having to purchase the film too. Valens is a tiny 20 year old. A bit of a country bumpkin, but eager to learn. As he says, he is too frail to be cutting down trees or doing other physical labour (which by the way is hard to find as is any kind of paying work), so he might as well take pictures and leave himself enough energy to work on his studies. He is 20 entering the 9th year of schooling with three more to go if he gets this year ( a national exam) . The school tells me he is one of the best students in his year. Yet when he was leafing through a MacLean’s magazine lying on my coffee table, he did not know anything about advertising. He had never heard of Microsoft, or IBM and did not understand the difference between the pages with articles and the ads! This just captures how isolated the youth in this part of the country are from the rest of the world. Evenif they wanted, it is hard to find books, magazines and newspapers to read. Public computers are more than an hour by bus away and that costs $2! There is a lot I can help this kid with and he really is keen to learn. He is aware of his very African accent in French and wants me to help him improve. Below you see Valens at 5.30 am leaving my place (this was in December) on his way home – a 6 hour walk. I will keep you posted.

Have I adjusted

2005-11-04T05:17:00.000-08:00

Have I adjusted?

Nation wide “congés” or holidays are announced the night before on the 10 o’clock news. I, like many Rwandans do not have a radio in which case I might not hear there is a day off. This week was particularly interesting: Monday night it was decided that primary schools would be closed because of “Toussaint”. My office made it a late start day, but most people came in to work.Today, Wed.Nov. 2, it was decided at around 4pm that tomorrow is a holiday because it is the end of Ramadan. I believe Friday is a holiday because of national tree planting. There is something deeply disturbing and foreign about this. Imagine the chaos and control at the top when these decisions are made last minute. More serious, is the lack of support and recognition to people who are organized and want to get things done. I am not yet considering myself in this last group. However, the work ethic here often leaves to be desired and these surprise moves do no allow people to plan their lives.

Power outages at 7 pm just when you have started to cook – are a real pain!

Matches, used in great quantity are of poor quality and break with sparks flying.

Candles, also used in great quantity are of poor quality also. Something I will stock up on when in a developed country.

Rwandans cannot distinguish between r and l. A bit like the Chinese!

When greeting and talking a Rwandan will hold your hand all the while and emit sounds of ayyyye, ayyyye, in acknowledgement of what you are saying.

Children continue to be heart-warmingly genuine in their greetings and curiosity.

Many of these children are being exploited: carrying inordinately heavy loads of wood, vegetables, jerry cans of water on their heads. These same children are also the ones who are kept out of school to perform this child labour. I would be reassured if as many tall, strong youths were doing the same lugging around. On the contrary, these youths lounge about aimlessly with little to do.

Absenteeism, amongst teachers and principals especially, is alarming if I compare it to home. However, in any emergency ranging from not being paid to having a sick family member, the nearest bank or hospital or health unit is probably 2 hours walking one way.

The following account will require your patience and imagination and you should feel some affinity with digging and plants in order to appreciate my puzzlement.
The road cleaners/fixer uppers: these have sprouted these last weeks since the rains have started. Imagine very hard surfaced, rutted, sand or dirt roads. They are so hard they feel like stone sometimes and roots and stones are deeply imbedded and protruding. When it rains this becomes a thin layer of treacherous “slither” as no road is flat for longer than 20 metres. Anyway, the mixed company of cleaners , (men, women, children of all ages) equipped with the rwandan hoe, scrape earth from the side of the hill adjacent to the road and use this earth to cover the road. At the same time they deepen the ditch between hillside and road for the rainwaters. The hillside from which the road has been dug out can range from 10-20 ft or more and there are often trees growing on the edge of these hillsides. With the scraping of the grassy hillside, the bared earth and roots of the trees become exposed, ready for the attack of erosion caused by the deluges. Eventually the trees die. I have not yet figured out what the best way to improve roads would be. Once graded and paved, they stay in good condition because there is no frost but grading and paving is not in the cards for the province of Gikongoro, except for the road running to the Congo which passes through this province and on the outside of this town.

I have adjusted; don’t worry! I believe I am fairly resigned to the above, although the plight and future of many children are of great concern. More on that another time!

Morning Routine

2005-11-04T05:13:00.000-08:00

Have I spoken in detail about my morning routine? My alarm goes at 5:30 and I am usually up by 5:45. It seems early but I rarely turn off the light after 10 pm because most evenings there is no power, causing my eyes to tire and quickly removing the pleasures of a whole evening of reading. On my kitchen table are two large thermoses with hot water prepared by Claudine the previous afternoon. I take one of them to fill a small plastic tub, which I take to the bathroom and set in the bathtub. Yes, I do have a full-length bathtub, but no running hot water to put in it! I then sponge bath standing in the bathtub. (Do I miss a lengthy hot shower? YES! Alternatively, on mornings when I feel so inclined, I will first light the kerosene stove and heat some water for porridge and coffee and put on the computer with my yoga CD. Thirty minutes of yoga followed by sit-ups make me feel virtuous and give my body a good kick-start. Breakfast can be porridge made with Kenyan instant oats and milk powder made by Nestlé. I add either honey or sugar. Sometimes I have bread with a soft-boiled egg or old bread that I attempt to toast in the frying pan, with jam. Coffee requires some of the freshly boiled water or hot water out of the thermos. I put coffee in a little stainless steel pot I bought here and pour the boiling water over it. After a few moments, through a fine sieve, I pour the coffee mixture from the pot into the cup, which usually has some powdered milk in it. This coffee I have grown to tolerate, but it is not up to the quality I would like. Next trip out of the country, I will get a filter holder and bring some filters. I also need to change the coffee, but have decided to finish this big package, as it was really expensive. I will sit at the table in the living room, in front of the window and have breakfast. I may play some music on the computer, but usually I listen to the birds singing. If I am lucky, I can see the outline of a volcano which must be at least 100km away. At this time I also set the small mirror on the table and look at my face, checking for (re)sprouting of facial hair and possibly applying some make-up and brushing my hair. I am planning to buy a large mirror and fasten it to a wall where I might have a maximum of natural light. At about this time I hear the clanging of the gong for the school cafeteria and it is 6:45. I collect my trusty computer bag, (the one I bought when Havergal first gave us laptops), and possibly a backpack if I am doing school visits, and head off to the diocese office. This walk takes about 10 minutes at most. I arrive at about 7.05 and leave my bags in the office, grab my 2 Bibles to join in the Morning Prayer session. (one Bible is Kinyarwanda, the other English). We spent most of October reading Jeremiah and have just started Revelations. People take turns leading the reading and we usually start with singing a hymn. These hymns are mostly African with great rhythms and harmonies. After the reading there is discussion as to the interpretation: Lessons to be learned? Good examples? Bad examples? This is followed by requests for prayers and then the prayer, always in flowing Kinyarwanda. At the closing of the time together, people bring up items of interest related to people or work. By 7:45 or 8 we are all ready to start work. So far, I have not had many days that I spend at the office. School visits on the back of the motorbike have taken up a lot of my time. When in the office, I am at the computer writing observations, making notes, and writing letters. Making phone calls is something I would like to do more of, but the phone is locked for outgoing calls and I have to specially ask to use it.
More on the rest of my day later.

Life and work in Kigeme after 5 weeks

2005-10-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

I have started my 5th week here in Kigeme and have adapted to life in this village. My little house is cozy, although there are some things to add to it: nicer looking curtains (they have wonderfully bright, cotton fabrics at the market), a few more chairs (made locally), that I can place on the veranda and easily carry in, a buta gaz 2 burner stove top (a bit of a luxury!), a rug , to name a few. Some of these are bulky and I will have to wait until I find a vehicle to transport them. Food is fresh, tasty, but quite limited in variety. As we get more rain, I will start to plant some seeds and see what I am able to grow in my garden.
My work has shifted from lots of reading of files regarding the 42 primary schools and 3 secondary schools associated with the Episcopalian church diocese for which I work, to school visits. These I do on the motor bike as a passenger. The roads are very winding and steep with a very uneven surface. There are also virtually no signs and so far I have not seen a map with the roads we take marked on it. I will eventually go on my own, but for the time being my motard Prosper is an excellent chauffeur.
There is much that needs improving in the schools. Teachers for the primary level can start teaching with a high school diploma if their school had a teacher training section. There is a shortage of experienced teachers (genocide, HIV Aids and an average life expectancy at birth of 40) and the younger teachers are disenchanted by the challenging settings and the poor pay. Many use this as a start and a means to earn money to continue their education. So I have seen some very mediocre teaching just because of a lack of proper training. Students learn by rote through lots of repetition and one wonders how much they understand. In grade 4 the language of instruction suddenly becomes French (around Kigali, the capital, it is English). Before that time everything is in Kinyarwanda. The president, Paul Kigame decided a number of years ago that Rwanda should be trilingual: Kinyarwanda, French and English)Students are not well enough prepared in French in grades 1-3 to make this switch and so comprehension of the material is limited. I have lots of ideas for workshops to support these teachers and to show them how they will have to not just teach their subject, but also continue to teach French. A few of the schools I have seen so far have strong leadership and you can see that in the way the teachers teach and the overall atmosphere of the school.
The buildings and equipment leave a lot to be desired. Only the newer buildings made of brick, usually financed by projects coming from the developed world or foreign NGO's, have windows with glass and paved floors. Otherwise windows have wooden shutters and are small, floors are dirt and ceilings are reed on the inside, mud tiles or sheet metal on the outside. Students often sit on low benches or large mud bricks instead of proper desks. Some classrooms have only a small blackboard. All primary students are supposed to wear a uniform. Not all can afford one in which case they wear the only clothes they own - second hand, ill fitting and dirty. In most schools all children are barefoot; at some of the schools nearer a town one will see children with flip flops or used sneakers.
Schools start around 8 am. Often, opening assembly is at 7:30 or 7:45. It is held outside. There is singing of a hymn, a Bible reading + reflection, the national anthem and announcements. Classes in grades 1-3 are 30 min. long and in 4-6 they are 45 min long. There is a midday break from 12:15 -1:45. Most children go home for something to eat, but there are many who live too far away so they lounge around the school grounds and play without anything to eat. Many of the students are visibly malnourished. School finishes around 4:30. There are a number of districts where the schools are supported by the UN World Food Program. WFP delivers 50KG bags of maismeal, beans, wheat flour and large cans of oil. The school has to hire 2 people to prepare morning porridge and lunchtime maismeal with beans for all the students. All over a wood or charcoal fire of course. Each students pays equivalent of 50 cents a month to help pay the cooks. Quite a production but it works. Children are no longer hungry and learn much better. These schools have also seen their enrollment in the younger grades increase dramatically. This is a problem because there are not enough classrooms so they have to build the simpler, cheaper ones made of adobe bricks quickly. These buildings do not last long in the heavy rains.I do wonder how long they will need this support of food. Things do not look like they will change much in the next few years. The poverty circle is very vicious!
During my visits I usually go around the classes and introduce myself. With the little ones I need a translator although in schools with a more dynamic directeur/directrice, I have found I can make myself understood in French by playing some games and using lots of gestures and asking basic questions. I have also sat in on lessons and then been asked to give my impressions either to the teacher or to all the teachers. I make copious notes when I get back to the office or at home and get more and more ideas as to what I can do to help.
Just to finish this education thing off, grade 6 does a National Exam which in fact is the entrance to secondary school. The latter costs money; primary school is free. In this province the results on average are about 12-20% of grade 6 students who pass. When I ask kids the question: quel âge as-tu? I will see 13 yr olds in grade 3 and 16 yr olds in 6. As long as the results are this poor and students leave school after grade 3 and after grade 6, I don't see much poverty reduction in this province. Sorry to leave it on a negative note. Perhaps I should add that in all schools I am most warmly welcomed by bright eyed and enthusiastic kids and on the whole hard working teachers who are keen to have me come and give a workshop.
Hope this gives you an idea of what is occupying me here. I have met some nice people with whom I can spend time on the weekends. (most live in another town) I do lots of writing and reading when there is electricity. Daylight is from 5:30 am to 6 pm; my bedtime between 8 and 11 pm.;weather is pleasant. We are heading into the rainy season, which I think means frequent and hard, but relatively short rainfalls.

Poverty is everywhere in this province of Gikongoro

2005-09-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

September 17 , 2005
(This was posted September 29. Sorry!)

It surrounds me, yet the Rwandans have a smiles on their faces. As I listen to my shortwave radio, I hear about it on all the newscasts esp. because of the UN meeting in New York where the Millenium goals set 5 years ago are being discussed. When I go to stores in the village the produce available changes all the time. All the dry goods are in see-through, no name plastic bags, in small quantities - Flour, salt sugar, etc. A type of super market grocery store isfound only in the larger cities and they are also stocked sparingly. The produce there, while more interesting, is pricy. I think I will splurge however on a box of dry oats so I can make some porridge and maybe try my hand at some granola bars this coming week. (Yes, all on a kerosene stove!)
Earlier this morning I was visited by my friend Jacqueline for the third time. She speaks only Kinyarwandan, looks ageless but probably in her 30's and extremely poor. Last time she was here she explained with gestures that she wants to clean up (i.e. weed) my garden. I had already given her some food when she came the other 2 times and I appreciate the fact that she wants to do something in return. I have to be careful. I am already now paying 2 people on my 120,000 RWfrs salary and she could be the third. Through the bishop's 12 year old daughter, Charlotte, there was some translating going on this morning. In spite of my saying, I thought she should wait because the ground is still way too hard, she has started anyway. I have already prepared a bag of carrots, tomato and an onion. I do not have that much food in the house.
Back from getting bread in the village. Got two buns for Jacqueline and her bag of veggies. She was not a happy camper. I know she prefers to have money but I am hesitant. J managed to gesture she wanted soap to wash her ragged skirt and top. So, I emptied some soap powder in an old water bottle and gave her an end of a bar of soap.
Language is a barrier here. I feel a bit uncomfortable with Jacqueline. She did a good job, but I have to feel my way as to how much I should be giving because I will be here a long time and do not want to give the wrong impression. She is sweet and could certainly use a good wash and some new clothes. I need time however to figure out how best to help her. The other two people in my service are Claudine, a wonderful young woman who keeps the tiny house sparkling clean and cooks pretty tasty meals. Sylvain is here the weekend nights as a security guard. There is a little room inside a door beside the front door where he has a bed and a chair. Not sure yet how much I will be paying him, but hope to find this out later today when I go to Butare to compare notes with other muzungus.

Another poverty moment: In Butare, Geert ( a young Belgian volunteer)and I are walking side by side. We have just bought some sweet buns at the Lebanese supermarket and he pulls them out of the plastic bag to eat one, but it falls on the pavement. At the same moment a woman approaches us begging for food. Dilemma: do we pick up the bun that rolled on the street and give it to her, do we give her a bun out of the plastic bag (there is only one for each of the 4 of us) or do we just walk on and assume she will pick the bun up from the street. We did the latter and she picked it up as we saw when we discreetly turned around. Not the best feeling, not the Samaritan way, but yes there are beggars in Butare and they really are hungry. We have taken to travelling with bananas or plain bread and hand those out when people ask for money or food.

Tuesday September 6

2005-09-08T08:10:00.001-07:00

Tuesday September 6

Spoke to Michelle today for the first time. Long overdue. I won’t say it was good to hear her voice. It sounded strange and far away. Definitely good to talk however and hear the news and tell my latest. I guess I miss most telling people about my day. It’s not loneliness yet, just very quiet. Looking forward to my radio – that I bought in Kigali and will get in a box with other stuff this weekend when I meet friends in Butare and get on the internet to send some emails. It’s 6:40 and the power has just gone off. I didn’t notice it because someone had just come to the door and introduced himself. He knew Doutsen who lived here before. It was on when I came home but off most of the day at the office. So we have had a total of one and a half hours since last night. I did charge my batteries but figure I should invest in a rechargeable lamp. Just cannot read by candle light and kerosene lamp. Yesterday and today was the monthly meeting of all the priests in the Gikongoro district. At lunch today, walking back to work, one of the parish priests here in Kigeme told me that I was expected to introduce myself at 4 pm and had I been told about this? Well I hadn’t and Eusélie came in at 2:45 and told me at around three that I was expected at the meeting. I then pumped her for about 5 Kinyarwanda phrases of welcome which I practised and delivered at 4. I got a round of applause. There was time for questions and I underwent a gruelling session, first about my personal life, then my children, did I have a husband and then about my views on homosexuality and divorce. One of the priests had to translate to Kinyarwandan because they did not all understand me. Knowing full well the African churches’ stand on these issues, I asked if I could be honest and they all nodded. I stated my beliefs, my tolerance, that I had friends who were in homosexual relationships and that this has been the case in all my adult life – starting in Holland in the early seventies. They were curious to know how I could marry my Christian faith with my views regarding homosexuality and divorce, given what it says in the Bible. I painted a picture of North American and western culture : many cultures, many influences and that some protestant churches do not interpret the Bible as literally in all its teachings; that within these churches there are varying opinions and that we do not all agree on all things. I tried to explain that Christians are involved in homosexual relationships and still strive to live as good Christians. I was also asked that, given the views I have, how would I deal with these issues in the classroom, given they were accepted in my culture. Here I could give the VSO answer which is that I am here to share my background and culture with theirs, not impose it and then my own answer, that I would never talk to a classroom of young people in the way I had spoken to them, that young people need information and then need to make up their own mind and that I spoke to them honestly only because they assured me I could be honest. Well the whole thing lasted 45 min and I was not quite expecting the number of direct questions. It does concur however with the general curiosity of all Rwandans. They want to know everything about us, from the west, even in the street when they talk with you. Hard to know how I came across, but Bishop Augustin assured me my honesty was appreciated and that now everyone knows where I stand. I hope I won’t regret today!!!

Tuesday September 6

2005-09-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

September 3

2005-09-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

A city of hills with quite a bit of green, but also red soil and dust as this is the dry season. There are people everywhere, mostly moving about on foot. Children in school uniforms walking to and from school, boys and men standing around, little children running after us and calling us ‘muzungo’. There are small shops every few houses it seems. On the hillside where our compound is, the houses vary from very minimal to reasonably well kempt. Most Rwandans who work in offices have a phone in hand. They are smartly dressed – the men with cleanly pressed shirts and pants, the women with colourful dresses and skirts. The major shopping area is relatively small with some bigger shops, lots of pharmacies, internet cafes, phone shops, banks, travel agents, clothing shops etc. Yours truly may not be elegantly dressed, but she does have a phone in hand. She will be a pro in the use of Michelle’s phone from France especially when she gets the hang of text messaging.
The neighbourhood with the government buildings, is elegant, clean and with beautifully paved roads. There are some elegant hotels and an impressive bank building of the BCDI bank where I will open account next week, but in my Gikongoro province branch not here in Kigali. On the various hillsides the array of dwellings is very mixed: mostly small, simply constructed houses with a yard of some sort. People move around on foot or public taxi. The latter are much more organized than in say Sumatra or even Lima, Peru. There are also motorcycles and cars and some bicycles, although the hills make that a hard way to move around. The other night we took a real taxi home from the restaurant. The driver took a shortcut down a steep road which was not paved and more like a track than a road, with huge ruts. The car was an ordinary one and with four rather heavy people (I was the lightest) I was surprised we made it down. Such a road would be impossible to use in the rainy season. Moving around this city, one gets a sense of organization or control. There are three layers of control around the city: the community security force (volunteers), the police and the military.
We have been to a few bars in the area of the compound after the dinner hour. Here there are absolutely no tourists. There are very few women to be seen in these establishments. The odd one would be young and always with a male companion. It appears, and I had read this before I left, that women have family obligations in the evening whether they are married or not. The volunteers here find this an obstacle in having social contact with female colleagues after working hours.
Speaking of volunteers, there are about 30 of us in Rwanda with VSO. They are mostly between 24 and 34 with the exception of Antonia Eastman (from Wales) and me. She will be living in Butare, about 1 hr from where I am. I think we will get on well together. There are moments when I feel somewhat ‘older’, but on the whole these young people are very friendly and try to be inclusive. There is a preponderance of women volunteers, but I had already observed this in the training sessions.
Today I was in Kigali, (pronounced [Chigali] and was taken by a volunteer to see the MINEDUC, the Min of Education building. I will probably go there to attend meetings at one time or another. We also dropped by a volunteer, François, from Montreal, who works for a National Organization that tries to coordinate all efforts to work with and educate Rwandan children who have disabilities (hearing/vision impaired, but also physical and mental disabilities). In the afternoon, we went to spend our 100,000 RWfrs on equipment for our houses. This is about 170 US$. I bought sheets, towels, a blanket ,pots, jerry cans (plastic for water), broom, buckets, wash basins, glasses, cups plates cutlery, knives etc. etc. I felt like I was a student again, buying cheap stuff for my student room. There will be a lot more I will have to buy. I may splurge to buy a buta gas two burner stove. In the meantime it will be a kerosene stove (supplied by VSO) that I will use for cooking and heating water. I am perturbed to be without a radio. I meant to get one in Toronto and never got to it. Did not find a suitable one in Kigali today and it will be the only way to stay in touch with the rest of the world. I will have another try before leaving on Saturday afternoon.
The electricity issue is a big one. It’s 10 pm and I have light in my room, but this has been an exception since I am here. Mostly the electricity is off and this means darkness everywhere. I have realized it is treacherous walking outside after dark because you cannot see all the potholes. Every time the power is on I find myself charging batteries, cell phone or the laptop. (I have had to interrupt this writing session as the power did go out last night around 10:15)
I have met some Rwandans already- there are 6 who work in the programme office and who have given some workshops or who have helped us fill out forms. They are polite, friendly and quite easy to communicate with. On Friday, I will meet my employer. We will spend the day getting to know each other as we attend briefings given by the people in the –program office.
Later this afternoon I will be off to Kigali again to look around, perhaps enter this blog and then touch base with Maurits and Tine, who live here and who are friends of Pim and Ineke. I am looking forward to getting their perspective on Rwanda, as they have been here for a while. Maybe I can find a radio and a power bar. I am kind of obsessed with power and electricity. Next entry will be from Kigeme, via Butare, where the internet café is. Cheers.

Kigali August 30 First Impressions

2005-09-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

predeparture pic

2005-07-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Pre-departure for Rwanda

2005-06-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

Lots of reading documents about my new country. More challenging, is how to ride a motorcycle and acquire a licence.
Travel arrangements also needto be made.