Keep on learning...Keep on learning

What’s my learning curve been like? Huge! Massive! Today – big day. Apparently none of my work colleagues did not notice my brown and grey fashion disaster so I was safe. I worked in the office on a few things (writing my introduction letter, familiarizing myself with the curriculum) and then met Danny at Moderne for mélange lunch. We then walked to Kabare I Primary school where I saw my first Rwandan school close up. The schools have double shift. This means that half of the students attend school in the morning (7:30 to 12:30) and the other half come in the afternoon (1:00 to 5pm). The next day the groups switch. This is because there aren’t enough teachers or schools to teach all the children. The benefit is that this keeps class sizes below 50 (in most cases). The problem is that it means teachers get few breaks and work very long days. The “bell” rang at about 1pm. This was the student banging on an old wheel rim. Immediately the Primary 5 and Primary 6 (P5 and P6) students went to clean and flush out the latrines. The students filed in. The girls wearing blue and the boys wearing yellow uniforms. It’s helpful to know this because the boys look the same as the girls – it’s a law that all students must shave their heads. This prevents the spread of lice. I observed a P6 English lesson – P6 includes all ages as students may have started school older or not have completed the level. The oldest student might have been 16 or so. The English teacher did his best to encourage comprehension but I’m not sure the students knew what they were saying. However, they could all repeat the three types of adjectives (I still don’t know them!). The P5 lesson was interesting. The students were reading about bicycles. I think they know what a bicycle is but none of the other words were understood. They would all recite the words in unison but unfortunately did not know their meaning. It’s not he teacher’s fault. All teachers speak Kinyarwanda as their first language, have been teaching in French for ever and last year were told to start teaching in English. Imagine you, a teacher in Canada, being told you were to all of a sudden begin teaching in your THIRD language! The students were wonderful, though, and all greeted the Mzungu with huge smiles!

In the afternoon I scrubbed the water filter and then met Jason and Suzanne (one of the heads) for a tour of the Kibungo town. I know know where the post office, hospital, prison and internet café is. The walk back was in the dark and a number of students could see the mzungu from meters away. They began shouting “Mzungu! Mzungu” and grabbing at my arms – until Suzanne shouted at them. Uh oh. How will I deal with this constantly? The four of us had dinner together. It was my first time cooking on the kerosene stove! We made pasta with vegetables which was a welcome change from mélange and goat. A great day and another learning curve. I will try to post some pictures but will hopefully spend the day snapping pictures of my house and my town so you can see where I live.