September 14 and 15th

Monday September 14, 2009

 

Today was the first day I felt I was an employee of Ngoma District. Jason, Tina and I met at the office at 8am and briefly met with the Director of Education, Victor, to set a time to meet with him about our work plan. Then we walked to Kabare I school. This is Suzanne’s school and the same one I was at last week. The teachers and students were so welcoming! As soon as the “bell” when student poured into the center yard and if I was to close my eyes I could swear it was recess at my school last year. The sound was identical. Shouting and laughing! Little boys will march right up to you with their hands outstretch for a handshake and yell “Gooooooddd Moorrrrnnnning!” We all met on the field for an assembly where Suzanne and Jean Paul (the English teacher) formally welcomed us. We also had a welcome from an older student. We had traditional dancing and singing. And don’t the kids love it when they pull the mzungus up to dance with them! I saw, again, another universal trait in students. During assemblies they all want to sit near their friends and crowd to get the best seat – and teacher try to get them to “face the front and be quiet.” After Kabare we headed to three more schools for visits – one involved my first “long” motorbike ride. It was dodgy at parts – the parts where my driver and Jason’s driver seemed to be competing against one another. But I made it AND I found another use for a pashmina (the world’s BEST travelling item!). Wrap it around your head before you put on the moto driver’s shared helmet to avoid getting lice.

 

 We arrived in Kibungo to find that….what’s that?....the bank had opened? No! YES!!!! So I could actually withdraw some of my first pay cheque. Up to the internet café to upload pictures from the weekend and when I ran into Danny, he’d given me the fantastic news that the water was off – again. But I headed home, made dinner (pasta with garlic toast – great to have a toaster because you can’t really tell that bread has gone stale) and toast with chocolate spread (like Nutella but Rwandan version) for dessert. In the middle of dessert we heard the beautiful sound of the running toilet and we knew we had water again! So all three of use queued for the shower. It was a great shower. Did I tell that you it is such a great shower that it has two functions? Steady stream of cold water or, if you so desire, a sprinkle of water if you put the missing piece back on. Here at Chez Kibungo, we like to ensure our guests have all the luxuries they would at home. Of course, when the water comes back on, sometimes is full of dirt at the beginning. During the shower all I could see was brown water and thought, oh no…..until I realized that it was the Rwandan red dust (which I will hence forth begin to call, simply, Rwandust) slowly washing off of my tired feet.

 

The best part of my day: Meeting three siblings on my way home without stretch hands. They may have been 4, 6 and 8 “Gooooood Evvveeennning” they said as we shook hands. “Where are you going?” they asked. “I am going home.” Then, noticing that they are carrying jerry cans I asked them “Are you going to get water?” (And to my amazement, they UNDERSTOOD!). “Yes.” So, I asked them “Where are getting water?” They told me “Up the hill.” I told them to have a good evening and told them that they spoke very good English. Well, wasn’t that the best thing I could have said. I got a few more handshakes, a high five and two thumbs up – complete with three beautiful and big grins.

 

 

Tuesday September 15, 2009

 

Wake up to running water and not at 5:30am! Jean must not have been there last night to wake me up with his sweep, sweep, sweeping. Woke up at 6:30. Our moto drivers were going to be there at 7:30 to take us to Rukira school. Considered boiling a pot of water for our filter but changed my mind. Made oatmeal, a cup of coffee and toast. Danny had brought good bread from Kigali – not the brick they call bread from Kibungo. The motos pull up and we grab what we need (or what Tina has told me to bring to every workshop) including: snack, water, rain jacket, first aid kit, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and workshop materials. Tina also brings her IPod to share with the driver but I’m still not confident enough. I grab my pink helmet, hop on and we’re off!

 

We head down the highway toward Tanzania and a speed that can’t be quanitified because of the lack of spedomoters on, apparently, every vehicle in the country. We’re going faster than any other moving vehicle – which is only a few trucks and bikes carrying plantains going up hill. We are heading downhill and the twists and the turns require some strategic leaning. I wasn’t nervous at all – not even when the driver too BOTH HANDS! off the handle bars to wipe them on a towel. We even came up on a cyclist (a proper, Lance Armstrong type cyclist) and passed him. The next thing I new, I looked over and there he was, right along with us. We much have been going close to 80km/hour. We exit the highway to take a short cut which was more like a mountain bike trail and then up a steep dusty hill and I’m struggling to stay on. In Rwanda, it’s a faux pas to hold on to the driver, so it means you have to hold on the back. We pass through villages and banana tree after banana tree. We get to Rukira village and finally the school.

 

The workshop was great! In my job, I (and Tina until December) are responsible for training teachers and improving teaching techniques for 63 schools. Jason is responsible for a sector within the district (4 schools) and so we’ll be working together for some of our job. For today, 18 teachers from all over the region came to work with us. Jason and I spent our time observing, as Tina is a pro and I have a lot to learn. The focus of this lesson was teaching spelling to younger students. The goal is to move teachers away from “chalk and talk” but have more participatory approaches (games, using pictures, songs, movement) and including desk placement, peer assessment, questioning techniques etc. Basically, get the kids involved in their own learning. They day was fabulous! I even taught a game.  We know it as “hangman” but this isn’t appropriate for Rwanda so I changed it to “The Hungry Crocodile.” All the teachers participated and were excited to learn different approaches to learning. During the lesson, I saw the first Rwandan rain of the upcoming “short rainy season.” All of a sudden, there was pelting down rain with strong wings, thunder and lightening. Imagine a Calgary rainstorm in the heat of July. Like that, but longer – and with holes in the roof and windows missing from the classroom! All of a sudden the teachers on one side had to get up and move because they were all getting soaked. This is the same environment with which the students have to learn.

 

Which brings me to the school. I’d like to take a minute to describe the physical plant of schools in Rwanda. Usually there are many buildings which house classrooms. All classrooms have doors opening to the outside. Many schools have ditches to catch the water. The roofs are made of tin and the walls, brick or mud (like adobe). Desks are wooden benches that seat 2 or 3 older students but up to 5 little ones. That’s it. There is no electricity – so overhead projectors, computers or lights are obsolete. There is always a chalkboard – which is less a board and more a wall that has been painted with that blackboard paint which never erases properly. No white boards, no bulletin boards. There is no student work up, no posters, most have no maps, no flags, no signs that say “Welcome!” or (as in my old classroom) no political cartoons. There is a teacher desk but because teachers move classes, it it a large bare table. The buildings usually face a courtyard which is a large dirt field. There is always a Rwandan flag. Most schools have a staff room, which includes some resources, a schedule and maybe a few desks. There are no photocopiers, no fridges, no paper cutters or laminators, no couches, no ATA newsletters that no one reads anyway. There are no washrooms. For those, friends, you must visit the pit latrine out back complete with a hole in the ground and flies buzzing around your arse. But what a Rwanda school lacks in luxuries (and for us, necessities) they make up for in eager and willing teachers who care about their students the same way you or I would back home. The desire to help children learn is there and its obvious.

 

On my moto journey back to the town, I reflected on the day and said to myself “I’m cruising around Rwanda on a motorbike doing a job that I love!” How lucky am I? Very. I guess I can live with the red dusty that covers my feet, my clothes and most recently, found its way under my nails. Yup, I’m very lucky.