Well I suppose it’s about time I write my final thoughts for the trip.
At the end of our stay in Rwanda, we presented at KIE University. We told them about what we have learned from the trip. The night we left, we ate at the famous “Hotel Rwanda”. Yes, that would be the hotel the movie was films after. Gilliom brought his beautiful wife and new baby daughter to the hotel for us to meet. It was wonderful for him to share his family with us. His daughter was so cute.
Our plane didn’t leave until 4AM or sometime really late, and Jeremiah and Gilliom actually stayed with us until we were allowed to go to our gate. I knew we would miss them. The next day we arrived in Tanzania. Thanks to Leah, I actually got to bring my baskets home. I almost had to leave them in Tanzania because some customs man was abusing his power. We met our new drivers…. I missed Jeremiah and Gilliom! Then for the next two days we went on a safari. Basically, our safari was driving to and from our hotels. Our hotels were nested deep in the middle of the safari and it was a few hours of adventure to get to them. I loved being on the safari. It was an excellent transition! There is no way to describe the safari except to look at the pictures. I can’t upload my pictures to Picasa, so I guess people will just have to come to me to see them.
I was so ready to come home by that part. I loved Rwanda; I really don’t want people to think I didn’t enjoy the trip. I loved it; however, I missed my family and home. I learned so much from my trip to Rwanda. I had the opportunity to be immersed into a completely different culture, try different food, meeting new people, and observe in different schools. I was just not one of the ones who went that was ready to move to Rwanda. I, on the other hand, I would simply like to take what I have learned and apply it in my life. I would like to thank everyone who helped me get to Rwanda. It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s love and support. I would also like to thank a few special people who went on the trip with me (you know who you are) you guys helped me make the best memories. Miss you!
To my surprise, when I returned two of my best friends were at the airport with my family to surprise me. I also had a surprise party at my house when I returned. It was excellent to see everyone from my church and my family and friends. I also had another surprise, as if there could be any more. I guess my boyfriend must have really missed me while I was away… he surprised me by getting me a necklace from Tiffany’s!!! Thanks, Drew.
A few days after I got back, I started to feel really sick. Thursday night my parents almost took me to the emergency room because my stomach was hurting so bad. I went to the doctor and found out that I got some type of food poisoning… not fun. Luckily, the only thing I had to deal with was being weak and having stomach cramps. The doctor put me on some medicine and I eventually got over it…. Eventually.
Well those are the few updates I’ve had since I have returned. Thanks again for all of your help in getting me to and from Africa! I will never forget my experiences.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Unexpected Surprise! (Monday, May 25th)
This morning four of us went to a nursery/primary school to observe. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I was honestly not too excited about going to yet another school. When we arrived we met the headmaster and the representative of the school. We sat and talked with them for around 45 minutes learning about the history of the school and how it runs. The name of the school was ESCAF, and it is a private school. This means that the parents of the students pay $60 per term for the students to attend. There are three terms in a year, so this can get rather expensive. The school tries to keep costs as low as possible because they know the value of education is priceless and they think everyone should be allowed to receive a quality education. Immediately, I knew I was going to like this school because the administrators were so welcoming. I already had guilty feelings of not wanting to attend. After speaking with the administrators (I'm sure they had way more important things to do other than talk to US college students, but they still took the time) they showed us around the school. They were so proud of the grounds and how far the school had come. Instead of sitting and observing, the headmaster took us around to probably six classes. The first class we went into was a nursery class. As soon as we walked in the students stood up and said, "Good morning visitors! You are welcome. I am fine thank you, visitors!" It was so cute. The school is working to switch to teaching strictly in English, and you could tell that the students had certain phrases memorized. The students then sang to us!! I love when they sing to us because they are basically shouting the song as loud as they can. The headmaster,then asked some of the few students a few questions to demonstrate what they are learning. One thing I immediately noticed was that the walls of the classroom were covered. They had projects that students had made and also visual aides. This was the first time there were visual aids on the wall. The visual aids were basically pictures or signs the teachers had hand made to help the students learn. They also had colored chalk in the younger students' classrooms. I was very impressed with this because it helps a variety of learners. I was also impressed with the discipline of the students. At the last private school we visited, the students ran the class and the teachers did not really have control. We visited probably 6 or 7 other classrooms each of a different level, and I just became more impressed with this school! In one of the classrooms, the children showed us a dialog they had practiced. The dialog was about AIDS/HIV! They were already teaching students about this STD. In this country where AIDS is so prevalent, it is important to educate the students.
After we visited the classroom, it was recess. The schools don't have playgrounds as we know it, but they are perfectly content making their own fun. Today we were the fun makers. As I said the students were so well behaved. Instead of jumping on us, they all came up to us and wanted to shake our hands. There are close to 700 students in the school and I think between the four of us we probably shook all of their hands. I had my hair down, and occasionally I would feel little fingers touching my hair and then I would hear little feat run away and laugh. My hair is so different than the students' hair and they loved to touch it. They also liked to poke my skin as if it wasn't real. I laughed whenever that happened. I was completely surrounded by students. I had the not so bright idea of trying to show my pictures of my family to them and explain a little bit about America. They didn't understand that I wasn't giving the pictures away, I was just trying to show them my life through pictures. They started grabbing my pictures, and I honestly felt like a celebrity in a mob at that point. I was surrounded by students and they were so excited about the pictures that they were trying to get so close to me I was being pushed backwards. The headmaster had to come save me. It was actually kind of a funny experience. After that fiasco, the P4 students put on a program for us. This consisted of singing and dancing. Programs put on by students are sort of comparable to an assembly in America. It feels weird that they go to the trouble to do all of this for us.
I cannot say enough positive comments about this school. I would have loved to spend the entire day here! I guess it's true what they say, "Save the best for last!". After the program, we spoke with the administrators for another 45mins. I found out that one day a week they have a religious program. The school also gave every student a Bible. During the singing, they sang many songs that the children at my church sing. It's completely opposite of an American school. Some can't even say the Pledge of Allegiance anymore because it has the phrase, "Under God". It's refreshing to see how religion is so important to people here. The administrators were very interested to see what we thought of the school. We were so impressed we could not say enough good things! I think they were pleased. They wanted to know what they can do to make it better, but we just said that we aren't in a position to give advice. We encouraged them to stay positive and keep the high standards that they have set. The representative for the school encouraged us to become ambassadors for Rwanda. They know that people finally know about their history (the genocide) and they think that the country is still in complete shambles. This is so far from the truth, and they really wanted us to share the progress the country is making.
I need to stop talking about this school! I just can't say enough positive things about it!
This afternoon, I got to take a nap!!! It was wonderful. At night, we went to a cafe that was very Americanized. It was like a Starbucks/Panera combined.... :) I got some coffee, and it was WONDERFUL. Most of us ordered bacon cheeseburgers because they actually had them. It was pretty good, but the meat had other things in it and it wasn't like a Cafe Burger, but it was okay.
Tonight is our last night in Rwanda. It's kind of sad because I'm just now starting to feel immersed in the culture. I spent the last night goofing off with some of the girls (shocker), packing (boring), doing my laundry in the sink/bath tub (can't wait for a washer!), and finishing various projects for ISU/this trip (.....) Overall this has been a pretty good day.
Tomorrow, we present to the university in Kigali what we have learned about the country, culture, education, etc during our trip to Rwanda. It should be pretty interesting...I hope. We also leave for Tanzania tomorrow. While we are there we will go on three different safari tours! I am sooooo excited for that! I really want to see an elephant up close (but not too close).
We will visit the orphanage for the last time tomorrow as well. In all honesty, I will miss visiting the schools more than the orphanage. I just really really liked that part of the trip. I feel that I have learned a lot about Rwandan education as well as having a new insight into American education. I will also give up the laptop that I have been using. We had a bunch of laptops donated to us to donate to various places that we have visited. I don't exactly know who will receive the computer I've been using, but I bet they will be so thrilled. My roommate brought her personal computer so I will be able to blog in Tanzania in a word document, but I won't be able to post them online until I am home. This will probably be my last blog until I am home in the US.
I hope everyone has a good week! I'll be home sometime on Saturday night.
-Courtney
P.S. They have lizards everywhere here... We even have one in our room right now and I am freaking out. I hate them!!! I'm so excited to go home to a lizard free house!!!!
After we visited the classroom, it was recess. The schools don't have playgrounds as we know it, but they are perfectly content making their own fun. Today we were the fun makers. As I said the students were so well behaved. Instead of jumping on us, they all came up to us and wanted to shake our hands. There are close to 700 students in the school and I think between the four of us we probably shook all of their hands. I had my hair down, and occasionally I would feel little fingers touching my hair and then I would hear little feat run away and laugh. My hair is so different than the students' hair and they loved to touch it. They also liked to poke my skin as if it wasn't real. I laughed whenever that happened. I was completely surrounded by students. I had the not so bright idea of trying to show my pictures of my family to them and explain a little bit about America. They didn't understand that I wasn't giving the pictures away, I was just trying to show them my life through pictures. They started grabbing my pictures, and I honestly felt like a celebrity in a mob at that point. I was surrounded by students and they were so excited about the pictures that they were trying to get so close to me I was being pushed backwards. The headmaster had to come save me. It was actually kind of a funny experience. After that fiasco, the P4 students put on a program for us. This consisted of singing and dancing. Programs put on by students are sort of comparable to an assembly in America. It feels weird that they go to the trouble to do all of this for us.
I cannot say enough positive comments about this school. I would have loved to spend the entire day here! I guess it's true what they say, "Save the best for last!". After the program, we spoke with the administrators for another 45mins. I found out that one day a week they have a religious program. The school also gave every student a Bible. During the singing, they sang many songs that the children at my church sing. It's completely opposite of an American school. Some can't even say the Pledge of Allegiance anymore because it has the phrase, "Under God". It's refreshing to see how religion is so important to people here. The administrators were very interested to see what we thought of the school. We were so impressed we could not say enough good things! I think they were pleased. They wanted to know what they can do to make it better, but we just said that we aren't in a position to give advice. We encouraged them to stay positive and keep the high standards that they have set. The representative for the school encouraged us to become ambassadors for Rwanda. They know that people finally know about their history (the genocide) and they think that the country is still in complete shambles. This is so far from the truth, and they really wanted us to share the progress the country is making.
I need to stop talking about this school! I just can't say enough positive things about it!
This afternoon, I got to take a nap!!! It was wonderful. At night, we went to a cafe that was very Americanized. It was like a Starbucks/Panera combined.... :) I got some coffee, and it was WONDERFUL. Most of us ordered bacon cheeseburgers because they actually had them. It was pretty good, but the meat had other things in it and it wasn't like a Cafe Burger, but it was okay.
Tonight is our last night in Rwanda. It's kind of sad because I'm just now starting to feel immersed in the culture. I spent the last night goofing off with some of the girls (shocker), packing (boring), doing my laundry in the sink/bath tub (can't wait for a washer!), and finishing various projects for ISU/this trip (.....) Overall this has been a pretty good day.
Tomorrow, we present to the university in Kigali what we have learned about the country, culture, education, etc during our trip to Rwanda. It should be pretty interesting...I hope. We also leave for Tanzania tomorrow. While we are there we will go on three different safari tours! I am sooooo excited for that! I really want to see an elephant up close (but not too close).
We will visit the orphanage for the last time tomorrow as well. In all honesty, I will miss visiting the schools more than the orphanage. I just really really liked that part of the trip. I feel that I have learned a lot about Rwandan education as well as having a new insight into American education. I will also give up the laptop that I have been using. We had a bunch of laptops donated to us to donate to various places that we have visited. I don't exactly know who will receive the computer I've been using, but I bet they will be so thrilled. My roommate brought her personal computer so I will be able to blog in Tanzania in a word document, but I won't be able to post them online until I am home. This will probably be my last blog until I am home in the US.
I hope everyone has a good week! I'll be home sometime on Saturday night.
-Courtney
P.S. They have lizards everywhere here... We even have one in our room right now and I am freaking out. I hate them!!! I'm so excited to go home to a lizard free house!!!!
Not like the Memorial Day Meeting! (Sunday, May 24th)
On Sunday, I woke up early to go to the local church. I knew the service was in the native language, but I wanted to experience that part of the culture. (Kelsie G. I wore your favorite purple skirt that you picked out for me :)
In Rwanda, many of the people Catholic. The cathedral we went to was beautiful! It was a present from Belgium. Church started at 7:00 AM so we were early risers. Now, I don't know how the Catholic services in America work, so I was especially was confused when I didn't even understand the language here in Rwanda. There was a lot of singing, standing, kneeling, and sitting during the worship. You could tell the visitors were confused! ha. The service was about two hours long, and since I didn't understand anything I had a lot of time to sit and reflect. Being in a completely different church like that really made me miss my home church. It was especially hard because this weekend was the Memorial Day meeting at Smart Road, and I really wanted to be there. I talked to my parents and Drew the night before so I got to hear how excited they were for the meeting. During the service, I reflected on how much I love the fellowship of our local congregations. I wish there was more, but I appreciate what we have. I have met some of my best friends through church and I am really thankful for that. It makes the friendship easy because you have the same morals and values which makes relating to each other easy on a whole different level. Being away from the Church of Christ service and fellowship for three weeks has been difficult. I'm excited I come back on a Saturday night so I can see everyone next Lord's Day...Lord willing.
After church, we went to Murambi Genocide Memorial. There was a school almost finished being built in the town right before the 1994 Genocide. During the Genocide, the local church leaders and the government told the Tutsi people to take refuge in the unfinished school. For two weeks, there were between 40,000-60,000 people there. They were told they would have water, but someone cut the waterlines. The people starved during those two weeks. Then the Hutu rebels took over the school. They surrounded the school so the Tutsi could not run. The Hutu had guns, machetes, and grenades. The people in hiding had nothing to fight with. They tried to fight with stones and whatever they could. Sadly, there efforts did not last long against the weapons. All of but 4 individuals died in the attack. The tour was strange because the guide didn't really tell us the “story” before the tour. The tour consisted of walking the grounds and the worst part was looking in the buildings. The Hutu buried the victims in mass graves. A year later, people extracted the bodies and then they started to preserve them. When we looked in the buildings we saw bodies that had decomposed for a year and then they were preserved. There were 1000's of men, women, children, and babies bodies laying in front of me. It was so sad because some still had hair on top of their heads. The sight was disturbing, but I just tried to picture these bodies as people who died for a pointless cause.
When we finished our tour, we met one of the four survivors. He then told us his story. His story made the event so much for real for us to picture. To make a long story short, this man went outside to fight with his friends and when he went back inside he found his wife and 5 children murdered. The man was then shot in the head and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, dead bodies fell on top of him. This eventually saved his life. I don't know how he survived being shot in the head, but some how he made it to another country, received medical treatment, came back to Rwanda to testify what happened, and is now a worker at the memorial. It was an incredible story.
When we finally returned back to Kigali, we went to the Principal of Fawe Girls' School house. It was so nice of them to invite over 15 strangers to their house and to feed us. Yesterday was Josh's birthday (a boy from ISU that is on the trip) Before we ate, they turned off the lights and brought out a cake and sang to Josh for his birthday. It was so nice! We had dinner and chatted for a bit, and then we all went around and said what we appreciated about Rwanda. It was a touching night. I can't really describe in words what the night was like, but it was something I think everyone will remember.
In Rwanda, many of the people Catholic. The cathedral we went to was beautiful! It was a present from Belgium. Church started at 7:00 AM so we were early risers. Now, I don't know how the Catholic services in America work, so I was especially was confused when I didn't even understand the language here in Rwanda. There was a lot of singing, standing, kneeling, and sitting during the worship. You could tell the visitors were confused! ha. The service was about two hours long, and since I didn't understand anything I had a lot of time to sit and reflect. Being in a completely different church like that really made me miss my home church. It was especially hard because this weekend was the Memorial Day meeting at Smart Road, and I really wanted to be there. I talked to my parents and Drew the night before so I got to hear how excited they were for the meeting. During the service, I reflected on how much I love the fellowship of our local congregations. I wish there was more, but I appreciate what we have. I have met some of my best friends through church and I am really thankful for that. It makes the friendship easy because you have the same morals and values which makes relating to each other easy on a whole different level. Being away from the Church of Christ service and fellowship for three weeks has been difficult. I'm excited I come back on a Saturday night so I can see everyone next Lord's Day...Lord willing.
After church, we went to Murambi Genocide Memorial. There was a school almost finished being built in the town right before the 1994 Genocide. During the Genocide, the local church leaders and the government told the Tutsi people to take refuge in the unfinished school. For two weeks, there were between 40,000-60,000 people there. They were told they would have water, but someone cut the waterlines. The people starved during those two weeks. Then the Hutu rebels took over the school. They surrounded the school so the Tutsi could not run. The Hutu had guns, machetes, and grenades. The people in hiding had nothing to fight with. They tried to fight with stones and whatever they could. Sadly, there efforts did not last long against the weapons. All of but 4 individuals died in the attack. The tour was strange because the guide didn't really tell us the “story” before the tour. The tour consisted of walking the grounds and the worst part was looking in the buildings. The Hutu buried the victims in mass graves. A year later, people extracted the bodies and then they started to preserve them. When we looked in the buildings we saw bodies that had decomposed for a year and then they were preserved. There were 1000's of men, women, children, and babies bodies laying in front of me. It was so sad because some still had hair on top of their heads. The sight was disturbing, but I just tried to picture these bodies as people who died for a pointless cause.
When we finished our tour, we met one of the four survivors. He then told us his story. His story made the event so much for real for us to picture. To make a long story short, this man went outside to fight with his friends and when he went back inside he found his wife and 5 children murdered. The man was then shot in the head and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, dead bodies fell on top of him. This eventually saved his life. I don't know how he survived being shot in the head, but some how he made it to another country, received medical treatment, came back to Rwanda to testify what happened, and is now a worker at the memorial. It was an incredible story.
When we finally returned back to Kigali, we went to the Principal of Fawe Girls' School house. It was so nice of them to invite over 15 strangers to their house and to feed us. Yesterday was Josh's birthday (a boy from ISU that is on the trip) Before we ate, they turned off the lights and brought out a cake and sang to Josh for his birthday. It was so nice! We had dinner and chatted for a bit, and then we all went around and said what we appreciated about Rwanda. It was a touching night. I can't really describe in words what the night was like, but it was something I think everyone will remember.
Saturday, May 23
I'm writing this on Monday so I may not have as many details.
We left midmorning on Saturday to drive to Butare. It took a little over three hours to get there. I am happy because the roads were actually decent. In Rwanda, you never know what the road are going to be like. Luckily, they were decent!
We ate a pretty good lunch at our hotel. I finally relieved some of my chocolate cravings by having a crepe filled with ice cream covered in chocolate. It wasn't the best dessert ever, but it tasted pretty good!
Afterwards, we toured the national museum and the first college or university in Rwanda. The national museum was interesting. It wasn't what I expected though. I thought I would learn a lot about the history of Rwanda. However, we learned about the history through artifacts. It was interesting, but not what I pictured.
The college was very cool! It was very very nice and beautiful. We didn't go into classrooms or anything like that, but it was nice to see the campus.
At night, we relaxed and stayed in a fancy hotel. It reminded Kelsey and I of a castle.
As I said, I don't remember vivid details because my days run together here. I don't think I had any life changing events on that day.... but maybe I just haven't realized it yet.
We left midmorning on Saturday to drive to Butare. It took a little over three hours to get there. I am happy because the roads were actually decent. In Rwanda, you never know what the road are going to be like. Luckily, they were decent!
We ate a pretty good lunch at our hotel. I finally relieved some of my chocolate cravings by having a crepe filled with ice cream covered in chocolate. It wasn't the best dessert ever, but it tasted pretty good!
Afterwards, we toured the national museum and the first college or university in Rwanda. The national museum was interesting. It wasn't what I expected though. I thought I would learn a lot about the history of Rwanda. However, we learned about the history through artifacts. It was interesting, but not what I pictured.
The college was very cool! It was very very nice and beautiful. We didn't go into classrooms or anything like that, but it was nice to see the campus.
At night, we relaxed and stayed in a fancy hotel. It reminded Kelsey and I of a castle.
As I said, I don't remember vivid details because my days run together here. I don't think I had any life changing events on that day.... but maybe I just haven't realized it yet.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, May 22nd
Today was a chaotic day. We first started out at the UN. We didn't really know what we were suppose to do there, but it was interesting to tour the grounds and speak with some people that worked at the UN. After we had lunch, we met with the Minister of Education. Through working with FCCLA, I have spoke with my fair share of legislators and law makers. However, this was extremely different. I am used to going through a fairly rushed meeting with the legislator and in that time we speak with them about our issues or advocate for something. We try to make something better in our short meeting. Today's meeting was an hour long. We just informed the Minister what we were doing in Rwanda. She is a very busy lady so it was nice of her to make time to meet with us, but we didn't really talk about the issues. I would have loved to speak with the Minister about the issues in Rwandan education and education globally. I think it could have been a real learning experience if we learned about education from the government's point of view. This was not the case today. It kind of upset me that we wasted our time chatting about our "trip" to Rwanda when this could have been a very useful learning opportunity.
After the UN, we spilt into groups because different people wanted to do different things. I wanted to go to the local market. To make a long story short, we finally made it to the market with the help of our drivers and no one else! They were playing popular American music at a promotional rally down the street so that put us in good spirits. I got some very good prices on items to bring home. There is a certain item here that I LOVE buy! We all love to buy this item. It's so colorful and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. I'm not going to share what this item is because a lot of people are getting them as gifts.... :)
At the market, the people expect you to barter or argue a price. I am terrible at bartering! I feel bad because I don't want to rip people off, but I guess the people at the market raise the prices because they know we are American. In this country. people see that you are American and automatically assume you have money to give to everyone. True we may have more money than the people begging us, but we aren't fond of the fact that people expect money from us just because we are American. It's very interesting, and we really aren't big fans of that! Anyway, thanks to some people with backbones on this trip, I have learned how to effectively barter! :) I still may not be good at it, but at least I'm not getting as ripped off as I could be. I get made fun when we barter. The other girls say I just look like I'm a sucker and will give in. They have tried to help me see the "error" in my ways. ha.
After dinner, I chose not to go eat with the group because I had a lot to do and eat just takes so long here! It takes like 3 hours to drive somewhere, order, and eat. They didn't get home until 10:30pm from dinner so I'm glad I stayed here. I washed my clothes in the bathroom sink for the second time. That is also an interesting experience. Travel tide is another great invention! We ordered room service and I had dinner with two other girls while we watched a movie and worked on assignments/packing. There was a really good movie on (actually in English) tonight and I got to watch the whole thing!! :)
Tomorrow we leave again. We are traveling to a different part of the country. We will visit two other genocide memorials and visit a large church. We will not have internet access when we travel so I will not post a blog. Luckily, we will return on Sunday night so I can catch up then.
Another observation I have made about this country is how the genocide affected every aspect of the country. It didn't only affect families and the loss of human life, but everything was put on hold as a result. Many of the targeted people where highly educated and they held high positions within the country. After the loss of a million people, there is bound to be a gap. The genocide was 15 years ago, but it is amazing the huge strides that the country has taken to recover and rebuild itself. In our almost 2 weeks here, we haven't seen one act of violence. We have seen students so eager to learn because they know it's their way out of poverty. We have seen a country that was torn apart by differences in ethnicity come together to form one people. It's incredible that this country has come so far. That was one of the topics discussed amongst ourselves today, and I thought I would share it. Food for thought you could say!
I won't post again until Sunday. Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend! Safe travels!
Oh... I must post this because it is exciting! I was chatting with two girls, watching a movie, and eating supper while I was posting my last blog so I forgot the mention this. Since we spent the whole day at the orphanage we had a lot of time to interact with the kids. As many of you know Ardie and Loa donated yarn for the kids to make scarves. Well my Mom got excited about the project, so she went out and bought more yarn so that every kid could make a scarf. In the free time that she doesn't have, she decided to measure and cut all of the yarn before I left....isn't she great! Well yesterday we made the scarves!!!! There were some students from Fawe girls school that came to help volunteer as well. Before introducing the project to the kids at the orphanage, I taught the Fawe girls how to make scarves. We made a bunch for the little ones who didn't have the patience to finish the project. The Fawe girls were a life saver! Not all of the kids at the orphanage speak English (very few of the young ones) so the girls translated for me! They saved the project from being a potential nightmare. I was so happy. A bunch of the kids made scarves! Everywhere I looked a kid had a scarf on their neck. The boys enjoyed the project just as much as the girls. At that young age, kids don't know or realize that some things are for boys and some are for girls. It really doesn't matter as long as the child has accomplished something that they did themselves and that they are happy. That's all that matters. Anyway, it was a very fun activity! I took a ton of pictures. Thank you to all who were a part of that project!
While the kids were making scarves and waiting for their bags, they were coloring with the other ISU students. They all colored pig coloring books. It was fun! I doubt they learned about pork, but they enjoyed coloring the pigs. It was a fun afternoon! Okay that is what I forgot to post....
Miss everyone!!!
After the UN, we spilt into groups because different people wanted to do different things. I wanted to go to the local market. To make a long story short, we finally made it to the market with the help of our drivers and no one else! They were playing popular American music at a promotional rally down the street so that put us in good spirits. I got some very good prices on items to bring home. There is a certain item here that I LOVE buy! We all love to buy this item. It's so colorful and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. I'm not going to share what this item is because a lot of people are getting them as gifts.... :)
At the market, the people expect you to barter or argue a price. I am terrible at bartering! I feel bad because I don't want to rip people off, but I guess the people at the market raise the prices because they know we are American. In this country. people see that you are American and automatically assume you have money to give to everyone. True we may have more money than the people begging us, but we aren't fond of the fact that people expect money from us just because we are American. It's very interesting, and we really aren't big fans of that! Anyway, thanks to some people with backbones on this trip, I have learned how to effectively barter! :) I still may not be good at it, but at least I'm not getting as ripped off as I could be. I get made fun when we barter. The other girls say I just look like I'm a sucker and will give in. They have tried to help me see the "error" in my ways. ha.
After dinner, I chose not to go eat with the group because I had a lot to do and eat just takes so long here! It takes like 3 hours to drive somewhere, order, and eat. They didn't get home until 10:30pm from dinner so I'm glad I stayed here. I washed my clothes in the bathroom sink for the second time. That is also an interesting experience. Travel tide is another great invention! We ordered room service and I had dinner with two other girls while we watched a movie and worked on assignments/packing. There was a really good movie on (actually in English) tonight and I got to watch the whole thing!! :)
Tomorrow we leave again. We are traveling to a different part of the country. We will visit two other genocide memorials and visit a large church. We will not have internet access when we travel so I will not post a blog. Luckily, we will return on Sunday night so I can catch up then.
Another observation I have made about this country is how the genocide affected every aspect of the country. It didn't only affect families and the loss of human life, but everything was put on hold as a result. Many of the targeted people where highly educated and they held high positions within the country. After the loss of a million people, there is bound to be a gap. The genocide was 15 years ago, but it is amazing the huge strides that the country has taken to recover and rebuild itself. In our almost 2 weeks here, we haven't seen one act of violence. We have seen students so eager to learn because they know it's their way out of poverty. We have seen a country that was torn apart by differences in ethnicity come together to form one people. It's incredible that this country has come so far. That was one of the topics discussed amongst ourselves today, and I thought I would share it. Food for thought you could say!
I won't post again until Sunday. Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend! Safe travels!
Oh... I must post this because it is exciting! I was chatting with two girls, watching a movie, and eating supper while I was posting my last blog so I forgot the mention this. Since we spent the whole day at the orphanage we had a lot of time to interact with the kids. As many of you know Ardie and Loa donated yarn for the kids to make scarves. Well my Mom got excited about the project, so she went out and bought more yarn so that every kid could make a scarf. In the free time that she doesn't have, she decided to measure and cut all of the yarn before I left....isn't she great! Well yesterday we made the scarves!!!! There were some students from Fawe girls school that came to help volunteer as well. Before introducing the project to the kids at the orphanage, I taught the Fawe girls how to make scarves. We made a bunch for the little ones who didn't have the patience to finish the project. The Fawe girls were a life saver! Not all of the kids at the orphanage speak English (very few of the young ones) so the girls translated for me! They saved the project from being a potential nightmare. I was so happy. A bunch of the kids made scarves! Everywhere I looked a kid had a scarf on their neck. The boys enjoyed the project just as much as the girls. At that young age, kids don't know or realize that some things are for boys and some are for girls. It really doesn't matter as long as the child has accomplished something that they did themselves and that they are happy. That's all that matters. Anyway, it was a very fun activity! I took a ton of pictures. Thank you to all who were a part of that project!
While the kids were making scarves and waiting for their bags, they were coloring with the other ISU students. They all colored pig coloring books. It was fun! I doubt they learned about pork, but they enjoyed coloring the pigs. It was a fun afternoon! Okay that is what I forgot to post....
Miss everyone!!!
Day at the Orphanage (Thursday, May 21st)
I'm writing on Friday so I'll have to remember back to what we did yesterday. It seems like it wouldn't be that big of deal, but the days here really run together!
Yesterday, we spent the day at the orphanage. In the morning some of us spent the whole time organizing the donations to put in the bags that were made for the children. There were so many donations that it took a couple of hours. We decided that instead of giving the kids everything all at once and overwhelming that we would give them a "taste" of what was donated. The kids have to buy school supplies at the beginning of the year. So the coordinator of the orphanage is going to keep all of the extras and give them to the kids as needed. We felt this was a better option than letting them have note books and things now and using them as a coloring book
If I was going to come back to work with the orphanage again, I would probably do things a little differently. The children will defiantly love the school supplies and it will help them with their education, however being the future teacher that I am I would like to educate the children. I don't know if there are not enough people helping at the orphanage or what, but the children do not have the best hygiene skills nor do they know how to share. I think the hygiene is problem is a cultural thing here. The life expectancy here is only around 50 years old. In America, we are very hygienic to prevent future problems such as dental, skin, etc in our old age. I would love to teach the kids proper hand washing techniques, how to brush your teeth properly, and so on and so forth. I think that would benefit them just as much.
At night, a few of us went to an Italian restaurant down the street. That was very good.
Since I am writing this Friday night those are all of the details I can remember.....
Yesterday, we spent the day at the orphanage. In the morning some of us spent the whole time organizing the donations to put in the bags that were made for the children. There were so many donations that it took a couple of hours. We decided that instead of giving the kids everything all at once and overwhelming that we would give them a "taste" of what was donated. The kids have to buy school supplies at the beginning of the year. So the coordinator of the orphanage is going to keep all of the extras and give them to the kids as needed. We felt this was a better option than letting them have note books and things now and using them as a coloring book
If I was going to come back to work with the orphanage again, I would probably do things a little differently. The children will defiantly love the school supplies and it will help them with their education, however being the future teacher that I am I would like to educate the children. I don't know if there are not enough people helping at the orphanage or what, but the children do not have the best hygiene skills nor do they know how to share. I think the hygiene is problem is a cultural thing here. The life expectancy here is only around 50 years old. In America, we are very hygienic to prevent future problems such as dental, skin, etc in our old age. I would love to teach the kids proper hand washing techniques, how to brush your teeth properly, and so on and so forth. I think that would benefit them just as much.
At night, a few of us went to an Italian restaurant down the street. That was very good.
Since I am writing this Friday night those are all of the details I can remember.....
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
You Made Today! (Wednesday, May 20th)
Today was our last day at the hotel Paradise. We loved the view, but we didn't like the lizards, bugs, or the repetitive food. It was a fun place to stay, but we were all very excited to go back to our home away from home in Kigali. We have realized that if you have to be away from your family and friends, the only way it's bearable is if you are able to have communication. Our hotel in Kigali lets us use wireless internet for free...that makes it bearable!
Today was a day that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. We went to Mwiko Schools. If you received a letter from me or looked at pictures from last year, this is the school that was using pieces of slate as paper. We didn't have a lot of time at this school, but it was still very fun. We "observed" in a classroom at first. Most of the time, us observing means we interrupt class and talk to the students. It is fun, but I feel bad interrupting their education! The students in the class sang for us. Everywhere we go they ask if we want to sing for them... Well we don't really have traditional songs, and I'm not about to break out the Star Spangled Banner...so Ashley and I sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". We thought that was traditional enough! haha. At least it was interactive! :) The country used to have two official languages, one of them was French. They are in the process of switching to English as the official second language. It is interesting to observe the transition the country is trying to make. They are doing an incredible job! Anyway, we spoke with the children and then all of the teacher and student had a break for lunch. During this break, the students did a traditional dance for us and they also sang.
After the singing, we gave out ISU t-shirts and some hats. We also gave out almost all of the school supplies that people gave me to donate! The children were so excited!!! We didn't have enough supplies for every child (there were over 600), but I told the principal that he should give it to the children/classes that are in need of supplies. They were so very appreciative. It's incredible to see how valued education is in this country. They do the best they can with what they have. Next week, we present what we have observed/learned during our visit to Rwanda. I am on the education team. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the educational system in the US and in Rwanda. It's astonishing! When I come up with a final conclusion, I will post that....still have a lot of reflecting to do!
Again, thank you for reading my blog. I have a little counter that says how many times it is viewed. Every time I have the chance to blog, my number has always gone up. Thank you! I'm glad I have the opportunity to share my experiences with you!
Today was a day that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. We went to Mwiko Schools. If you received a letter from me or looked at pictures from last year, this is the school that was using pieces of slate as paper. We didn't have a lot of time at this school, but it was still very fun. We "observed" in a classroom at first. Most of the time, us observing means we interrupt class and talk to the students. It is fun, but I feel bad interrupting their education! The students in the class sang for us. Everywhere we go they ask if we want to sing for them... Well we don't really have traditional songs, and I'm not about to break out the Star Spangled Banner...so Ashley and I sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". We thought that was traditional enough! haha. At least it was interactive! :) The country used to have two official languages, one of them was French. They are in the process of switching to English as the official second language. It is interesting to observe the transition the country is trying to make. They are doing an incredible job! Anyway, we spoke with the children and then all of the teacher and student had a break for lunch. During this break, the students did a traditional dance for us and they also sang.
After the singing, we gave out ISU t-shirts and some hats. We also gave out almost all of the school supplies that people gave me to donate! The children were so excited!!! We didn't have enough supplies for every child (there were over 600), but I told the principal that he should give it to the children/classes that are in need of supplies. They were so very appreciative. It's incredible to see how valued education is in this country. They do the best they can with what they have. Next week, we present what we have observed/learned during our visit to Rwanda. I am on the education team. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the educational system in the US and in Rwanda. It's astonishing! When I come up with a final conclusion, I will post that....still have a lot of reflecting to do!
Again, thank you for reading my blog. I have a little counter that says how many times it is viewed. Every time I have the chance to blog, my number has always gone up. Thank you! I'm glad I have the opportunity to share my experiences with you!
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