Training Day 3

Very engaging sessions today with Shay, Kathleen, Mary, HD and Paul. Showers with cold water barely dripping from the nozzle head are the norm right now. We are all dreaming of warm showers when we return home. 

We are visited by a couple of young boys below.

Thanks to the Bend -LaPine schools for donating clothing that was very well received by our teacher trainers. 

No one claimed this XXXL shirt but Daisy and Maddie put it to good use. 

The day was capped off with a fantastic dinner at a local bistro with a couple of Jay's local friends. OCity lights from the restaurant

Training Day 2

More amazing sessions by Shay, Patty, H and Paul, and Shannon.

Best of all? The look on the trainers faces when we showed them all of the books generously donated by family and friends!

Teacher training day 1

Great job by Jay, Kathleen, and Mary on presenting three sessions to our new Rwandan friends. 

The challenges for Rwandan educators aren't that different than those in our schools. 

Caption this picture :)

Adventures in Kigali

Yesterday brought some "adventursome" moments in the heart of Kigali city. A 12 passenger taxi took us into downtown to visit the Genocide memorial. Narrowly escaped several collisions with pedestrians, motorbikes, and other cars. It seemed miraculous that we made it at all, given the state of our vehicle: rusted and rickety, I'm sure we left the transmission and the clutch on a street somewhere. And as we pulled out for the evening on our way to dinner, the sliding door lost its glass window pane, shattering as we drove out of the guesthouse. 😦

But we got "most"everywhere we intended to go! The genocide memorial was powerful and sobering. It was hard to imagine as we walked around town that likely many we passed were either victims or perpetrators of vicious attacks. 

For dinner we were treated to an African

buffet by the teacher trainers at IEE. "Feel welcome" is how we are always greeted by these generous, dedicated people. We are all looking forward to collaborating with them in the coming days.

Genocide Memorial

One of 5 rooms where families have donated pictures of their deceased family members. 

Cement mark mass grave sites just outside the memorial building

How morbidly ironic was it that when people were clubbed to death on the skull the cracks formed in the shape

of a peace sign. 

Everyone here over the age of 20 is either a victim or a perpetrator.  We interact with dozens of people every day without knowing who is who.  The Rwandan people know and they don't seem to let it interfere with how they get along with one another, so I guess neither should I. But it's hard not to wonder…

As one survivor mentioned, "I don't get to see my family anymore, but I see the people on my street who killed them every day."

school visits and a dilemma

Drove over 90 minutes each way to reach two rural schools today with the last 30 miles on dirt roads.  By the looks that we received as we drove in the backcountry, I don’t think 3 cars of white folks are a familiar site.  We were incredibly well received by both teachers and students.  We broke off into groups, observed lessons and then gave teachers feedback.  They specifically requested constructive criticism as they are eager to improve their practice.  

Rwandan K-5 teachers begin with students at 7 am and their last class ends at 5 pm.  They teach one subject area and run 7 morning sessions and 7 afternoon sessions seeing over 300 hundred students.  They also walk to school anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour each way.  Oh, and they make $50 a month salary.

What would Storyline look like in this situation…..might need to rethink my training session……