Happy Birthday to the Learning Center!

Zach here with some new stories from Kigali.

Last week Ioana and I headed to the Learning Center planning our English lessons just like any other Monday. Little did we know that we would only teach for half the day, with the rest being a large celebration. Moses, Eric and Francoise all gave speeches about their experience about and hopes for the Center. A few students and alumni stood up in front of everybody and gave speeches in English too. During the event Eric asked me if I'd like to say a few words, so I tried my best and gave a short impromptu speech as well. All the students had a great time and enjoyed complementary samosas.

The Learning Center began just 2 years ago with six students at the time with Moses as the only teacher. Since then the Learning Center has grown to over 100 student. It has gone from one room and one teacher to three rooms, three teachers and a dozen volunteers. In the meantime classroom materials have been steadily accumulating (except for dry-erase markers which have a 5% chance of working), with children's books, textbooks and laptop computers available for the students. With the beginning of the music school, the Center shows no signs of slowing.

With such dramatic changes in the first year of the learning center, what can we expect for the next year? Well, soon there will be comprehensive testing in order to produce Graduates with certificates representing their English fluency. The Alumni may then stay and teach more students or go off into the world and demonstrate their English-speaking prowess. Musiferi, for example, was a student in the Learning Center, and now he studies IT at a University and gives private English lessons. We hope all our students will go on to do great things.

What else is new? well, the August volunteers have all left. We welcome a new 5-week volunteer, Peter. Peter is studying to become a doctor and enjoys teaching the advanced group about staying healthy and the dangers of smoking.

Even more, we started a brand new project that has kick-started everyone's sweet tooth. I am proud to tell you about Wanda Bread, a new business started by Women Developing Rwanda and spearheaded by Ioana and I. Started as an income generating activity, Wanda Bread has given the women the business, baking and entrepreneurship skills that hopefully improve their economic situation. We realized that there is a unfulfilled demand for the fresh baked goods we take for granted at home, whether its chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, carrot cake or muffins of all kinds. The women are just as excited as we are about the future of Wanda Bread, as our products are entering the supermarkets and people's mouths! We use a large wood-fired oven graciously lent to us by Solace Guest House. However, we have searched all over Kigali for certain products that simply do not exist here. It could be simple ingredients like plain yogurt, shortening, sour cream or cooking materials like baking pans and rubber spatulas. But of course, every challenge brings a new opportunity, and our students are strong enough to surmount any obstacle. I hope they continue baking for Wanda Bread.

Well that's it for now! I wish you the absolute best! Stay tune for more updates!

A quick P.S. to Zach’s note – from Ioana

Zach and I are happy to have the opportunity to stay here for 10 whole weeks. There is a lot of work to be done and we have many ideas that we hope to implement, making a short film being one of them. I am also involved with a women’s group called Women Developing Rwanda. As orphans who have survived traumatic experiences at an early age, these women and girls have established a support network for each other. Because of relatively strict gender roles, the girls at the Center are usually the ones to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. For now, we had few sessions with Barbara and Shelly, two counselors who usually teach local counselors how to take care of women and children. We are hoping to continue to use and explain their techniques, while also thinking about a potential income-generating activity for the women.
I feel that my days here have been more than fulfilling. I have never before met such a dedicated group of young people who are willing to walk for hours every day just so that they can learn English. I hope our teachings lead them on a road towards a brighter future. Maybe it will help them find a job. Maybe they will continue on to a University. But the furture is uncertain and for now, we try to be their teachers, may be even their friends.

The Learning Center

Hello Hello! Zach here. Should be about time for an update on just how everything is working out at the Learning Center. The volunteers have arrived, everybody is here soaking up the endless sunny days and shining light on an already glowing organization. The full-time teachers Moses, Francoise and Eric are glad to have us and we are sure glad to have them.

The government of Rwanda is currently in a transition period towards becoming an English speaking country from a French speaking country. This means that while most people speak French (all speak Kinyarwandan), many want to learn English and are proud of the English they know. People on the street see Mazungus (kinyarwandan for white people) and shout “hello,” “how are you” and “good morning,” no matter what time of day it is. The children in particular are excited to demonstrate their English prowess and are perfect evidence of a bright future for the country of Rwanda. It’s a great time and a great place to come and teach English.

The volunteers are doing all they can to impart as much knowledge possible in the time they are here. We arrive to newly swept and mopped classrooms every morning to attentive, bright and energetic students. There are beginning, intermediate and advanced English classes, and even a free conversation section for the students that simply want to practice their English. Some volunteers travel across town to Coeur Joyeux, another school in need of English teachers. There are well over 100 students in all. Many hope to continue on to an English speaking university, while others hope to immediately find a job that would require English skills.

Here's a picture of the beginners class:



Then in the afternoon we have activities for the students, both to cultivate their interests and give them the opportunity to practice their English. David and Amy are starting their music school and the anticipation is palpable. Ioana and I do Film and Photography, Tonya is teaching writing, Alison is teaching history, Kathy and Becky are doing an English club, and on Friday, the students are given the opportunity to play sports. These activities promote English speaking in a variety of contexts. All the students are orphans (from the genocide) and many did not finish secondary school, so such instruction can help fill in the gaps in education and upbringing (and make them have some fun!). After the most of the volunteers leave in August, I hope to create some business, environmental and even general knowledge workshops for the students. Needless to say, the volunteers will leave a positive impact on the Learning Center.

Everybody is enjoying their time in Rwanda, finding some time outside of the Learning Center to visit places around the beautiful city of Kigali. Whether its bargaining at the markets, eating at cheap, delicious restaurants with beautiful views, riding on the backs of motorcycles, being moved at the genocide memorial, or having a primus (Rwandan beer) and delightful conversation with Rwandans, Kigali has something great to offer. Sarah, Alison and Becky even traveled to the beautiful Lake Kivu, just a two hour bus ride away for gorgeous, untouched landscapes.

Now of course, nothing is perfect. The power occasionally goes out, volunteers experience some health problems, lessons don't go exactly as planned, misinformed students or teachers show up at the wrong times to the wrong place, cell phones are lost and confusion is created by the language barrier. Life is an adventure and Rwanda is particularly adventurous.

Counting down the days.

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself."

- Galileo

Hey there! Better yet, muraho! Zach here. As you might have read in the post before, I will be volunteering with Ioana and all the other amazing volunteers at N4A. We are leaving in less than a week and things are getting pretty hectic here! So far Sophie and everyone else at N4A has been super helpful in getting us ready for the trip. We're hoping to bring a suitcase full of donations and another full of sun tan lotion, bugspray and maybe some clothes too. The strangest part about preparing for our trip was putting away most of my stuff and saying to myself "I'll have no use for that in Rwanda." Most of my life simply has no place in Kigali and will be in storage for the next 3 months.

So again, I just graduate from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, USA with a degree in Chemical Engineering (I just found out that the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology does not have a Chemical Engineering Department, we'll see about that). I also studied economic, environmental sustainability topics during my time there. While I do play a few instruments and took a few vocal classes, I would barely call myself a musician. However, I will be bringing my acoustic guitar for Amy Stead and David Wald, who are setting up a music school! Should be really exciting and I hope to be a part of it.

So what else am I doing? Well, teaching for short. But since I can't teach the entire English language to someone in such a short amount of time, I like the term empowering, which is exactly what N4A does. More children are attending school in Rwanda than at any other time in the country's history. Female students in particular are dramatically increasing in numbers, so it is a very exciting time of progress and development for the country. (Fun Fact: Rwandan's parliament became the first in the world to contain a majority of women - 56%!) N4A helps Rwandans help themselves, and as Galileo put it, N4A helps the Rwandans find it within themselves. It could be a budding entrepeneur, engineer, or perhaps an artist or a musician. Thus I hope to contribute my english, scientific and financial knowledge in order to help the Rwadans find their "it" within themselves.

On a different note, while preparing for Rwanda, Ioana and I watched the chilling Beyond the Gates (also titled Shooting Dogs, a better title in our opinion) and Sometimes in April. The latter demonstrated life after the genocide as the people of Rwanda rebuilt their lives with tremendous energy and courage. In the movie the protagonist's own brother is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with crimes against humanity. It is the process of reconciliation between the killers and the relatives of those who were killed that accounts for the most interesting part of the plot.

If you feel like watching a movie about the Rwandan genocide not focusing on the Rwandans themselves, then look no further than Beyond the Gates. The movie stands as a stark example of complete abandonement by the Western world. Over 2,500 refugees have fled to a Church/schoolyard under protection by a Belgian UN force. The area is run by a priest and idealistic-to-the-point-of-naive young English teacher named Chris (hmm... sound familiar? *cough cough*). Six days after the fateful April day, the UN decides to withdraw from the compound leaving the refugees to be massacred. Most importantly, this scenario is not limited to the situation described in the movie. As the number of UN soldiers decreased from 2500 to 250, numerous places of refuge across Rwanda were left unprotected from the interahamwe waiting outside.

For a different vantage point or more information on the genocide, you can watch the documentary Ghosts of Rwanda. The relevent scene to the discussion above starts at 3:30:

Well that's about it for now. Soon we'll be able to update you on what we're doing in Kigali. Until then, muramukeho!

-- Zach

Greetings from Chicago!

Zach and I will be arriving in Kigali, Rwanda on July 8th to begin our volunteer work for N4A so we were hoping to share some of our pre-travel ideas, thoughts and aspirations. Rwanda has been on our minds for a long time, but before we plunge into realizations of how much/little we know, we thought we should introduce ourselves...

I - Ioana - am a senior at the University of Chicago, with a major in international studies and a minor in human rights. I was born and raised in Bulgaria (hence the strange name - its pronounced yo-ahn-ah), but I spent my last two years of high school in Washington DC. It's hard for me to explain where my passion for "human rights" came from, as I started volunteering at psychiatric hospitals, and shelters for victims of domestic violence and trafficking, when I was still in Bulgaria. I have interned for a few organizations since, and taken multiple classes on issues ranging from "the practices of othering" to "politics of mass incarceration" and "contemporary abuses in South Asia", but I have always felt a need to get my feet on the ground. With the help of a grant I received from my University to do humanitarian work this summer, I found N4A and now I am hoping to help with a reconciliation through art and photography project in Rwanda.

Zach just graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in chemical engineering. He is from the Chicago-area. He has experience with business, economics and entrepreneurship but he has also been very interested in sustainability, energy use and a variety of environmental issues. He is very resourceful and a lot smarter than me in any sort of practical sense. So we hope to balance each other pretty well and give our best to N4A and Rwanda.

So far except for getting the usual vaccinations and best wishes from friends and family, we've read a few books - We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We will be Killed with our Families, Bearing Witness to Atrocity: That the World May Know, Shake Hands with the Devil - and seen a few movies - Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, Beyond the Gates, but it's the ideas that matter. And like with all real reflections, it's hard to give them a beginning, or an end...
- Ioana

Teaching at the Learning Centre - Romaric Jenssen

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Here is a small description of a normal day of teaching at the Learning Centre where about 60 students come to learn English, business and computer skills. I’m doing a masters degree at a French business school, and so I taught business and computer skills to those students during 3 months.

9:00 AM It’s time for school! Today is a big day as I teach business for two hours in the morning and IT for three hours in the afternoon. Fortunately the students are keen and interested to learn and work.

Today we will talk about running a successful business and to understand how a company works. I use examples of small businesses, such as a local bakery like the one we can see in the street when we come to Solace!, as talking about running a huge multinational firms not very appropriate for students who are becoming acquainted with basic business concepts. The students seem to be very interested in this topic, and they participate a lot by answering questions I ask, thanks to Eric and Françoise who translate in Kinyarwanda.

So this morning we learned how to set up a small bakery, buying some bread from a baker and selling it in a small shop. We also talked about how the bakery can be developed with a brand name displayed at the front of the shop in order to attract people to buy that special bread! Of course, I stressed the importance of having to make sure the financial situation is well managed, organised and recorded. Discussing these examples is a good way to define the different departments that exist in the company: the directors, the financial department, the Human Resources department, the marketing department and the sales department. At the end of the session, we now know basic information about how a company works and how to start a very small one. Everyone seems interested and even after already two hours working they still ask many questions!

After our lunch break I begin the computer class in the afternoon.

1 PM It’s now time to start our computer session. As I’m with a group of students who have never used a computer before, I start with the very basics: what is a computer? How does the mouse work and what does it do? And how can I write on the paper that is on my screen?

By the end of this session students should be able to open Microsoft Power Point and add their first object on the page. Not all the students are at the same level of ability, as there are some complete beginners and some who know a little bit about IT. Tomorrow I will teach another group about making their first Power Point presentation by organizing their ideas and typing them onto the slide. Of course all this work couldn’t be possible without the great help of Eric and Françoise who translate, but also Moses who organises the class and the students!

When I leave the LC I’m tired as it is a long day, but I’m happy because the students are improving and this keeps me very motivated to continue with my classes.

Those three months teaching at the LC were very exciting - the students were very nice, the ambiance was wonderful and the LC that N4A has developed is fantastic!

Romaric

Women Developing Rwanda

Fifteen female students at the Learning Centre have come together to form Women Developing Rwanda, a women's empowerment group. The group members have chosen aims for the organization.

Women Developing Rwanda (WDR) will:

• look for solutions to discrimination against women in Rwanda,
• help women to continue to improve their lives,
• encourage group members to choose one thing that is important to them (their career, their studies, their families, etc.) and help them develop these things in their lives, and
• connect with a group of women abroad to share ideas and learn from others.
  

As a facilitator for this group I have had the privilege of getting to know wonderful women of different ages, backgrounds and goals. The group members are excited to work together to encourage each other. We have all set personal and professional goals and made strategic plans to reach those goals. I will keep this blog updated as we move toward some of those goals, both as a group and individually.

Stacey