Rwanda Update!

Hi everyone!

I am sorry that it has taken this long to actually write to you but my motto here tends to be “This is Africa!” And for those of you who are unfamiliar with that motto, it means anything can happen at any point and you just have to go with it. Time and material aspects do not run this culture – the people do! I attempted to get on the internet at a local hotel earlier this week a few times but was informed that the internet throughout the entire country is down. I’m not sure how that is possible, but “This is Africa!” I’m going to make this update as detailed as possible since I don’t know when I’ll be able to send another one and I want all of you to know what is going on in my life here in Rwanda.

 

(Me outside my African house in Rwamagana)

I landed in Kigali and met ALARM’s country representative, Benjamin, at the airport Saturday night. I later met up with my roommate and fellow teacher, Maja, and her daughter, Charissa. Maja has been teaching at IWE (Institute of Women’s Excellence) for a month now and I am living with her near the school. Charissa has been in Rwanda for almost 3 years because she was involved in the Peace Corps and then was offered a teaching job at a school in Kigali but she’s heading back to America for good next week. It was great to be in Kigali with them because they know the lay of the land. Sunday I was able to go to church with Benjamin at a local school that trains teachers. Then Charissa showed me around Kigali. We walked around so I could take in city life in Rwanda and then I was able to buy a phone. Phones seem to be almost more important here than in America sometimes because that is the only way to communicate with people and since “this is Africa” people are never where they say they will be at the time they wanted to be there. Most people don’t have access to the internet so phones really become the way to get in touch with people. I’m very thankful to have a phone since apparently the internet goes down country wide out here and communication with all of you is important!

(The path up the the school)

I arrived safely in Rwamagana and visited the school Monday. Thaddy is the Chaplain at the school and Theopiste is the head mistress. They declared themselves to be my African parents while I am here and have taken such good care of me! They gave me the name Uwitonze (wit-tone-z) which means gentle and kind and the teachers gave me the name Keza (key-za) which means beautiful baby girl or young girl. So they call me Uwitonze keza Kelsey or one of those three now! They gave me a tour of the school and later made sure I was safe and comfortable at home by checking on my throughout the day Monday and Tuesday! IWE has over 400 girls and about 10 teachers. There are six grades here – senior 1 through senior 6 (that is like grades 7-12). However, there are 12 through 16 year olds in senior 1 so the age doesn’t matter of the girls. Whenever you come into the school is what counts. IWE was founded to help orphaned and poor girls who have suffered from the genocide and AIDS.  However, the younger grades consist more of girls who just want to come to IWE for an education and they do have families that live in Rwanda, Uganda or Congo. The first three years the girls learn everything and then they pick a track in senior 4. They can pick from 2 combinations to study: math, economics, and geography as one or math, physics and chemistry as another. However, the class sizes are getting bigger and bigger and there is no more room for the girls so they have the senior 5 class in the chemistry lab but soon (like next semester) there will need to be about 5 more classrooms to accommodate all the of the students and they don’t know where all of that space and money is going to come from.

(The classrooms)

The girls were so shy on the first two days and would just giggle if I tried to talk to them. The teachers were fairly shy as well. Wednesday was a huge turning point and most of the girls attempt to speak English with me now. The teachers are very eager students and ask me a lot of questions about English and how to say certain words. The President decided that the country’s new language this year would be English. It was French in the past but he wanted everyone to learn English so now all classes must be held in English.  However, the teachers do not know enough English to teach the students so they become intimidated by the language. Maja has been working with them and I speak to them a lot in between classes and at lunch. They are coming out of their shells and starting to smile and speak in English more frequently. They joke with me and tell me stories about their families and life in Rwanda.

(Me with the Senior 1B girls - ages 12-16)

Two of the teachers, Silivia and Noah, have really been a blessing to me. Silivia comes over on Tuesday mornings for English lessons and this week we really hit it off. The reason she comes on Tuesdays is because all teachers have 1 day off from classes because the school can only afford to have them for 4 out of the 5 days. So Maja and I have off and so does Siliva. She is 22 and is the French teacher at IWE. She walks us home sometimes and we have had some wonderful talks about life. Maja told me that she would not even speak English before last week and she knows a lot but is just not confident in her skills. She is improving everyday and she has even decided to teach me some Kinyarwanda, their native language. Noah overheard her teaching me and decided to start joking with me and asking me different questions in Kinyarwanda. We laughed and he told me to try harder and study every night so that we can joke in English and in Kinyarwanda. I’m trying but it is hard! I know some basic phrases and want them to teach me as much as possible since I am teaching them. Noah has had an extremely difficult life and must live away from his family because it is not safe for them to live in Rwamagana with him. However, learning English has finally given him hope again and a spark back in his life. He also walks us home at night after school since it gets dark at 6 and it is unsafe to be alone after that. He is very protective and insists that I stay with him on the roads so nothing will happen! It really is so great to have these amazing teachers at IWE who are so dedicated to their students and learning the language!

IWE’s main English teacher is Amani. He is a wonderful teacher but is still learning aspects of English as well. His big dream is to come to America to study law so that he can come back to Rwanda and create a system of laws that will benefit the country and bring their economy up. His life has also been difficult but he is a very godly man. He lives just around the corner from us so we see him quite often!

Life in Africa is quite different from what I’m used to be again, “this is Africa!” I went to Zambia for almost 2 months when I was 14 and lived the lifestyle there but this is very different. I am living in the bush here (aka the middle of nowhere with dirt roads and lights and water on a good day). The weather here is nice most off the time. It is awesome when there is a cool breeze but it gets so hot in the classrooms when there is no breeze. But overall, there is no humidity and it is in the high 70s to mid 80s every day. It is the end of the rainy season and beginning of the dry season so we still get some rain but not too much. The roads are mostly dirt in Rwamagana but are all paved or cobble stone in Kigali. Overall, the country is extremely clean and beautiful! Maja and I live in a three bedroom house that is surrounded by a gate, which everyone has in Africa. There is electricity and running water but both can go out at any time. We have to sleep with mosquito nets over our beds and tucked under the mattresses so that we don’t get eaten alive at night. We have been blessed with an amazing housekeeper, Regina. Hiring housekeepers is also normal in Africa. She comes at 7am to make us breakfast before we leave for school. During the day, she gets anything we need from the market or other stores, buys more electricity when we run out (you pay before you receive the electricity here), cleans the house, and prepares our dinner for when we return between 6 and 7 at night after school. Breakfast foods consist of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit or sometimes eggs. We eat lunch at the school and that is rice and beans or maize and beans every day. Maze is corn that they dry and then ground up into this sticky mush to be honest but it is so good with their sauces. It was my favorite in Zambia! Our dinners are random foods as well but we usually have fruit salad, rice and beans or a type of pasta with veggies. Their tea here is amazing and I probably drink about eight cups a day! Regina makes a large pot of it for me and keeps it hot in a thermos for me at night.

Maja and I leave for school around 7:30 every morning and walk a half hour on dirt roads to school. When we are running late, we take motor-taxis (motorcycles) to the school and pay about 40 or 50 cents for the 3 minute ride. The school is on top of a hill that overlooks a beautiful valley and hills in the distance. The view is absolutely breathtaking and pictures don’t do it justice. Maja and I teach English classes based on the needs of the students since there isn’t a curriculum to go from really and it is hard because they don’t have enough English vocabulary to keep up with anything other than vocabulary lessons and basic aspects of conversations. We begin at 8 and teach through 12:30. We sometimes teach with the English teacher, Amani, or we teach little break out groups for those students who are struggling with the general English classes. At 12:30 we break for lunch. There is not enough room for all the girls to eat in the dining hall so they have shifts. Lunch is over around 2 and then classes continue until 4:30. We teach the teachers English after school or teach a sewing class to some of the girls. I am usually available after school to just chat with the girls and work on their English. They ask me funny questions like, “Have you ever seen with your eyes Chris Brown (the singer)?” And when I tell them I haven’t they do not understand because we are both from America. So I try to explain but then they ask what other singers I have seen with my eyes and if Justin Beiber and I are friends. I just laugh at this point and then they continue to obsess over my hair! They have never seen anything like it and are completely fascinated by it. Around 6 the girls go back into the classrooms to study their notes and review the lessons from the day so we finally take the half hour walk home if we haven’t already started to make our way home. We have long days but they are great ones. God is using me in some really amazing ways here! I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people.

(The girls in Senior 1B answering Teacher Amani's questions)

I know this was a long letter but I wanted to thoroughly inform you about my trip so far – thanks for sticking with me! And thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! Please, pray for IWE as they are struggling to accommodate all the students this year and teach them a new language. Also, pray for the teachers who are trying to learn English themselves so they can pour as much into the students as possible. Pray for the school as a whole as they are trying to manage all of these girls and there are more and more that come to school each term and there is no more space for anyone to sleep, eat or study. Those are my main prayer requests but if you could pray for me as I continue to teach and love these people that would be great!

I hope you all are doing well. I could not be here without all of you so thanks again for all of the support, love and prayers!