Jambo Beach

Last weekend, I visited Jambo beach with Hazel and Mary, two other VSO volunteers. I had been told that the 'beach', a grassy area next to Lake Muhazi (less than an hour from my house), was quite unimpressive compared to the beauty of Lake Kivu. However, we had a wonderfully relaxed weekend there and the sunset was the best I have seen in Africa so far. I am sure in years to come the area will be developed greatly and become a tourist haven but for most of the weekend, there were very few people there and we enjoyed the unspoilt paradise. On Saturday, some local kids entertained us by dancing whilst their family ate lunch in the restaurant. We enjoyed having a daytime boogie with them, much to the delight of the DJ. Even the kids here are incredible dancers and have a real feel for rhythm.

Kimisagara English Club performance

On Sunday I went to a wonderful concert at Kimisagara Youth Centre in Kigali.

 

When I first came to Rwanda, I visited Kimisagara English club which I mentioned in my blog during ICT. On that day, the youth club began planning a showcase for a group of young Scottish people who were coming on a cultural exchange visit. The concert took place on Sunday and I was able to attend to support them.   During their performance, I felt quite choked up. After seeing a group of very shy teenagers at the youth centre discussing in a circle what talents they had (which mainly involved listening to music but not performing!), the kids on stage looked entirely different. They were smiling, confident and incredibly good at performing traditional Rwandan dance combined with some modern moves too.

 

The Scottish group responded with an equally wonderful display - my favourite part was the young guy doing breakdancing in a kilt! And to finish off the event, Mashirika Performing Arts (a professional Rwandan group who had been working with the English club) contributed with some impressive Rwandan dancing, drumming, singing and even some Scottish dancing for good measure.

 

It was a lovely afternoon and my Scottish friend Julie was particularly impressed when the English Club stood up and joined in with the Scottish National Anthem, something they had learnt especially to surprise their Scottish visitors.

 

 

 

L3 Initiative

Last week in Kigali, I spent 3 days learning about the L3 initiative with EDC (Education Development Centre). L3 is a USAID funded project designed to support Language, Literacy and Learning in Rwanda. They have designed a set of materials, including audio lessons (transmitted via mobile phone SD cards), story books for teachers to read aloud and books that children can take home. At the moment, the materials are being trialled in 90 experimental schools. But it is hoped that if they make a positive impact, they will go nationwide next January.

Modelling a Kinyarwanda lesson

The training was very interesting. We got to participate in and observe some model lessons taught using the materials (I was even asked to take on the role of a P1 child in a Kinyarwanda lesson which was highly entertaining as I got into character and may have been a slightly naughty child, not helped by my lack of understanding most of the language!). We also had the chance to try out the monitoring tools and make suggestions for how they could be improved.

I can see numerous benefits to using this initiative in Rwanda. For example, many teachers here struggle with teaching English, something this initiative supports in a creative manner particularly through the use of audio lessons. As partners with USAID, I hope that VSO will continue to collaborate in this initiative and I am excited about my involvement in this. I have already offered to write some stories for the next set of materials and I might even get the chance to write or record some songs for them to use.

Comparing Lives

During my many long moto journeys, I often think about how different my life is in Rwanda and I enjoy comparing aspects of my life here to things back home. Here are some of my recent thoughts:

Travelling in 'economy' - This is something most people associate with flying in an airplane when you cannot afford the ridiculous price of First class. However, my interpretation of economy travel in Rwanda is where your moto driver cuts off the engine and coasts down the hills, gathering as much momentum as possible so that you make it half way up the next hill before having to restart the engine. The first time he did this, I thought we had run out of petrol, but now I understand it is a way of saving petrol when driving. I don't know how safe it is but at least I can predict when it is coming up these days.

Traffic control measures - In England, people get upset by the number of pedestrian crossings, traffic lights and traffic-calming measures which seem to be in place every two minutes on any journey. In Rwanda, my journey involves no such things. But we often have to break suddenly in order to allow the family of goats, chickens or children to cross the road. My favourite so far has been the piglets and the calf!

Washing - This is something I will never take for granted again. Hand washing clothes is a long-winded process, especially when you are constantly battling the orange dust which is abundant during the dry season. The other day a group of teachers were laughing at my rain coat because you could not tell if the original colour was black or orange. A washing machine would certainly be useful out here. Although line drying clothes in Rwanda doesn't take much longer than a tumble dryer thanks to the heat and I rarely have to use an iron.

 Weekends - For the past two weekends, I have treated myself to a day at the pool. After the two hour bus ride to Kigali, I am able to select a hotel and rent a lounger for the day for less than £5. It is times like these when I truly appreciate working in Rwanda - having the ability to visit beautiful places at the weekend or just plan to sunbathe for a day, safe in the knowledge that the British weather will not ruin my plans! And just look at my poolside view:

Progress in schools

I had a very successful week this week, having managed to get into all four of my scheduled schools without having any cancellations or complications. The only slight problem was in one school where 5 members of staff including the Headteacher were visiting another school as they were planning tests together. I was concerned that in their absence I might not be able to have a productive day. However, the remaining teachers were wonderful. Some made rice sack visual aids with me and then two teachers approached me independently to ask for help planning their English lessons. I was able to work with them and then observe the lessons and discuss them with them afterwards. I was chuffed that they had approached me - really shows that they understand why I am here and that they want the support.

In another school, the new head teacher was not very comfortable speaking in English so we conversed in French all morning. Needless to say, in the afternoon he switched to speaking English, having realised that my French was far worse than his English. It was good for me to practise my French although once again I am reminded how poor my language knowledge is. My French/Kinyarwanda teacher has asked me to record my next French conversation so that we can listen to it and correct my mistakes - not sure how I feel about that idea!

On Friday, I spent the day working with a group of teachers who were observing each other teach and offering feedback on the lessons. I was able to plan lessons with these teachers before their colleagues watched them and encouraged them to use more Learner Centred Methods in the classroom. I taught the group how to use "thumbometers" as a method of assessing understanding, and it was hilarious to see them encouraging the kids to use thumbs up or thumbs down. We all sat at the back of the class joining in, with big thumbs up/down gestures, much to the enjoyment of the children!

Making visual aids is one of my favourite activities at the moment; it provides a great opportunity to chat to teachers and get to know them better. Here are some of the things they made this week (I should add that the Science teachers were the most diligent workers, one teacher created two skeletons in just over an hour- quite an achievement!):

 

Gisenyi

I have just returned from a lovely weekend trip to Gisenyi, in the North of Rwanda on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chilling in my new skirt in a hammock
 looking out onto Lake Kivu

In spite of the long bus journey (six hours from Kibungo), the weekend was very relaxed. On Saturday morning we visited Gisenyi market which is quite small considering the size of the town. It was fairly quiet so we were able to wander around at our lesiure without too much harrassment, buying fabric for my next creation (a shift dress) and purchasing a lovely maxi skirt which will be useful for moto rides as I can keep my legs covered up but still look "smart". The Rwandans always comment on how smart I look when I wear a skirt! We also visited a wonderful women's cooperative where a dozen or so women were making machine sewn products such as bags, pencil cases, cuddly toys etc. Julie, Michelle and I all supported the initiative by buying bundles of things:

Items bought from the women's cooperative in Gisenyi

After sitting on a rickety bus for nearly an hour with a couple of bump starts / people pushing, we managed to visit Rubonu, 7km out of Gisenyi, and had a lovely lunch in the garden of Paradise Malahide, next to the Lake shore. We were visited by lots of beautiful birds during our meal and particularly enjoyed watching the kingfisher swoop to catch fish from the Lake:

We then managed to get motos back into Gisenyi - much better than the bus there and only 200RWF more (20p!). As we were "on holiday" we treated ourselves to dinner at the Serena Hotel in Gisenyi after watching the sun set over the Congo from the water's edge. I enjoyed eating some delicious local fish (and less local squid!) but the highlight for me was the banana split - my first ice cream in Rwanda.

On Saturday night we found a very quiet bar where we were able to dance to music chosen by the DJ especially for us. At the beginnning of each song, he would look over at us for a sign of approval (lots of grinning and over-enthusiastic shoulder swaying) before deciding whether to leave the song on or choose another. It was refreshing being able to dance without being surrounded by locals who wanted to join in! But it was quite a surprise to find how little was going on in a place that is considered to be a major tourist town.
This morning I began my long journey home, which was quite a bit faster thanks to the erratic driver. For once, I wished I had someone to share my seat to stop me sliding around as we hurtled around the bends. Having visited the North, I can happily say that my hills in the east are much smaller by comparison and I was relieved to return home to the relatively flat land. Once again I have been surprised by the beauty of Rwanda and cannot understand why more people do not choose it as a holiday destination. Gisenyi is definitely on my list of places to take visitors....Speaking of which, less than 8 weeks to go Jesso!

Sun setting over the Congo

Can you spot the volcano?