Well, with only 3 weeks of regular class time, and about 11
weeks in Rwanda left, the reality of leaving is hitting hard. These days I’ve been staying busy teaching, visiting
friends and wrapping up my projects.
One project I wanted to do since arriving at my school was The
World Map Project. It’s a project
started by a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 70’s to paint a mural of the
World. Now there is a manual with
instructions and advice on how to complete the project so there have been hundreds
of maps painted by Peace Corps Volunteers all around the world. I wanted to do it; first of all, because I
love maps, I could sit and look at a map of the world for hours. Second of all, I wanted to provide a good
resource for my students and make the school look a little bit nicer. So I made a plan and set out with a few students
to paint a 12 foot by 6 foot map in the school library.
Although, I wanted to do it and was excited about it, I sort
of dragged my feet through the whole process.
We started the project back in February and just finally completed
everything this month. I was resistant
just because I was nervous, I had never done anything like this before, and my
students definitely hadn’t, so each time we had to complete a new step, tracing
the map, painting in the countries, labeling the map, etc. I worried it was
going to be a huge disaster. Finally I
learned I just had to go for it and hope it all worked out, which in the end it
did!
The students really did most of the work. We gathered groups of volunteers usually on a
Saturday or Sunday for a few hours, to complete each step. First they traced the entire map using a
projector we borrowed from the health center, another day they painted in each
of the countries, then outlined them and finally labeled each of the countries
and oceans. The only part I really had
to help with was the painting. The truth
is most of the students had never painted in their life. They’ve never had an art class to learn any
of those skills, so even the basics, like how to use a paintbrush was new to
them. After they “painted” the
countries, I then spent many hours after school and on the weekend touching up
each of the countries, which I actually really enjoyed and found quite
relaxing. Other than that though, the
work was all theirs.
When we began the project I promised them a party at the end
to celebrate their work. So finally last
weekend we had a small party with Fanta, cake, and of course speeches. It was nice to hear some of the students’
comments about what they learned and appreciated about the project. After speeches were finished, each student
that participated signed their name on a plaque I made to hang below the
map. It was a great conclusion to an
awesome project. I do hope the students
who participated learned something and hopefully other students in the future
will make use of the map will learn something too. No matter what, it was, without a doubt, a
HUGE learning experience for me.
I have to give a special thank you to, Janet Rezac, Joanie Tupy, Carol Pavek, Mary Turek, Lynn Picha, Karen Pauly, Peg Svoboda, and my mom, Margie Pexa, who are all part of a monthly Scrabble Club. Every Christmas, instead of trading gifts or
doing a Secret Santa, they pool their money and donate it, usually buying gifts
for a family who may otherwise not have any presents for Christmas, an awesome
idea, right? Well, last year I was the
lucky recipient of their generosity and was able to fund my project! I honestly don’t know if it would have
happened without their help, so the school, students and I truly appreciate
their kind and generous donation! Thank
you!
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| Tracing (as you can see, we had to stand on chairs, on top of tables to reach the top, I said a prayer each time we worked that no one fell and broke any bones) |
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| Painting |
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| Outlining |
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| Labeling |
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| And the final product! |
Another project happening at my school is the building of
two, 40,000L underground, rainwater catchment tanks. I wish I could take more credit for this
project, but basically all I did was send a few emails and make a couple phone
calls. Through another Peace Corps
Volunteer I was connected with a Non-Governmental Organization called Water for
Life based in Kigali. It’s a husband and
wife team (Nick and Jen Greener, Nick’s actually from MN) who work to fund,
organize and complete these water projects in schools, health centers and
communities all over Rwanda.
Although the government of Rwanda is working hard to improve
the infrastructure of the country, water is still a problem. There are water taps spread through my
community that are controlled by a single, country-wide water company. People in the community take containers of
all sizes, pay to have them filled at these taps and then haul them back to their
home to use for everything; drinking, cooking, washing etc. There is also a tap at the school students
use to get water which is included in their school fees.
The Eastern Province is notorious for being hotter and drier
than the rest of the country. The only
seasonal changes we experience are 2 rainy seasons and 2 dry seasons. This past dry season was difficult, we went
weeks without rain and the taps were dry for 5 or 6 days at a time. You never knew when the water would come, but
when it finally did, it was usually for an hour or two at the most. My theory is that the water company turns the
water on and off in an effort to ration it until the rain comes again. Unfortunately, even in the rainy season the
tap is still dry from time to time, as is the case right now. When there isn’t water students walk every
day after school, about 30 minutes each way to fetch water from the lake
nearby. Obviously this isn’t ideal. Another frustrating part is that when it does
rain it’s not just a little drizzle, but huge, heavy downpours, and you just
have to watch all the water drain away unused.
This water project is amazing because, it will catch the water from the
school buildings and collect in these huge tanks. The students will then be able to use the
water for bathing, washing and cleaning.
YAY!!! It will also help
alleviate erosion and flooding, both of which are also big problems at the
school. Right now the workers are in the
midst of putting gutters on all the buildings and soon we’ll have water! I’m SO EXCITED!!! I’ve have been so grateful to have the
opportunity to work with Nick and Water for Life. When Nick first planned to come to my school,
I was so nervous; I wanted to project to happen so badly and I was prepared to
have to convince him that we needed it.
It was nothing like that, we were approved right away. This was because Nick knows the reality;
clean, reliable water and these tanks are needed everywhere, and Nick is so
eager to help anywhere he can. The
project is funded by donations Water for Life receives and also by the
school. It is important that the school
pays for part of the project so that they feel like they have made an
investment, and therefore, are more likely to care for it and maintain it into
the future. Check out Water for Life’s
website for more info about the awesome work they are doing. Water for Life - Rwanda
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| One of the tanks |
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| The workers put up the gutters (check out their homemade ladder) |
I have one last project I’m currently working on. I’ve collaborated with an awesome teacher
from a school in Rwamagana who was a facilitator at our GLOW Camp in
August. We are working together to plan
a 2-day workshop on October 13th and 14th to promote GLOW
Clubs in area schools. We are inviting
two students and one teacher from 7 schools in Rwamagana District to
attend. We will discuss gender equality,
life skills and provide participants with the tools and resources necessary to
begin a GLOW Club at their school. The
details have all been worked out and so far everything has gone fairly well, I’m
just holding my breath hat everything falls into place and it will be a
success. Keep your fingers crossed for
me that all goes well!
In other news, I just found out there will be a new Peace
Corps Volunteer coming in to replace me when I leave. This is typical for Peace Corps and I had
expected that I would take over for someone who was leaving when I joined. In Rwanda, however, because Peace Corps just
came back into the country in 2008, they are still establishing new sites, so I
was the first in my village. When my
group came in we were about 65 which meant they have to find 65 sites for each
of us. Now the new group that arrived a
few weeks ago, is only about 35 which means not everyone from my group who is
leaving will be replaced. For some this
is good, because, for one reason or another, their site just isn’t good for a
Peace Corps Volunteer. Peace Corps staff
has evaluated everyone’s sites and has hopefully weeded out the bad sites for
the new volunteers. Thankfully my site
was chosen as a good one! I advocated to
be replaced because I really love my
school and village. It’s a great
location, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the community
and my school has awesome leadership.
Listening to other volunteers talk about their headmasters or
headmistresses, I know my headmaster is far more organized and motivated than
most. Nick (from Water for Life) who has
worked with many other schools and organizations throughout the country has
also made the same comments. They are
looking to the future and have seemed to appreciate my help. Ultimately, I think it’s a good site because a
new volunteer will be utilized appropriately, supported and valued.
I have to admit though, it’s a little strange to think about
someone else coming here, living in my
house, working at my school, visiting
my friends. I guess you can say I’ve become a little
possessive. After all the hard work of
developing relationships, working on projects, suffering through the dry
season, etc. it’s a little hard to imagine someone new coming in and taking
over what has become my life and home here.
Obviously, it would be much worse if no one was coming at all, and I’m
thrilled that I’ll be replaced (just that word- replaced- makes it difficult).
Hopefully though, some of the work I’ve put in here will make things
just a little bit easier for the next volunteer.
I've been making an extra effort to take pictures of everything and since I have fast internet I thought I would also include some pictures from this morning at Umuganda. The last Saturday of every month, from about 8am-11am all stores and restaurants close and technically no one is even allowed to drive on the roads, everyone is expected to be participating some sort of community volunteer activity. Often times people are cleaning public spaces, repairing roads, etc and sometimes it is organized to help an especially poor family in the village build a new house or latrine. It varies in each place and from month to month. At my school their is a club for survivors/orphans of the genocide who gather on Umuganda to clean, weed and cut grass at the Genocide Memorial in my village. So this morning I helped them out.
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| Cutting grass (this is basically how all grass is cut in Rwanda) |
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| The Group |
Annie
