Conversations

Wednesday

September 11, 2019

This morning, I had hoped to visit Teacher Agnes Geography class. Teacher Agnes is one of the founding teachers at MGS She is a very experienced teacher whose enthusiasm for her subject is matched only by her enthusiasm for the quality of education girls are receiving at the school. Her enthusiasm is reflect in her comments on the original video, Maranyundo Shines. “ If you teach a girl in S1 or S6 and she goes on in her education and becomes a Minister. Wow!”

When I arrived at her class, I learned that Teacher Agnes had to take her daughter to a doctor’s appointment.  Her students were sitting at their desks studying. Two of the students suggested I could stay and talk with them. Never one to refuse the opportunity to speak with students, I agreed.

Figuring I should try to focus on geography, I asked the about what they study in geography. They commented on climate, the earth’s history, topography, regions of the globe, etc. They followed up with interesting characteristics of their “land with a thousand hills.” They talked about the terraced agriculture, the tropical rainstorms, the volcanoes (that are not active right now!) They wanted to know about the geography of Boston.  Wow. I felt out of my knowledge zone! I described what it has meant to be by the ocean, how the history and economy were both shaped by being near the sea. I also talked about how much of the area is now cities and suburbs  from which people commute to cities to work each day.

Somehow the conversation turned to the value of travel; how we learn about places that are similar or different from our own places. They understand that importance, and how travel can be an important part of one’s education about the world. Whether one can travel to nearby places or to far away places, one can encounter new ideas, new ways of doing things, different languages, religions, foods. It as such fun to hear them discuss travel.

Then it came: the question about racism. Is there racism in Boston and the United States? Before I could answer, I asked them what they knew about racism, words that they associated with that issue. “Cruel, injustice, discrimination, unfair,” were the words that quickly emerged. Then I asked them where they encountered that idea. One of the girls was reading Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She was able to give very accurate descriptions of where she saw “racism:" how Dyke is treated in school; how Ifemelu experienced dating a white man; how she did not realize she was “Black” until she arrived in the US. Clearly, these African girls are interested in this notion of racism and identify it as associated with the United States.

I suggested that if a group wanted to read Americanah, we could have a Book Talk over Skype. Two students volunteered to keep a record of who had read the book and when they were finished. I promised to send some questions we could use in our Skype conversation. I look forward to seeing if this can happen.

It is a reminder to me that there is always something to learn when we listen carefully to the young generation. And that who we are as the United States of America matters to nations around the globe.

A powerful reminder on this  solemn day.

Debating Environmental Conservation

Saturday

September 7, 2019

University of Tourism Business had sponsored a debate among secondary schools on the question of how well is Rwanda conserving the environment so that it can continue to draw draw many tourists to the country. Rwanda hopes that tourism becomes a significant sector of the country’s economy. Having been “on safari” at the Agagera National Park, I  agree that the natural beauty of Rwanda’s environment is a treasure.

This Saturday Conference  at the new Conference Center in Kigali featured a panel of national experts on the economy and environment and the final debates for the award. The Maranyundo Debate Club was debating with Lycee de Notre Dame, another girl’s school, for the top spot.

The debate was certainly lively!

Maranyundo students were the voice of considering how Rwanda needed to do much more in the field of conservation and preserving the environment. The opposing team was speaking in praise of what Rwanda was dong at the national and business levels to conserve the natural and wild spaces. They cited how the Genocide against the Tutsis ruined so many aspects of the land, the environment. But the Maranyundo debaters cited the fact that all nations have had tragedies, wars, environmental pollution. Yet many are making strides faster than Rwanda especially in educating the people about what each individual can do to move conservation efforts forward.

The 6 judges who  evaluated the debaters overwhelmingly felt the debates were “brilliant.” They cited how quickly the debaters thought on their feet. The  high caliber of conservation, the good evidence both sides cited. They agreed that the final round “was one of the best debates we have ever seen.”

In the end, the Lycee of Notre Dame was declared the winner; a Maranynundo debater won outstanding debater.  The MC reminded everyone, however, that all the finalists were winners…and had gained valuable skills and experiences for their continued education and career choices. (She also reminded the boys groups that the two finalist teams were from girls schools!)

UTB and the corporate co- sponsors of the conference—Rwanda Travel Board, School of Wildlife Conservation, Hermosa Life Tours and Travel---had interesting perspectives for students to note. The panel discussed the meaning of conservation as  essential for tourism, so creation of sustainable use of resources is a priority. Also, careers in tourism are not limited to tour guides. Careers are growing in National Parks, in the business sector, and many companies  which benefit from a strong tourism economy are adding positions to support the tourism economy. Education is also essential and the promotion of school gardens, teaching guides and curriculum guides are also essential to make change. Since 2016, when the focus in the education standards included conservation and environmental protection, 214,000 jobs have been created in Conservation.

It is so interesting  to attend events like this as we continue to develop the work of this STEM focused school for girls here in Rwanda. There certainly seem to be a number of ways that the graduates of MGS can think about using their science and math proficiency to improve the environment that is becoming so important to this fast growing nation.

Awards in Education

Friday

September 6 Part II

After our gift shopping, we planned to attend the Awarding Best Innovations and Practices in Schools, which was being held at the Ministry of Education from 1:00 – 5:00 in the afternoon. This is the first time these awards have been given. It has been the vision of the current Minister of Education, Minister Eugene, former Chair of the Maranyundo School Board. He enlisted the support of a number of groups, including UNICEF, Bank of Rwanda, Rwanda Air, Huawei and local businesses. The event would showcase  interesting ways students and teachers in Rwanda are bringing the tenets of Competence Based Education to life…every day.

National support for education and innovation in schools…especially those ideas and practices that have improved the quality of life for communities of young people and adults, as well.

The Definition of Innovation that the Ministry used to determine awardees was explained by the MC. For me, it had a particularly Rwandan perspective. Innovation needed to be useful to society, good for the community.  It must be an innovation that can be replicated to meet the needs of others. In this way, innovation is characterized by making use of new approaches to thinking about an issue; problem solving that indicates a different way of thinking. Rwandan education particularly  identifies the STEM subjects as promoting social good. It values addressing social change through research and applied examples.  

Areas that clearly were highlighted throughout the awards were reducing the drop out rate, dental health, the impact of rural women teachers, and student work that reflects innovation and application of classroom knowledge. Here are a few of the projects that received awards:

• 25 rural women teachers were commended for their exemplary performance and commitment to supporting all learners

• A teacher had started a museum in her school dedicated to teaching about Kinyawanda language and culture, a theme embedded in many lessons.

• FAWE teachers were recognized for their efforts on drop out prevention, engaging lessons and improved student hygiene

• A chemistry teacher who had few lab supplies was commended for using local supplies to teach chemistry lessons. His students made  soap and other cleaning products.

• A Sister was recognized for starting a project to sell rabbits to raise money for school fees to support children whose families could not afford the cost.

• A student had developed an APP to help a rural village be more efficient in distributing water. He was given a scholarship to continue his education at a technical program.

Students at Maranyundo School won two awards.: the Maranyundo Maker Space students won an award for figuring out how to design pieces they needed for a robot and printing them on the 3-D printer. Two girls were awarded round trip tickets to AE and attendance at a technology workshop.

A 2^nd award was given to three students who developed an  App which could be used by families to report student absences to schools. This reflected the critical need the Ministry has to reduce drop out rate. Families can communicate with a school. The school then reports absences to the Ministry  to note student absences so educators can begin to support  students and family to have student come to school

Maranyundo student TETA Kelsy spoke for the students who had been recognized.

Citing students who come from different backgrounds and schools each able to work with the information and knowledge they gain in class and use it to make something She clearly reflected the Competency Based education model that Rwanda is adopting. Big ideas and knowledge are essential for an educated nation. But it is also important that people learn to work together to bring good ideas into something that can help solve community needs.

She was an eloquent student voice for what these awards were developed to support. Education is becoming an essential to Rwanda as it continues to grow its economy and its entrepreneurial culture.

The Artists's Workshop and The Benebikira Mission

First day –

Friday September 6: Part I

Our arrival in Kigali on Thursday evening was a familiar combination of watching the lights of the city as we landed at the airport, feeling the soft embrace of the warm evening air and waiting in lines of quiet, weary travelers to show passports and pay for visas. A Primate Bus crew competently packed our luggage and welcomed us on board for the ride to the Serena. It was a delight to register at this welcoming hotel!

The first task we took on in the morning was choosing a gift for the Benebikira Sisters from the Maranyundo Initiative on the event of the Jubilee Celebration. Kathy Kantengwa was our guide, both culturally and logistically, for this weighty assignment. We first visited a gallery near the hotel , which she knew. The baskets, art work and textiles were artfully displayed…appealing to a Western sensibility of order and worth.

But Kathy had anther suggestion. She guided us to an artist’s workshop in the city. It was the workshop for the artist ----- and the group of young artists who worked and learned the craft with him. His son is among those novice artists  and he helped us select a large painting to be featured in the STEM Center at MGS.

The studio was quite amazing. It was a place of color, symbol and the vitality that expressive artists can lend to their work…and the viewers experience. The outside walls of the courtyard became palettes of color as the artists blended shades with acrylic  paints. Another wall featured the “alphabet” of symbols used by African artists to express the cultural truths. The painting we chose featured these symbols in a softly glowing representation of textiles in gold and ochre. And we also visited a framer to choose a frame.

We chose a painting that could be featured in the STEM/library building because the school is the place that symbolizes our partnership with the Benebikiras. It is the site, the collaboration through which we have known and admired them.

We have also collected contributions to purchase beds that will be comfortable for the elderly members of the Order. Our gifts reflect the essence of the Rwandan spirit exemplified by the religious women. Grace and beauty of ideas and vision coupled with practical solutions to real world challenges.

All this writing about the Benebikira Sisters celebration made me remember what I wrote about in October, 2009 when I first traveled to Butare. We had had a lovely meeting with the Sisters about school matters, had lunch and then prepared to leave.  That was when we saw the Woman at the Steps.

 At the stone steps leading down from the street sat a woman and her two children. The sisters told us that people come to the convent right after lunch because they know that the Sisters always share the food that is left over from lunch. This woman, young and seemingly quite lame with swollen feet and ankles was holding a baby perhaps 10 months old. Sitting at her feet was a little girl, probably between 5 and 7, looking very sad, anxious, hungry. She had on one of the school uniforms, bright blue, which I had seen on the road as we came from Nyamata.

One of the Sisters came from the kitchen with a pot of rice. With a spoon, she first fed the baby. She leaned into him as he sat on his mother; she smiled as she guided the spoon. He ate eagerly. Grains of rice.  Then she asked the mother, “Why is your girl not in school.” In Kinyarwanda, mother replied that she had begun school, but the school needed a new fence and has required each family to contribute 500RF (about $1). The mother did not have the money. “We will pay the fee,” assured the sister. “We will check to make sure your girl is re-enrolled at the school. She also convinced the mother to take the children and go to the local health clinic.

The Sisters do not only feed the people, they care enough to ask the questions that seek to find out how to better their lives. They have an unwavering belief that people can be saved.  Not only will they check to make sure the child in re-enrolled in school, they typically give small jobs to the mothers. Perhaps this mother can pick beans in the convent garden, or do light chores.

The mission of the Benebikiras is to emulate a mother's love for people in obedience to the Blessed Mother. In the case of the woman and her children at the steps, they fed this family and asked those critical questions that can potentially improve lives. As Headmistress of Maranyundo, Sister Juvenal reflects this mission when she says the girls at MGS "are my children." And she sees the students as a caring community, a family, to be nurtured and educated. And these girls are being educated to Respect, take Responsibility and Leadership.  

The members of the Maranyundo Initiative are surely  thankful for the Sisters and their good works…they are helping us all by caring for so many communities in complete and utter devotion to their faith.

Sara Saves the Day! (And the 3-D Printer at FAWE)

Our last morning at Maranyndo began with a misty shroud that cleared beautifully by the time Sister Juvenal called the students to their Monday morning Assembly. Daphne, Sara and I had the chance to say thank you and good bye to the students, the teachers, the Sisters and all the staff who contribute to our comfortable stay at MGS. Each time I leave Maranyndo, I am reflecting on how much I learn during my time there. Each time I leave, I am already planning for the next visit as I board the van and travel to Kigali.

This morning I was reflecting on the small but successful Open House that Sister had planned for yesterday. She invited current members of the Parents Committee to see the Maker Space in action. Gaspard former mayor of Nyamata, and his wife, Viviane, former president of the Parents Committee, also attended. The group toured the two spaces. Sara had worked with her “crew” to be working at the various stations. It was wonderful to see the girls “step up” and explain the LEGO building and recyclable activities on the first floor. It was amazing to hear students like Leslie (S-4) and Sonya (S-5) explain and demonstrate the 3-D printer process. Other students explained the COSMO robotics, Makey Makey and other electronics. The students took center stage, as it were, and showed how competent and confident students can become using Maker technology and philosophy in just a week. Having refreshments afterwards in the Residence, we talked with the parents about future directions and ideas for the school. Sister and the faculty will have supportive parents in implementing thoughtful technology programs at the school.

We left the campus and traveled to the FAWE school in Kigali where a Benebikira Sister, Sister Eugenia, is the Headmistress. In the course of our pleasantries and welcomes, Sister Eugenia mentioned that the school had been given a 3-D printer over a year ago. But no one had been able to get it working. Sister Juvenal said, “Sara can help maybe.” Thus began a rather remarkable scenario of technology connecting a Mechanical Engineering student from Tufts University in the USA and two IT workers at a school in Kigali, Rwanda.

Tony, one of the computer folks, brought the rather extravagant printer into the room. Sara immediately recognized it as a top of the line Maker Bot printer comparable to the printers that are used in labs at the university. Tony’s colleague explained why they had had trouble finding ways to make the printer work. In about 30 minutes, Sara had diagnosed the problem, provided a thumb drive with the necessary software and the printer sprang to life and began printing a bracelet with links that could stretch. The smiles that appeared on the faces of Tony and his colleague will remain with me forever. (I even believe the printer was happy to be out of its closet and humming away doing what it is meant to be doing!)

Unfortunately, Sara did not have the software to help install a second 3-D printer that was smaller.  Nor could she install all the programs that were necessary for the fancy printer. The internet was slow; she needed to send some other instructions. She promised to send the instruction to Tony ad Co. from Boston. I am sure they saw Sara as a Super Hero in 3-D Printer Maintenance! 

The story of that 3-D printer is a familiar one. The printer had been given to the school by a well meaning benefactor. But the kind of training and preparation to using it in service of what FAWE wanted the girls to learn was not part of the gift, evidently.

Sara and I thought about how that is a familiar story in many schools. Resources and materials gather dust because something is missing that would allow those resources to be connected to the learning and understanding of students. We always need to be careful of what we share with schools. The model that we used this trip to MGS was a good beginning. We brought materials but also Sara, a skilled facilitator who believes deeply in the ability of young people to work carefully with material in which they have interest. The Maker Space that Sara left behind at MGS will have many interested students working there after our plane soars high over the Kigali landscape. We say thank you to Sara for her tireless faith in young learners, her impressive talent in understanding technology, her willingness to embark on an adventure in Rwanda. She has left behind a bit of the future for the MGS girls to explore.

On Activism and Zumba

Friday was such a busy day on the campus! Observing classes, meetings with teachers and having two guests who spoke to the S-5s about careers for women in the STEM disciplines. We also began planning for an Open House for the Maker Space. Sister Juvenal is planning an Open House for Sunday. She has invited the parents’ committee, some dignitaries from the district and others. Sara as been working with groups of students who will demonstrate the technologies and materials that are now a special part of the Maker Space in the Library and STEM Learning Center.  

I was too tired  for blogging about Friday!

Saturday began with a 6:00 AM Zumba Class in the courtyard of the Learning Center. Daphne was out in the crowd right at 6:00. I tried to quietly observe from the porch of the Residence. But Sister Yvonne would have none of that! She told me to get my sneakers and my “play clothes” and get in the action. Since I do not want any demerits from Sister Yvonne, I obeyed. And had a wonderful time. It is great to see the girls exercising with a skilled Zumba leader whom Dean Audace knows from Nyamata. (I made sure I got Sister Yvonne to try a few moves with me!) By the way, Sara and Luladey chose to sleep in on Saturday…

After breakfast, we  had our first trip into Kigali this week. Sister and Kathy Kantengwa wanted us to see the Robotics Program that takes place on Saturday mornings at the new and stunning Public Library in Kigali. Sara, Daphne and I were accompanied by Dean Audace in the MGS van.

The library is an impressive building. (I could not take pictures inside.) I had toured the building with Maureen Reutggers when it was being built. I was happy to see this impressive space with so many people of all ages using computers, reading magazines and a book, relaxing and enjoying a café. The company that offered the classes for young children upstairs and for older children downstairs was a technology education company whose parent company is in Dubai. They are called Futurite. They are working with the Ministry of Education to develop training programs for children, teachers, families in schools across Rwanda.

After visiting the Library, we went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. As many Maranyundo supporters know, it is a quiet place of contemplation that focuses on educating visitors about the unspeakable tragedy of the Genocide against the Tutsis in 1994 and other such tragedies in our modern history.

But my favorite part of the day (other than my survival of Zumba) was the Reunion of the students who had been with me in my May mini-course, Novel Engineering. We read A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park. It is a story based in the true odyssey of Salva Dut. As a young boy, he escaped Sudan in 1985 and eventually came to the United States to be educated as an engineer. He eventually finds a way to get clean water to the village of Nya’s family so she and other girls in her Sudanese village can go to school instead of making the daily day-long walk to a water source that is not always clean.

Teacher Esther joined us for the meeting. I brought a new class set of the novel to give to her. I wanted her to meet with girls who had already read the book to hear what they had learned from the novel engineering approach. I wanted to hear what they remembered from our lessons.

We met in the space overlooking the courtyard in the Library. Teacher Esther joined us for the meeting. I was delighted to learn that they remembered how we began our study of the text by looking at the cover, predicting what the story might be about by noting what the designers wanted to include to interest the reader. They remember studying the map on the first page, looking at the details, what it means to “read a map.” They remembered the frontispiece page and the information a reader can find even before reading. Then the girls talked about how much they enjoyed the class when the teams presented the different projects they had chosen to solve as an engineering problem taken from the text. They were delighted to see how creative and thoughtful each of their classmates were in finding a challenge.

Esther and I then asked the students what lessons they had taken from the text. They were very clear that the story of Nya, a girl who could not go to school, was a situation that needed to be changed. They are proud of their own experience in school and want to make sure they always remember that learning is a very special part of life. They must always remember to use their learning to solve challenges to help all people.

Teacher Esther thanked the girls for expressing so many interesting ideas from A Long Walk to Water. She encouraged them to always remember that “reading literature can put you in touch with other lives so that you learn about people and places throughout the world. She told them challenges are not always going to be solved by “super powers.” Some of the most interesting and helpful solutions will be found by people like them, "women who care about others." The girls want to stay together and talk about the issues raised in a long walk to water. I will give them the Novel Engineering website so they can see other texts they can read and ways to use the stories to find engineering solutions to challenges in the text. Esther asked them to appoint a leader, which they did. I am eager to hear the progress of these novel learners!

Listening to the students talking about what they had earned from the story, I thought about a quote from Teresa Perry in her essay on Freedom for Literacy, Literacy for Freedom. In the chapter she talks about the history of slavery in which it was illegal for African Americans to learn to read. But some slaves persisted . She wrote

“…While learning to read was an individual achievement, it was fundamentally a communal act.…Literacy was not something you kept for yourself; it was to be passed on to others, to the community. Literacy was something to share.”

These students with whom Esther and I spoke today, expressed the essence of this quote in their appreciation for their education. It is how the Rwandan culture approaches education: a way to rise from the depths of the genocide and become a strong, unified people. An educated person actively serves the community. Literacy is an essential part of that education. What we learn from literature and one another, as we encounter new ideas and challenges in the narratives we read, is a literacy that helps to solve problems and ensure a freedom that always keeps us together.

             

Educating the Whole Girl

 

The weather today was as changeable as a New England summer day. We awoke to a deep mist that clung to the banana trees and hedges in the garden. The mist quickly melted to a clear blue sky and delightful sunshine that made watching the morning assembly positively glorious considering March in Boston. An hour later, while we were touring the campus of Gashora, the sky darkened, a quick blustery wind came up and a squall blasted through the campus with strong gusts and torrential rains. As quickly as it had come, it blew away. The sky brightened again and we continued our visit in warm sunshine. Back at Maranyundo, the afternoon waned into a lovely evening…a bright half moon above us, the dear frogs croaking in the garden pond!  

We had been invited to tour Gashora today, to meet with the Dean of Students and her staff who have developed a Pre-College Advising Program similar in scope and content to what Luladey and Daphne have been discussing for Maranyundo. Dean Samantha Bell introduced herself to us as the Dean of Students and Director of Whole Girl Education. She explained that the Gashora administrative team had focused recently on social emotional learning and self care. In fact, one of the reasons she thought the scores of the mid term exams were so strong this term was the fact that the schedule of the day had been altered so that students were able to have eight hours of sleep each night.  Our tour guides, Gashora students who had graduated from Maranyundo, agreed that the extra sleep and attention to self-care and emotional development were changes that were much appreciated!

The importance of educating the whole child is a familiar concept to anyone who has a background in early childhood education. Child Development, as a field, has always been concerned with how the social and emotional context of a child’s life impacts the intellectual and cognitive development.  In the US, the ideas of social emotional learning (SEL) for K-12 students are widely discussed. Massachusetts is one of the first states to require school districts to provide professional development and school time devoted to SEL. The importance of providing emotional support to young people in the places in which they learn new ideas and academics made me think of Perfect, the Matron that is in charge of the dorms. She is charged with the supervision in the dorms, especially throughout the night.

A young Rwandan woman who has trained as a nurse, Perfect speaks earnestly about her responsibilities of caring for the girls in some of their most vulnerable moments. She spoke with us at dinner one evening about how sad some of the girls, especially the youngest students, are when they arrive on campus for the start of the school year. She likes the way the dorms house students of mixed ages and how the model of each student having a “mother” (older student) to guide them is effective in helping the girls become comfortable in the school community.

I told Perfect about a program at Gashora called Girl Talk. Once each term the girls get together with mentors to talk about issues of sexuality and gender equity. Among the topics discussed are physical development, sexual harassment, reproduction facts and relationships. The sessions usually start out with girls being quiet and shy. But eventually, the discussion is animated and eager. They have so many concerns and questions about their adolescent development and becoming competent young women.

Perfect said she has been considering starting a program like that at Maranyundo. She would call the program The Talk. She feels that Rwandan girls, especially, need a space that is safe to talk about issues faced by young women because the younger generation is not always comfortable talking with their parents and families. Young people need opportunities to talk together with young adults who understand the Rwandan culture and history of gender relationships. They need a space in which they can ask questions about the physical changes of adolescence, what is a relationship, how does being “in a relationship” affect responsibilities to each other. How can a young person retain respect for her family and still move forward in society with progressive, feminist ideas. Now, Perfect says, young Rwandans are relying on social media for information about these issues.

It is always important to remember that students are growing and developing their identities and values while they are studying the challenging STEM Combinations. The Maranyundo Community is fortunate to have someone like Perfect to answer their questions, calm their anxieties and make them feel as confident about their developing social-emotional lives as they are about their developing intellect.

Like the weather today, the changes in the stages of our lives can seem dramatic some days!

Classrooms and the Real Lessons Learned

I always enjoy the time I spend in classrooms here at Maranyundo. Today, Teacher Esther’s first period class was learning to read dialogue. Teacher Esther gives her S1 students a lot of opportunities to speak in English. She also gives them opportunities to read and answer thoughtful questions about the themes and ideas in short narratives. The students today read a dialogue about holidays (vacations) and she took the opportunity to have the students share their favorite holiday memories after they had read the dialogue in the text.

The student responses were so  interesting. Some students had had holidays in places like Dubai or a family expedition to explore a desert. Some students had visited relatives in nearby villages, celebrated birthdays or weddings with their community.  The range of backgrounds that the students of MGS represent is evidence of what the Benebikira’s believe is the mission of educating all children. As Sister Juvenal said in one of our Marnaynundo videos,  “rich and poor, we are the same.”

Teacher Esther received each story of a vacation with family and friends with enthusiasm and sincere interest. The students listened respectfully to one another. She created a class culture in which students were able to feel included in this place that respects the background of each of the students.

When I experience a lesson like this, I am reminded of one of one of my favorite quotes about schools that Debbie Meier wrote in a chapter called Community.

“For many, school is the first community in which ‘public judgments’ are made about their place, value, and competence by both peers and those in authority…Workplaces, neighborhoods, and even states and nations are modeled in some ways from our experiences in these earliest communities…[School] is where we learn how public life is lived, where we fit (or don’t) in the pecking order, and how decisions are made, power exerted.”

It is one of the aspects of schooling that I believe we always must remember. Schools and the classrooms n which we encounter not only ideas and lessons about the stuff of the world, but also about who we are and how our ideas and questions are valued. Bringing girls together from many different districts of Rwanda and many different backgrounds is a special opportunity for the girls to learn about themselves and one another. Their teachers are very aware of the fact that these girls will play a role in the future of Rwanda.

This is a lesson I always re-learn and remember when I am at Maranyundo. The classrooms in which we educate our youth are powerful places in the lives of both teachers and their students. “School is where we learn how public life is lived.” And we all have a stake in how schools and classrooms shape our nations, our futures, our globe.

                                                                       

Tuesday: Learning By Doing

Architect Straton came to campus today. He met with Daphne and Sister Juvenal to discuss the particulars of the new project of building housing for teachers at Maranyundo. The idea of ensuring that teachers can find affordable housing in the community in which they teach is an issue that is apparent across the US. Architect Straton assures us it is a conundrum in many places across the globe. The fact that the Benebikira order is meeting this challenge in such a forthright way is evidence that they want to attract and retain talented teachers for the school. What was also positive is that the architect is eager to make sure he has an opportunity to talk with the teachers before the final decisions on design are made. He wants to make sure the housing will be comfortable for a teacher and her family.

Students continued to flock to the Maker Space rooms all day today. While Daphne was occupied with architect pursuits, Sara made headway in loading software on to some laptops and tablets, worked with Teacher Foster, and helped students who have so many ideas about how they would like to work in this new novel space.  Sara feels that one of the things that make Maker Space work so satisfying for students is the fact tat they get to see what they may have learned from a text or a lecture actually implemented. She encountered that today when a student, who had studied gear ratios and such in class worked with a gear gadget that allowed her to see how gear ratios work. It is truly awesome when you can see how something that has been words and an idea, really works…and that it is astonishingly useful!

That reminds me of how abstract much of our learning becomes as we move through the grades. The toys and natural objects that we learned from as young explorers of our surroundings become more and more the theories and ideas that we read about, memorize and believe is true in some way. The interest and engagement that the girls continue to show in seeing ideas at work is an important component of learning in the STEM disciplines.

I had a busy day visiting Teacher Esther’s literature class, working in Luladey’s Pre-College Program and keeping an eye on the Maker Space. I also was able to have a Skype connection with my Senior Capstone Seminar at Tufts this evening. I asked Luladey and Sara to join me. (The students were finishing their study time and heading to dinner. So they could not come.) Luladey and Sara were able to describe their roles at the school and what they had learned being a part of the Maranyundo community. I felt so pleased that I cou01ld share this school experience that means so much to me with my class…even through a Skype call!

I really like the way Sara explains the Maker Space as a learning space to her students. She explains that we are used to learning by listening, reading, and looking.  A Maker Space is a space where we can also learn by doing.

At the end of a busy day at Maranyundo School for Girls, I believe that is very true!

Stories for Monday

Sister decided to cancel the morning Assembly today. The day began with a damp chill in the air and she preferred that the girls begin their day in their classrooms right after breakfast. By the end of the first class period, the sky had cleared, the mist had melted away and the campus was awash in sunshine. We each began our busy day and the theme for the morning was  stories.

I began the day in Teacher Esther’s classroom. Teacher Esther is an English teacher in her first year at MGS. She is Ugandan; she was educated in Literature, English and Education at the same college in Uganda that her colleague Teacher Gilbert attended.  In her lesson today, she was building on her S1 students’ writing skills. So far this term, they had written essays in which they described themselves. They had written other pieces that were descriptive in nature. Today she asked them to write on a very different topic: The Bank Robbery. She encouraged them be expressive. If a character was afraid, “Show me; don’t tell me. Let me know what a person does when she is afraid.” The students wrote earnestly; and when they felt finished, they could meet with Teacher Esther to have a Writer’s Conference to edit their writing.

It was a productive lesson. Each girl wrote a different story, expressing different perspectives on a robbery. From robbery as a social problem, to a brave aunty who stood up bravely to a brazen robber, the stories demonstrated creativity and an interesting thought process. Teacher Esther is a teacher who encourages her students with thoughtful feedback. She expresses appreciation for their efforts to write stories that  appeal to their peers.  Near the end of class, she asked for a few volunteers to read their stories to the class. Each version of the bank heist was applauded in appreciation.

Daphne visited with Teacher Luladey’s Pre-College Program class. Teacher Luladey had asked her students to prepare a 5 minute presentation on something that they felt was very important, something that meant a great deal to them. She asked them to be aware of their audience, their voices and how well they gave their message to be clearly understood. The topics the girls chose ranged from God, to Motherhood to one students presentation on appreciating her  watch because of the importance of keeping time. Daphne enjoyed the presentations and the poise and confidence that the students displayed.

The other story of the day has to include the increasing number of girls who find their way over to the Maker Space and Sara’s work. Sara believes she saw 100 girls today…all finding time in their free time to visit the materials that now are housed in both the first and second floors of the Library and STEM Building. In between working with teachers and testing materials, Sara introduced students to the stuff. They listen so intently to her explanations and then enthusiastically build with LEGOs, and experiment with the Stop Action camera and so on. They quickly come up with their own ideas of how materials can be used.

Sister Juvenal was eager to try her hand at the 3-D printer. What did she create? A whistle…a modestly sized, dove-grey whistle that she promptly put in her pocket. She shows it off with great delight. A useful accessory for a head of school!

So there are many stories for Monday that has morphed into  Tuesday as I finish writing this text. I am sitting  in the soft early morning light on the veranda of  the Residence. As I was sitting here, I saw the several workers who come very early in the morning to clean the stone entrances of the Administration Building and the STEM building, prune hedges and plants, weed the walkways, water the greenery, fix breakfasts. Many are women. They work hard to keep this campus looking orderly, peaceful, cared for. We must include them in the story of how well the Maranyundo School operates and serves the needs of its students, teachers and administrators.

The people who care for us and our surroundings are always an important story we must remember.

Arrival and Sunday: A Day of Beginnings

Arrival in Rwanda always strikes a familiar chord within me. The KLM airliner arrives at the gate. The usual shuffling, gathering and jockeying for position to exit the plane occurs. Then we all move towards the door and the metal stairs that lead to the tarmac. But it is always the feeling of that velvety darkness and the fragrant night air that seems to greet me for the first time. It is a feeling of being enveloped in a very different atmosphere than the one I left behind in Early March Boston. It is the warmth of the welcome of Rwanda that always pleases me.

The welcoming continued as we met Sister Juvenal and Company after customs and drove through the night to the school. The Sisters had prepared a supper for us and it was delightful to catch up with the news of the school and the congregation. Equally delightful was settling into our rooms and falling asleep to the lullabies provided by the croaking frogs in the garden pond.

Sunday morning began with the opportunity to hear the girls’ choir sing at the Mass in the local Nyamata church. There are so many schools in the area now that the church has added a special Mass for young people as the second service on Sundays. The church was filled. As neighbors arrived after all of the seats were filled, a custodian came with extra seats…a frame like a bench with a plank to lay across to accommodate several parishioners. I am reminded of the resourcefulness of the Rwandan people even in the church! The MGS choir was impressive. From the first sounds of their voices welcoming the worshipers, it was literally divine to hear them. They offered up their Kyrie with grace. I was so pleased that this was the first glimpse that Sara had of the MGS students. Their clear voices raised to bring joy and meaning to the community.

Returning to campus we toured the campus to give Sara her first look (in daylight) of the site. It is impressive to tour the campus with someone who is seeing the construction, the planning, the plantings for the first time. There is something enduring about a place where young people are engaged in learning. Of course, one hopes the resources and pedagogy of a school are always being updated to keep up with the needs of the community. But there should also be something that stays the course. When Sara set up the Maker Space in the majestic Library and STEM Learning Center this quiet Sunday afternoon, I saw what is certainly essential at Maranyundo Girls School.

Seven girls that Sister asked the Academic Prefect (an S6 student) to ask, helped Sara lug tables, open boxes of STEM stuff, and set some materials in place in a space in the first floor of the STEM building. It did not take long to the girls to start exploring the stuff and working together. Sara gave them basic instructions and the girls worked together to explore what the COZMO robot could do, what story the LEGOS could be fashioned to tell, how the Stop Action camera could record the story of the forest that turned into a sea. All throughout the exploring, building, creating, re-fashioning there were the sound of creators talking, questioning, negotiating. There was laughter, wows of surprise, even singing as the work progressed. The relationships that were evident in this enterprise…the I, Thou and It of David Hawkins, the Wild Triangle of McDonald…is what I see as enduring in this place. Students and teacher in relationship, students relating to one another over interesting stuff and ideas, and students relating to the content embedded in these materials. The sense of community and helping one another to achieve their ideas that Sister Juvenal has so clearly embraced as the purpose of learning at this school is clearly evident in the Maker Space today. The first day.

(I just heard Sara ask her helpers, “If I had some drop-in hours in this space do you think your friends would come? “ “O yes,” responded the group.” “And if I asked your teachers to come?” “O, yes; please” was the response.)

My goodness…I guess this Sunday is a day of beginnings as well as a day to identify the enduring. A productive first day!