In Conversations

 

June 27 2023

Tuesday

 

“The nightingale will run out of songs before a woman runs out of conversation.” ~ Spanish Proverb

 

Today was a day of compelling conversations. For the past few days Joni and I have been meeting with the Writers Group in individual and small group sessions discussing the first drafts of their essays. Each student will make some revisions to their drafts, submit a final draft to us. Sister Laetitia has scheduled our last meeting with the group for Friday afternoon. Then we will give each student a stapled collection of all their essays, a record of the work that the students have done reflecting and writing about a lesson they have learned at MGS and what that lesson has taught them about their studies and themselves.

 

So today was a day for meetings and conversations that aways teach me so much about all that people learn in their interactions with this remarkable school.

 

This morning we met with Olivia, the recently hired college counselor and Tony, director of a resource center for students in Kigali. Rwanda is making strides to provide counseling that gives students graduating from secondary schools the tools they need to apply for post-secondary experiences. Sister Laetitia has done a great deal of research to develop resources that will enable students to have a variety of ways to consider what they want to do and how they can “explore their dreams” as Olivia describes her new position.

 

After that conversation, we met with Pascal and Noella, Tufts PEBL interns, to hear about their travels to the maker spaces around the district.  They have been writing stories of what they have seen, impressed by the “amazing creativity” demonstrated by the students in the Novel Engineering projects they have created, especially in the primary and middle school spaces. They also have been continuing to mentor the secondary teachers and students who have been using Arduino to create their projects for the PEBL event on Saturday.

 

When Joni asked Noella what she thought about being in those spaces and watching the students work together, she commented that watching the students problem solve and create reminded her of her own play when she was younger. “It reminded me of the spark I felt as a young learner making things and doing things in our play. Observing the making helped me to get back to that wonderful curiosity and trying things to see what I could do; what would work. Observing in the maker space, I remembered how that spirit felt. Watching students problem solve together, I felt that spirit and joy come out again…”

 

Noella really enjoyed the chance to watch primary and middle school aged students work together and build with re-cycle material…things that are often considered trash.

 

When Pascal shared his experience, he spoke about how much he enjoyed working with the teachers to help them gain confidence with Arduino. “Teaching the teachers about Arduino I was remembering a time in high school when our physics teacher left mid-year. The students in my class got together and we each took a lesson from the syllabus, researched it and planned to teach it. I really liked that opportunity to help my classmates learn. I felt that same feeling when helping the teachers understand and do new things with the Arduino set. I think I felt a little spark that reminded me I enjoy teaching others. It is a special feeling.”

 

 

Exams end at 3:00 PM and students have some exercise and free time before prepping for tomorrow’s exams. Joni and I were invited to meet with Victoire (the Head Girl) Sandra (the Assistant Head Girl) and Davida (the Head Girl for Discipline. We met upstairs in the STEM Building. It was a terrific conversation, a privilege to hear from these students who have had leadership roles in the school this year. In December, these girls had taken us on a tour of the campus and we wanted to see what they are thinking as graduation is just a few weeks away.

 

Sandra is interested in cyber security. She is fascinated by the power of computers and how they will change our futures. Davida is leaning towards Community Health and psychology; perhaps creating a community space for young mothers and their children who need safe spaces to grow and learn. Victoire is interested in careers in medicine and how NGOs can nurture community empowerment. After National Exams are finished in early August, MGS will have a Boot Camp for choosing post-secondary paths. These three girls will attend that and they also plan to find an internship for a gap year experience.

 

We were still talking as the afternoon light began to mellow. They are so thoughtful about what being students at MGS has given them, as well as what the leadership roles they have played has taught them. They are such poised and confident young women with dreams that combine their interest on academic subjects and commitment to their nation. (I told them that in many ways they had already chosen their Mission that ALU requires. ) I also find that when I was in conversation with these three students, as well as when I am reading the essays that students have written on their learning here, I think about way Senator Aloisea Inyumba described how Rwanda women were all “products of the grassroots women” who are the ancestors who remind us all that women are a “positive force” in nationhood. In these conversations today it is a powerful acknowledgement that the legacy of Inyumba and so many other women leaders in this country is reflected in the learning and ambitions of the students at MGS.

 

“Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

 

Linda V Beardsley

Extending the MGS Vision

 

Friday

June 23, 2023

 

 

Sister Laetitia wanted Joni and me to visit the new Residence for Retired Benebikira Sisters that has been built in the Kabuga section of Kigali. Sister Laetitia is truly concerned with the ideal of life long learning. She is concerned that the Sisters who have given so much to the youth and villages of this country be able to have a retirement that includes opportunities to enjoy activities that include hand work, exercise and  interaction with younger generations. She truly believes that there must be activities they can accomplish regardless of their physical frailty.

 

Sister Marta, who used to work with many of the current retirees in a previous facility, accompanied us on the drive to Kabuga. The Kabuga section of Kigall is busy. The road leading to the center is lined with industrial buildings that are part of the economic development zone of manufacturing . There is a bustling market section that leads to the Residence. the Residence is a collection of apartments, a heath center, a church and small chapel as well as outdoor common spaces and a series of gardens and neat walkways. It feels like a place of serenity compared to the activity beyond its gates.

 

Our first stop was to visit Sister Ann, who along with Senator Aloisea Inyumba began the initiative that brought the Boston women together to build the school for girls that the Senator envisioned. Sister Ann, who had been a visitor in Save with the Benebikiras in recent years is now living in the Retirement Residence. Joni and I spent 2 hours in conversation with Sister. For Joni it was a wonderful opportunity to hear Sister Ann’s recounting of the Women Waging Peace Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School where the women from Rwanda met the women from Boston. (Of course, I never tire of hearing the story of the first years of the quest to build a school in Rwanda and the beginnings of the Maranyundo Initiative!) Sister Ann is generous in her sharing of the history and very thoughtful about the current state of the school and the promising future it has to continue to promote girls STEM education in the region.

 

After visiting with Sister Ann, the Benebikira Sisters invited us to their dining hall to share lunch. They welcomed us warmly as we entered the room. We went around the table greeting each Sister, including two of the residents who are over 100 years old! They appeared spirited and comfortable greeting us and sharing conversation and a meal.

 

 

The headmistress asked the residents to indicate what they enjoy dong during the day.

We learned about the activities in which many of the elderly Sisters are involved:

helping prepare meals by preparing vegetables, exercise sessions, crocheting, sharing stories  

singing and music. The Sisters expressed interest in these and other craft and social activities. It was clear to me that these Sisters have much to offer each other as well as to others.

 

As a result of our visit, Joni and I  suggested  to Sister Laetitia  a project that could provide joy and accomplishment to the Sisters. We are suggesting that a Maker Space be developed at the Sisters’ retirement home. This could be an area in a common space and/or materials on a cart that can be accessed in inside and outside spaces in which the Sisters spend their time. We are suggesting that this Maker Space can be designated as a space that the Sisters can spend time “making” using yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, thread, beads, etc. These activities build upon the Sisters’ interests and talents and serve as opportunities for engagement and social connections.

 

“Making” is an activity involving design and construction of products that are meaningful to the individual. For the Sisters, activities that are meaningful, enjoyable and benefit their mind and body would be helpful. Sometimes these activities may be a comfort because they reflect personal experiences in their past. At other times, these activities may provide a novel experience to stimulate their interests in something new. Research in learning by making underscores the power that providing opportunities for intertest-driven activities to maintain mental and physical strength.

 

A Maker Space at this Residence could also provide opportunities for intergenerational collaboration which can provide many beneficial outcomes for people of all ages. Inter-generational activities allow older and younger people to feel cared for and valued. Research shows that inter-generational programs increase feelings of well-being for older and younger people. Friendships between older and younger people make communities stronger. Playful learning and “making” creates these multi-generational opportunities. Joni and I suggested to Sister Laetitia that a Pilot Program could be started  in inter-generational “making.” This could begin with developing a partnership between the Retirement Home and MGS. Several clubs (i.e. Art & Design, Entrepreneurial, Sports, Choir, Writing, and Maker Space, et al) at MGS could be identified to help develop this project with the Sisters at RH.

 

Joni and I summed up our Kabuga outing to Sister Laetitia with this conclusion in our report:

“As the Rwandan education community is beginning to learn about the advantages of Making in educational settings, one important group of makers and learners that should join this movement is the elderly people in our communities. We have seen that young people learn and enjoy new pursuits while working together in Maker Spaces. Intergenerational projects have been shown to help make communities stronger. We believe that finding ways for the Retired Benebikira Sisters to enjoy making and sharing this process with younger people will continue the strong community building that is the essence of the Benebikira Order.”

 

I certainly don’t pretend to know if Aloisea Inyumba and Sister Ann envisioned the girls school in Nyamata having an influence on the retirement of Benebikira Sisters. But surely the vision that became the Maranyundo Girls School was dedicated to creating community and lifelong learners. A Maker Space at Kabuga can extend that vision to these noble, gracious women.

 

Linda V Beardsley

 

 

 

Declaring a Mission and a Major

 

Wednesday

June 21, 2023

 

 

On Monday when we were in Kigali with Sister Laetitia, she wanted Joni and me to have a chance to catch up with Leslie ISARO. Those of you who have followed this blog will recognize Leslie’s name. She graduated from MGS in  2021. This is what I wrote about Leslie on December 11, 2022 when she visited us in the Residence.

 

Leslie is a 2021 graduate of MGS.  Leslie had been the Maker Space Prefect on campus. She told a wonderful story of watching the first days of the Maker Space and wondering if it was a space for her. She said, “I was not doing well in my classes then. But once I began working in the Maker Space and I began to understand the elements of making robotics, my grades improved dramatically. I suddenly saw why I had to learn math, what scientific principles were important. Making robots made my learning make sense.”

 Leslie is currently working with a group called Rwandan Water Access. Run by a woman, the business provides water at reasonable rates to needy families. She is applying to college for engineering.  She wants to continue to work with students in the Maker Space. She even went to the robotics competition on Saturday to cheer on the team that won first place…her current MGS, 

S5 and S6 colleagues.

 

Sister contacted Leslie and we arranged to meet in a lovely dining area of the hotel in Kigali that is run by the archdiocese of Kigali. The profits of this charming space are used to fund projects for the Catholic congregations.

 

Catching up with Leslie meant asking her about her decision to attend the African Leadership University which has a site in Kigali. She had been accepted early in 2023 and had just began her studies in a semester that began in May. She was very happy with her choice of university experience. She described why ALU appealed to her after her MGS and internship experiences.

The founder of ALU is Fred Swaniker. Mr. Swaniker (you can catch him on TEDTalks and YouTube) experienced his youth being constantly uprooted with his family to escape political turmoil. Born in Ghana, by the time he was ready for university studies, he had lived in 10 African countries. He went to Macalester College in the US, earning a degree in economics. He came back to his home in Botswana, taught and became Headmaster of a school where he came to believe in the power of education to create leaders who would stabilize Africa. He earned an MBA at Stanford and began his work to inspire young people to devote their talents and promise to building a strong Africa. 

 

One of the aspects of ALU that attracted Leslie was the way the school asks students to declare a Mission as well as a Major. I found this fascinating. Leslie was spending the first term of her studies learning about her continent. She is learning about the 7 great challenges that African nations face (urbanization, education infrastructure, healthcare, climate change., governance, job creation),and how the 54 nations are facing these challenges. She said that she was excited to be learning more about all of Africa and how Rwanda’s challenges are also reflected in the challenges other nations are facing.

 

She is also learning about the 7 great opportunities that problem solving in these challenges, can create: Agriculture; natural resources; Arts, culture, and design;

Tourism; Women empowerment; regional integration; wildlife conservation. The purpose of beginning their studies learning of these challenges and opportunities is to encourage students to declare a Mission, an area in which they want to work and use their knowledge. For Leslie, her internship with Water Access Rwanda has made her want to have working in water resources for Rwandans as her mission. As Mr. Swaniker believes, a university education would inspire you to find a purpose for your life, a Mission in which you can use your knowledge to create a strong nation.

 

Leslie explained that once a student at ALU has chosen a Mission, the academic portion of their studies begins. There are two degrees offered at ALU: BS in Entrepreneurial Leadership and BS in Software Engineering. From her experiences with the Maker Space, and her internship, she wants to pursue the BSE and learn how computer engineering can contribute to her career in Water Resource Management. How it can contribute to her becoming a leader in the field.

As Leslie spoke with us, it was easy to see her commitment, her excitement. Declaring a Mission as well as a Major appealed to what she had learned about learning in the Maker Space at MGS. For Leslie, she needs to know that what she is learning in the academic sphere makes sense in the practical sphere. She is adamant that what she pursues academically has a practical application in the real world. It can help her solve a challenge that impacts the quality of life. As she spoke, I was reminded of this quote from Mike Rose in Why School?

 

“A good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it. “

 

There is no doubt that higher education in the USA is under scrutiny from many vantage points. Even as we await the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action, there are many issues that need discussion across all institutions. What is the value of the traditional college education? What is it worth? What are the majors that promise a good salary? Perhaps we should carefully consider what has attracted Leslie to ALU. What would it mean if all post-secondary education challenged our youth to declare a Mission as well as a Major? As described in the ALU website, this approach asks students to “discover your life’s purpose and align your learning with this purpose.”

 

Or as Mike Rose reminds us: “A good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it. “

 

Linda V Beardsley

Preparing for Exams as Community Building

 

 

 Monday

June 19, 2023

 

I think I shall be thinking about the events and conversations of this first day of the work week at MGS for a very long time. I will remember the warm, sultry weather, the ride to Kigali and seeing the bustle of Nyamata, the traffic jams in the city, the pleasant conversation along the way. I will remember it all for its richness, the way it seeps into my understanding of education, changing ever so quietly my understanding of its meaning to our future. So I won’t be able to capture it all here, in this entry. But, believe me, there will be more to say!

 

For me, the conversations one can have on the road to Kigali are always terrific. This trip, Sister Laetitia told us about how she has set up the study routine to prepare the girls for their exams. (Which begin tomorrow!) She described what she calls the “importance of studying with discussion.” The study time from 6:00 – 7:00 is “silent prep.” The students read quietly or do the exercises or work sheets their teachers have provided. The students have a meal. Then from 7:30 – 8:30 the students have “discussion based prep.” They can ask questions of one another about a tricky math problem, a complicated biology unit, a vocabulary word that is new to them. Students who understand a concept seek out and help a student who needs more information. For Sister, this discussion prep is essential. Not only to help all the girls do well on exams, but to underscore the idea that we are educated together, to be a community, to help one another. Learning is not a competitive sport; it is a time to share, to take responsibility not only for our own achievement, but to contribute to the learning of others. 

 

A Rwandan ideal of education. Different than our Western notion of education as an individual achievement alone. Respect, Responsibility and Leadership in action preparing for exams!

 

SOLA

 

My former student, Ellie Murphy (Tufts IR, 2022), is currently teaching at the SOLA School in Kigali. Rwanda was a nation that invited Afghan girls who could not continue their education under the Taliban to continue to study in Rwanda. SOLA, (the School of Leadership for Afghanistan) accepted the invitation. The founder,  Shabana Basij-Rasikh, met with Sister Laetitia twice before deciding to accept President Kagame’s invitation.

 

At the SOLA gate. Ellie met us and took us through the site. Throughout the tour we met students who were studying for their exams in outdoor spaces and the library. They seemed happy, proud of their opportunity to study and learn.

 

It is hard to truly grasp what this learning space means from my Western, privileged perspective. On one side of the building there is a mural a local artist helped the girls design. It is a woman in traditional Afghan dress, dancing , free, joyful. Above her head are butterflies, fluttering and free, in the colors of the Rwandan flag. One of the classic Ira Shor chapters I read each year before classes begin  is Education Is Politics. Reading it this morning, I found this passage:

 

“No curriculum can be neutral. All forms of education are political because they can enable or inhibit the questioning habits of students, thus developing or disabling their critical relation to knowledge, schooling and society…”

 

Written in 1994, I assume Shor did not have the Taliban treatment of girls education in mind. (Although Joni and I watched Charlie Wilson’s War on Netflix last night which shows the US covert involvement in Afghanistan  began in the 1970s. Charlie wanted money to build a school after the Russians left but Congress did not agree.). But the idea that education and politics, two very powerful influences on our identity as nations, are inextricably connected. 

Today I visited SOLA and saw girls pursuing learning in exile. I wonder if there is a cautionary tale there for me, for all of us, now and in the future…

Linda V Beardsley

 

 

Arrivals, Visits and Departures

 

June 18, 2023

Sunday

 

 

Weekends are often times for visits and socializing. In so many ways, what I most look forward to on my visits to MGS is having a chance to visit with the many wonderful colleagues to whom the initiative has connected me. This time, I am realizing that the Maker Space and the PEBL project have created another whole set of colleagues that have also become good friends. This weekend was a time to enjoy those connections.

 

On Saturday, Clementine’s little one, Linda, celebrated her first birthday. Clementine invited Joni, Kaelen and I to the festivities. It was such fun to visit the faculty housing apartment where Clementine, her husband Pierre live. Linda was well celebrated at her party!

 

 

On Sunday, Djamila Kamisi, her husband and baby girl came to visit us at MGS! Djamila’s daughter is named IMPANO (gift in Kinyawanda) Lemuela (gift from God.)Besides having time to talk about the remarkable progress of Djamila’s work with the PEBL project, we had a chance to get to know that sweet lively little Lemuela who was born in January 24. 

 

Getting to know these young professionals and their little ones is a special privilege for me. Clementine and Pierre, Djamila and her husband represent the commitment and dedication the nation needs to rebuild a strong nation. Each of them feel that they are involved in careers and projects that allow them to contribute their skills to build a peaceful, prosperous future for their nation (and, of course, for their children.) Pierre speaks confidently about his work with an state run agricultural group. Djamila’s husband believes strongly in the work he does with the Rwandan foreign service. Both Clementine and Djamila feel fortunate to be involved in work that encourages young people to develop their STEM skills. They also believe that the work of the PEBL project and the work of Maker Spaces will have a significant impact education here in Rwanda. As Dr. Brian Gravel writes in his latest research paper on Maker Space research,  educators here are seeing  “how making can transform STEM learning experiences for students. “

Like Clementine and Djamila, educators in Rwanda believe that making and its cultural traditions and innovation here can influence education from early learning through secondary school. Making also connects well to the entrepreneurial courses that Rwandan schools offer.  Young, educated Rwandan women like Clementine and Djamila, and like the students here at Maranyundo aspire to be, seem to me to reflect the future of this hopeful nation.

One more event this weekend. It was time for Kaelen to leave MGS and return to her commitments at home. On Saturday evening, the Sisters gave her a Rwandan outfit that they had purchased in a shop in Nyamata. The green jacket and stylish red dress promise to be interesting additions  to her wardrobe! Sister Laetitia is hoping she will come back to MGS soon to model her “new look” right here in Nyamata.

On Sunday, Sister Janviere, Joni and I took Kaelen to the airport and watched her stride up the departure ramp and wave good bye.

I hope she will return some day soon…                                                  Linda V Beardsley

                                                               

A Saturday Session: Sharing Stories

 

Saturday

June 17, 2023

 

 

If you are someone who has followed this blog in the past, you know that Saturdays on the MGS campus are  varied yet focused on taking care of the campus. The students clean their classrooms, tend the plants and garden, do their laundry all the while singing and laughing with one another. And, of course, they also have scheduled study time, especially when they are preparing for the final exams of the term.

 

This afternoon, Joni, Kaelen and I had our third writers group. Joni and I weren’t too sure what could be accomplished or whether the students would have had the time to write a response to our first prompt which was essentially Michelle Obama’s quote about the importance of sharing our own stories with one another.

 

“Even when it is not pretty or perfect. Even when its more real that you want it to be. Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

 

To our delight, everyone had written something in response to the ideas we had talked about on Thursday. Everyone was looking forward to sharing something with a partner.

 

We asked each student to quietly read their writing and underline a favorite sentence or paragraph. Then they each chose a partner and found a spot around the campus to share their chosen passage. The listener/reviewer could ask one clarifying question of the author and also share something that they liked about the writer’s work. They went to work quickly!

 

When we reconvened in the large group, students volunteered to share their sharing time experience. Encouraged to speak in clear voices so that everyone in the big room could hear, I was very impressed by their sharing. Joni appreciated how each student felt they could “feel the emotion my writer was saying.” She heard them commenting that they “enjoyed reading each other’s writing. “I like the fact my writer wrote things that I have been thinking…things I did not write this time but may try next time.”

 

 

Clearly writing is something very powerful for these students. One can see that the emphasis that Sister Juvenal and Sister Laetitia have placed on strengthening a culture of reading and writing has influenced these beginning writers. They have been eager to participate in our project. They are thriving on sharing with one another. They are taking the process seriously, even thinking ahead to what can I write next? Can I be published? Joni and I are encouraging them to slow down the dreaming!

 

At the close of this lively session, we gave the girls a version of the prompt I give my Tufts students in my course The Role of Story in Education. I’ve taken to idea from the the words of James Redfield, “the aims of education are the aims of life; education is simply a general term we use for the process by which we become wiser than we were.”

 

Think about a time you learned a lesson in which you became a wiser person than you were before that lesson. You may have learned how to solve a mathematical equation but also think about what you learned about yourself as a learner. How did this lesson help you understand how you are becoming an educated young woman

 

Before the dinner bell rang, the girls already had ideas to share! I am sure we will be delighted by the stories they can share next time.

 

 

 Linda V Beardsley

Sunset Meditation

June 16, 2023

Friday

I had forgotten how meditative the sunsets in Rwanda can be.

Today was a day to take time to review what we had accomplished this first week of being at MGS. It was also a day of making new connections and re-visiting our objectives for this time. So the day was productive, busy; lots of talk and discussion. But as the day progressed and we took time to watch the students enjoying their club time and sports after classes ended, we saw the sun beginning to set and the sky becoming gentle and pastel. It seems as though the natural order of the day. Is reminding us that with all that goes on at a school in the course of a busy day, there is a deeper meaning to all that school activity. We need to remember to acknowledge that and let that deeper meaning guide us.

Joni is a natural networker. A Master Connector. A few weeks ago, she had contacted a publisher in Kigali to tell her of the project we hoped to work on when we arrived in Rwanda. The PEBL project is eager to capture the stories of what the Maker Space work has meant to the teachers and their students. What does it mean to play with ideas, to tinker with materials, to find challenges to address with new approaches.; to work in teams because (as the MGS Maker Space Motto declares: “None of us is as smart as all of us!” Now that we were in Nyamata, Joni arranged for Sister Laetitia and I to join a zoom call with Mutesi Gasana of Umbuto Publishing.

While we waited for Sister to finish an earlier meeting and join us in the zoom space, Joni and I had time to get acquainted with Ms. Gasana who likes to be called Tesi. Tesi told us that she had followed the story of the Maranyundo Girls School since hearing of the work of Senator Aloisea Inyumba when she was a young girl in Rwanda. In fact, she hopes some day  to write a biography of the senator. She is familiar with Swanee Hunt’s book about Rwandan women and their role in rebuilding the nation. But she wants to update the story of Inyumba because her impact on so many women and men in contemporary Rwanda continues to shape the future of the country.

When Sister joined us, Tesi talked about the platform called Magic Thursdays which Ubuntu had developed during COVID that brought students together on zoom. In that space,  teens met each Thursday to have a chance to talk about topics that were on their minds. Girls from Maranyundo, New Vision and other Bugasera schools participated. Tesi said she learned a great deal about how important it was to listen to the girls; how vital their perspectives. A video called Refugee is Not My Name was the result of the group hearing the story from a girl who had recently arrived from Burundi. (It reminded me a great deal of the novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon describing the experience of a student in the METCO program.)

As a result of this terrific conversation, Sister has invited Tesi and her staff to plan a writing and editing workshop for the Maranyundo Writers Club before school begins in September. Joni and I will continue with our writers as they write about something they have learned that continues to impact their “becoming” educated young women. (We continue to use that idea of becoming from Michelle Obama.) They will have those essays and perhaps other writing to use when they begin the editing workshop in September.

So at the end of the day, as the light mellowed and I watched Kaelen enjoy basketball with the MGS team, I thought about how I am always learning how the story of the Maranyundo Girls School continues to unfold for me. I continue to learn about the school and the influence it has on the educators and students who are here every day. I continue to learn about how the story impacts people across the area. After 15 years of coming to participate in its development, I sincerely believe that the story and impact of this place has only just begun.

P.S. The girls cajoled me into taking a few shots at the close of b’ball practice. After several awkward tries, they cheered as my ball (miraculously)  went through the hoop!

And the sun disappeared in that pastel sky…

 

                                                 

 

 

 

The Aegis Foundation: Education as Hope

 

June 15, 2023

Thursday

Each time I come to Rwanda I think it is important to visit the Genocide Memorial. Besides being an exceptional site of peace, commemoration and healing for the Rwandans, it is an international site, providing a sense that the genocide against the Tutsis is only one example of genocide and violence that plagues our global history. I always hear the docent’s intro, describing the support of the Aegis Foundation, but I never took the time to learn more about that foundation which, like Facing History and Ourselves, is dedicated to helping us all learn from the difficult times of history so we do not ever repeat those mistakes.

So, I did something I should have done ages ago. I “visited” the Aegis website to learn more about how they are using their resources and the collection at the Memorial to educate Rwandan and the international community on the situations that end in the horror genocide begin and develop. They also educate communities on how each of us has the responsibility to be watchful of the ways societies can become violent.

Here is the introductory text that describes the Rwanda Peace Education program that was piloted in 2008.

“Peace education started as a pilot in 2008 at Kigali Genocide Memorial. A participatory and interactive methodology, where participants learn by doing, is central to Aegis’ peace education programme. In 2013-16 the programme expanded to cover 22 districts, through the Aegis-led Rwanda Peace Education Programme (RPEP) and the Genocide Research and Reconciliation Programme (GRRP). Programme partners included USC Shoah Foundation, Radio la Benevolencija and the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP).”

“In 2014, the Rwanda Education Board announced inclusion of peace and values education as a cross-cutting subject in Rwanda’s new national curriculum.”

When one considers that 60% of the Rwandan population is under 24, that these youth were born after the Genocide against the Tutsis, it provides a lens for thinking about how young people should be learning about this time in their nation that has affected every aspect of the culture. Young people do not necessarily know the history of what led up to the tragedy. Aegis has developed curriculum for a number of constituencies besides school aged students and they conduct careful research to determine if teacher training and curriculum written specifically to provide information about genocide is effective. It also wants to study the impact of clear indications of how each of us is responsible for maintaining peace.

 

Here are two examples of programs Aegis has developed to educate constituencies beyond school aged students:

 

The Wharton School of Business from U Penn.

 

In partnership with this well-known business school, the Aegis folks have developed workshops for business students on how violence deeply effects economic aspects of society. Wharton students visit Rwanda and the Memorial each spring.  In May 2023, the Wharton students were taking part in the school’s “intensive short course, ‘Conflict, Leadership and Change, Lessons from Rwanda’,” The business students feel they benefit directly from the story Rwandans can tell about how economic policies create conditions for unrest and “othering.” They emerge impressed with the way the Aegis developers have created a place that tells a heavy history like that of genocide while at the same time as being a place that teaches hopeful lessons for the future.

 

A Workshop on” Peace in the Home” for parents;

 

Besides reaching out to people who are studying to be leaders in business and finance, the Aegis curriculum develops workshops that educate families to recognize that the culture of a family is a place where young people first encounter strategies for identifying fairness, how to have conversations about sensitive subjects, how to share with one another. It also is a place where children learn about relationships among genders and age group and whether they are based in respect and honesty. The also learn about authority and how it can establish for fairness.

 

Describing the workshops for parents, Aegis explains, “Through an exchange of experiences, the parents discover a common challenge when it comes to discussing issues related to the genocide with their children. Negative stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination were recognized as problems that can still occur today among young people, as children pick up attitudes from adults.” Through a series of exercise the parents learn that the attitudes, tones of voice, how we listen to one another are ways we teach children the first lessons of social justice.

 

I know my Tufts students role their eyes now whenever they hear me say that my favorite mantra about the role of education in our communities is from Debbie Meier. “School is where we learn how public life is lived…” I thought about that as I read the Aegis stuff and thought about my determination to take Kaelen to the Memorial, and my developing understanding of how Rwandans see the role of education in their healing process. School is where we all should learn to be in community with one another, face our challenges and see the responsibility that education brings to each of us. The public life  that MGS students are learning is a life framed by Respect, Responsibility and Leadership. It is the public life that Aegis believes will heal a nation and the globe.  Education as Hope, I guess.

 

Linda V Beardsley

A Day in Kigali

 

June 14, 2023

Wednesday

 

A Day in Kigali

 

Today’s blog entry focuses on pictures of a day in Kigali. Joni, Kaelen and I left the MGS campus at 9:00 to meet Sister Juvenal at the Benebikira Residence in Kigali. The MGS campus was already abuzz with excitement and preparations for the Confirmation ceremony that was to be held for the students were being confirmed as adults in the catholic Faith. the Cardinal was coming to preside over the ceremony. I knew there would be joy and many stories when we returned from a day in the city.

 

Arriving at the Residence, Sister Juvenal greeted us and after a brief fragrant tour of the bakery that bakes the bread for several schools including MGS, we were off to re-visit the Notre Dame de Anges where the primary school teachers whom we trained in Novel Engineering in December have been developing their maker space. They have taken such pride in creating a space in which students are mindful of making that re-uses materials, reduces waste,  

The structures and decorations that the students are making all demonstrate ways to solve climate change by building homes that save water and energy or use scraps and stuff that we might think have no use, thus filling land fills. The teachers also showed us the exhibit the students are preparing for June 24. It is in praise of trees to clean the air around us.

After leaving Notre Dame, Sister Juvenal took us to the FAWE school in Kigali that is administered by the Benebikira Order. There are 840 girls enrolled from all over the country. They had been given a LEGO robotics by the Ministry of Education and they shared with us a demonstration they had done the day before for a conference at the Serena Hotel. Sister Eugenie, the headmistress called them out of class to share with us! They had very little notice of their task yet they were poised and through in explaining how they woould make fuel to power cars cleaner.

After lunch with the Sisters, we said good bye and took Kaelen to see the Genocide against the Tutsis Memorial. The Memorial tells the story not only of the 1994 tragedy here in Rwanda but about how genocide continues to haunt our human experience. It is a moving and necessary story to understand when considering how Rwanda is re-building its nation and believes that education of all students is essential for peace. The Memorial reminds us that each of us has a role to play  in creating a peaceful world.It was a solemn, but hopeful ending to a busy day in the Kigali.

It meant  a great deal to me to share that experience with my grand-daughter, Kaelen. It is her generation that will have the next opportunity to make the world a place of peace and social justice.

Amahoro, Linda V Beardsley

 

Pencil or Pen? Or Basketball? How Does a Poet Decide?

 

 

 

 

Tuesday

June 13, 2023

 

 

Today, Joni and I planned to meet with the students in the Writing Group in “office hours” to have conversations about ideas they had for writing a story. Sister has given us a space on the second floor of the STEM building to use as a space for these conversations. Throughout the afternoon, when students had a space in their schedule, they came to clarify questions and even share something they had already written. It was a very busy afternoon! It also seemed to me to be a special gift to be able to have such lovely conversations with these writers from across the grade levels at the school and learn how they understand the power of story.  

 

It turned out there were several girls who want to try to shape their story through a poem. At one point, 4 students and I had a “poetry corner” in our office space where we talked about how poetry can be such an intriguing written form; how it can allow a writer to express emotion well. One student brought her paper journal in which she is aways using her pencil to write poems that reflect her experiences. She read one to our group was called The Pencil. In the poem she contrasted the “humble pencil” which is given to young people to begin writing with the pen that often becomes the sign of being “grown up,” perched in a pocket signifying authority even. For her, the pencil allowed one to make a mistake and erase it, easily, leaving a space for a new word or idea. But the pen signified a profession (architect, doctor, teacher, scientist) who may have little room  to make a “mistake.” When you try to cross out an error with a pen…it can be messy.

 

The poets in the Poets Corner were delighted with the idea of a Pencil Life of being young, eager to try new things, able to easily erase a mistake and move on to new ideas. Maybe the Pen Life can begin to limit our perspective, requires a focus that can begin to limit what we can try. It turns out, the author had an experience in primary school when a teacher required students shift from pencil to pen for writing…and this writer missed her pencil and the free expression, the change of mind, the revision by pencil allowed.

 

So now I am thinking a lot about the times in my life when I have had a “Pencil Life”…time to try new things, to change my mind, to learn from a mistake. I thought about how often I am in a Pen Life making sure that my lesson preparations are set, my tasks complete with no errors. It was fun to play with these ideas as the beginning poets considered these approaches to our “becoming” and how Michelle Obama wants us all to remember we are always… Becoming… and need to leave room to always find new ways to shape ourselves.

 

It was fun to sit and consider these ideas with these careful MGS thinkers!

 

Meanwhile, through the afternoon, Kaelen visited S 4 classes and after classes ended, she joined a group of the basketball players. (For her patents: Yes, I did make sure she put on her knee brace.) Clearly, the chance to play a sport, to join in that wonderful team spirit that Title 9 has shown us  can benefit young women so much, was a highlight of her MGS experience so far. The team welcomed her and urged her to run, shoot, set up plays, the whole thing. She was unsure what she could manage at first, but emerged from the play time flushed and breathless and very very happy.

 

I hope this blog entry has given you some idea of how reading and writing (and sports) are playing a role  each day here at MGS. So whether you are planning a Pencil Day, a Pen Day or feel motivated to move and stretch, I hope your day brings as much joy and new insights as this Tuesday has brought to us here at MGS.

 

Linda V Beardsley