Leaving Rwanda and Flying Home

 

 

January 21

I am aboard a Delta plane flying high over the North Atlantic ocean, heading for Boston and home. According to the screen in the seat in front of me, I am 38,000 feet in the air, moving along at  542 miles per hour with a tail wind of 16 mph. (The little diagram shows we have just flown very close to the south coast of Greenland.) Once again, I am flying home from Rwanda. Once again, I leave that remarkable nation and the work of the Maranyundo Girls School mulling over in my mind the next time I will return. As I wrote in December of 2022, “leaving Maranyundo is always a process. There is the report writing, the meetings to plan. We need to find time for saying good bye to students we worked with, saying good bye to the Sisters, the Dean, the teachers whom we have met. But there is also time to reflect on what I have done while at the school, what I have learned. I quoted from a post in 2019:

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. As Debbie Meir reminds us, “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.

I have not written those daily Blog reports that I usually am so conscientious about writing on this trip. I think there are a few reasons for that. First, Sister Laetitia kept Joni and I very busy! Early in our stay, we worked on some PD work for Nursery teachers that I wrote about in January 11 and 12. We also paid a visit to the Retirement home for the Benebikira Sisters, overseen by Sister Augusta, on January 16. On Wednesday January 14, I planned a zoom meeting for my first Tufts class of the Global Educator that included a panel of Dean Audace, Sister Laetitia, SANDE Robert, and Jean the Computer Science teacher at MGS. That was really fun! But the majority of our work was preparing students, teachers, and the school itself for a pottery studio supported by Sue and Bernie Pucker and reflecting the philosophy of Brother Thomas. Undoubtedly, for me, that was the most remarkable work of all.

So once I am in my own place (and had a nap or two) I will write a post about each of those adventures in this January 2026 adventure at MGS. For once again, each project I embark on at this dynamic school reveals a story of resilience, compassion and hope. Respect, Responsibility, Leadership. These reflect what I always want to believe in as essential tenets in the story of my own education career, in the story of my home, my country. These are the ideals Joni and I tried to hold on to as we listened to the BBC, CNN, NYT reporting on the current state of affairs in the USA. So even though I neglected to write daily this time, I will write those stories about projects and people at Maranyundo Girls School. Because they are stories that need to be shared, especially in this time when I and many other educators need stories of resilience, compassion and hope.  

Linda V Beardsley

 

Nursery School Play and PD

 

Monday and Tuesday

January 11 and 12

We have spent these two days working with the teachers in the Pre-School program at Notre Dame school in Kigali, a pre-school through middle school led by the Benebikira Cngregation. This is the school that Sister Juvenal and Sister Laetitia wanted us to see and bring the spirit of learning through play to the three Nursery Classrooms.

There are three levels of Pre-school classes in most Rwandan primary schools:  Nursery 1 is for three year olds; Nursery 2 is for four year olds; Nursery 5 is for the five year olds who will make their transition to Primary 1 the following year. The preschool children go home at 1:00 each day. The teachers often stay and arrange their classrooms for the next day, as well as talk with one another. It was a delight to take part in the lively pace of the pre-school scene!

The first step in any thoughtful professional development with teachers should always be some classroom observations. What are the teachers and students currently doing? What do the teachers value? What are the children interested in learning? Observing pre-school classrooms always gives an observer so much information. Each class Joni and I observed had at least 30 students. Two teachers were typically with the students. The scope and sequence of the curriculum themes for the year were displayed in each classroom on poster sized illustrations. They were learning about their Home,  School, Classroom, Community Helpers, Colors, Fruits, the Body…

Joni and I modeled reading a story with the children, developing questions from the story. We chose Brown Bear, Brown Bear …we also modeled using songs and word games like Open Shut Them and Itsy Bitsy Spider. It was so much fun to be invited to participate in the preschool learning.

In the afternoon, Robert Sande joined us which was great. Robert served as a Kinyarwanda voice and an experienced pre-school administrator. In fact, he often mentions to me that he often thinks of his observations at Eliot Pearson Children’s School when he visited Tufts in 2011. Joni and I had set up “stations” based on several of the themes the teachers were required to teach. They had a chance to play with materials that demonstrated pre-literacy skills, numeracy skills, making books and making games together.

After playing with the materials Joni provided, we talked with them about the methodologies behind the centers we had set up. With Roberts translating, we had a thoughtful and productive conversation about using small groups, choice, play as central to lesson planning. The teachers appreciated the opportunity to work together. Joni left the materials with the teachers, as well as some books with which the could begin regular story time and build their library offerings for the young children in the school.

It is clear that Sister Laetitia and Sister Juvenal are passionate about the fact that the earliest school experiences a child has are often the most important. Joni and I stressed that with the teachers and let them know that their daily interaction with their students was building a strong sense of school and learning as a special, enjoyable time. The REB and Ministry of Education are also stressing the critical importance of the pre-school years and are developing supports and professional development for these critical educators.

Joni and I gave a report on our PD work with the teachers with Sister Laetitia and Sister Juvenal. We also made several recommendations. Presently, Nursery teachers do not need a degree or formal training. REB should move to create those programs. The English proficiency of the Nursery teachers varies. Some instruction is in French, although some students may be hearing English and Kinyawanda at home.  Much instruction is in a large group context with minimum use of play and manipulatives as programs like PEBL stress. Joni and I found a number of organizations like UNICEF and Rwanda Early Childhood groups that have developed impressive programs for supporting play based, curriculum and training. We hope that the PD we were able to provide sparks on-going conversations and trying to play based materials for learning. Robert promised the teachers he would come by to talk with them about their results often.

As this remarkable nation continues to believe that education is essential for building a strong and peaceful future, the education of the youngest citizens is the foundation of that promise.

Linda V Beardsley

Creating a Buzz about a Pottery Place at MGS

 

Sunday: January 11

Now that Joni and I have launched a discussion about pottery making and the ideas and art of Brother Thomas, Sister has arranged for us to meet with the Head Girls at MGS to enlist their support in sharing with their cohorts the news that a pottery studio will be part of the Maker Space. She chose to include the Head Girls from S-4, S-5, and S-6.

Head girls have a significant leadership role among the students. Every student considers who they think will be exemplary girls to provide leadership for their class. Names are recommended to Sister Laetitia and the faculty. Sister considers each recommendation and through a careful process selects two girls to represent each grade level. Sister meets with them regularly and relies on them to provide leadership and role modeling for their peers. Sister wanted the current Head Girls to be the first to know about the pottery studio. She wanted them to begin to share the information among their cohorts and  “take the pulse” of the students; ask what having pottery making here might mean.

The S-4 girls included the 2 girls who are in our Saturday class.

Joni and I wanted to begin the conversation on a bright Sunday morning by asking what they knew about the history of MGS. Two of the students gave an impressive overview of the partnership between Boston and Rwandan women who met at Harvard University at a Kennedy School conference about Education in Conflict Zones. They both knew the roles that were played by the late Sister Ann Fox and Senator Aloisea Nyumba.

Joni and I explained that Sue Pucker was also among those first supporters from Boston to support the building of MGS. She and her husband, Bernie, also befriended Brother Thomas and featured his work in their Pucker Gallery in Boston.

I am always impressed with the ways in which the students at Maranyundo process information and make connections. They were truly moved to think that a family who was part of the original Maranyundo supporters continues to look for ways to create new opportunities and insights for the current student body. They commented on how successful the addition of the Maker Space by Tufts University CEEO in 2019 had been.  The Maker Space has brought opportunities for state-of-the-art “tinkering” and problem solving to the campus. They believe that dedicating a space for pottery in the Maker Space will enrich the possibilities for connecting the arts and science.And spirituality.

A pottery place is another example of how the partnership which began at the outset of the 21^st century continues to evolve and nourish the education of the students at Maranyundo in 2026. One might say that offering new practices and insights into what education means is a tradition of the Maranyundo Initiative.

“Tradition after all is a thing of the spirit, not a recycling of the past.”   Brother Thomas

Linda V Beardsley 

Saturday Afternoon Session: Gifts from the Fire

 

Saturday January 10

 Joni and I looked forward to the afternoon session with the S-4 students after learning so much about their interest in thinking how cups and other common objects can open us  to new possibilities of how we think about them.

We began by asking the students to work in groups of 3 to look at pictures of pottery pieces that were also vessels like the ones we looked at in the morning. They also generated words just like they did in the morning session. We told them,  “Unlike the morning cups, we know who make these pottery pieces: Brother Thomas Bezanson. Then in two groups of 15, we watched the film Gifts from the Fire. The film features Brother Thomas telling his story of becoming a monk, becoming a pottery artist, becoming a person who believed “Art transcends the limitations of time and time’s concerns.”  

In many ways, watching the film and listening together to Brother Thomas’ story was a powerful experience for the students. When we came back to a full group, students were eager to share responses.

They were all stunned to watch Brother Thomas use a hammer to break some of his pieces that displeased. (“It made my heart sad when he broke his pieces but I learned that you should never be afraid to start over to improve something.”) They all had been listening carefully to his descriptions of the challenges he faced to continue making art. (“I learned you should never let a dream you have die.”) The students shared comments like these: “It touched my heart…understanding that there is a spiritual side to the work he did.” “I learned that I should follow my heart and not be afraid.” If I fail, I can start over.” “Beautiful art is possible.”

Joni and I also shared what we take from the story of Brother Thomas. When Thomas says he believes that his “work is not finished until it is shared” it reminds us of what the Benebikira Order believes about education. Although each of us pursues an education as an individual, the true value of that learning, that knowledge is really only realized when it is shared with others in one’s community.  They believe this is how the spiritual side of our being is exercised and influences others. We also think about watching Brother Thomas’ hands as he worked. He helps us see the power that exists in human hands that can fashion something beautiful from the humble clay of the earth. And Thomas’ notion that “Art is not about something the artist knows; it is about something we all know.”

Joni and I ended the session by giving them Brother Thomas’ essay, Reflections on the Cup. We asked them to read the essay in pairs and write a reflection on some aspect of Brother Thomas that will stay with them. We sent them off to dinner looking at a photo that Joni had taken in Sue and Bernie Pucker’s Gallery in Boston. It is a photo of Sister Laetitia, looking at some of Brother Thomas’ pottery pieces in the gallery when she visited Boston in October.

Brother Thomas considered these pieces to be a “gift from the fire.” Displayed in galleries like the Pucker Gallery, they are gifts that all of us can learn from and enjoy.

Linda V Beardsley

What We Learn When We Look Carefully at Ordinary Things

Saturday - January 10

The main item on our agenda for this trip to Rwanda is establishing a Pottery Studio as part of the legendary MGS Maker Space.  Bernie and Sue Pucker want to add the making of pottery to that space in which the students have learned so much about robotics, coding, tinkering and teamwork to demonstrate that the A in STEM is not just an added letter. It is central to maintaining the humanity in the technological advancements that the sciences lend to our lives. STEAM is essential to our future. For the Puckers, the pottery work of the late Brother Thomas Bezanson, whose work they feature in their Boston art gallery, is the expression. Of how the work of an artist comes from an inner spirit within the creator and has the power to impact others by its beauty and sense of hope, a sense of the goodness of the human hand and mind. As Brother Thomas has written, “Art is a constant dance to the music of openness and “unlearning.”

Before we arrived, Sister Laetitia selected 30 S-4 students to begin learning about the art and pottery of Brother Thomas. Joni and I are scheduled to meet with them in two two hour sessions over 2 Saturdays. Our class will be based on our reading of Brother Thomas’ essay, Reflections on the Cup. In that essay, he explains,

“We gather around the cup to share ourselves, to tell our stories, to sing our songs. With scarcely a conscious thought we welcome a friend, a guest with a cup of tea, a cup of coffee, a glass of wine. This spontaneous cup-of-welcome is a primal ritual which celebrates a relationship, something over and above its function. Moreover, it is a custom so old and so cross-cultural that it touches what is common in us despite what is different between us.”

After introducing ourselves to the students, Joni and I asked each student to introduce herself and what they enjoyed most studying at MGS. We learned we had some enthusiastic mathematicians, physics students, some computer science girls, some budding biologists, chemists, and ICT enthusiasts. Joni and I had set up two trays of familiar objects, vessels. The students separated into two smaller groups to look carefully at one of the trays. After taking time for careful observation, they separated into smaller groups to talk about what they had observed. We asked each group to generate a list of the words they used to describe the cups or words which came to mind as they looked at these familiar artifacts, these cups, these vessels.

Back in the large group they shared the most common words on their lists. As expected many words indicated color, shape, size, height. Words like white, orange, pink, round, heavy, tall, small. Some words reflected utility: cereal bowl, for drink, useful.

Then we asked did any group have any words that were different? One group had written teamwork because they talked about observing as a group. One group noted the different positions of the objects. Another commented on the different uses they noted.

Then we asked if the objects reminded them of anything else. One student quickly shared,  “I saw a mug that reminded me of a special cup that my grandmother always saved for me when I visited. I loved using my special cup!” Another student saw a cup that reminded her of one day visiting a neighbor and breaking a bowl “by accident.” Another memory included remembering “a white bowl that was colorful when it had fruit salad in it at a friend’s house.”

The girls became fascinated that looking at such a familiar, common object, cups and other vessels, could call out a memory of other times that included visits to grandparents or friends, special occasions or sharing foods, growing up, tasting.

Asked to look closely at a few objects one girl commented” I really felt a sense of concentration and how it feels, “what you experience when you are asked to observe closely.” And some of the girls asked questions: Who made these? Who decides what a cup or mug or bowl will look like? Such interesting ideas and queries emerging as it was time for the session to end and for the students to enjoy their lunch.

We thanked them for their work this morning and looked forward to returning to the themes of “gathering around the cup”…”which celebrates a relationship that goes beyond its function.” Our work introducing a pottery studio to the Maker Space had begun!

“Art is a constant dance to the music of openness and ‘unlearning.’” Brother Thomas

Linda V Beardsley

 

 

The First Day: Listening to the Children

 

Friday- January 9

After a day of resting after the flights to Rwanda, Joni and I were ready to begin our agenda in Rwanda. Today, Sister Laetitia had arranged for us to meet with Sister Juvenal in Kigali. She would take us to the Benebikira Primary School in Kigali to tour the Nursey classrooms and meet with the Early Childhood teachers wo teach the children who are 3,4 and 5 ears old at the school. As many of you know, for Joni and I, early childhood and pre-school education are a fascinating time for teaching and learning.

It is always wonderful to meet with Sister Juvenal. Sister accompanied us to the school just as the teachers and students were enjoying their lunch break and children were playing outside. As we arrived, several Primary School (elementary age) children walked with us to the Early Childhood spaces. They were excited to see their visitors.

Joni always likes to talk with children. She asked them the questions that adults often ask as invitations to get to know about what is happening in student’s lives. What do you like to learn at school? What do you like to do on the playground? Do you have a favorite story? By the time Joni and her followers arrived at the. classrooms, they were in animated conversation. One student was adamant that she wanted to be a “pilot so I can fly.”

Then Joni said, “I have asked you many questions. Now you can ask me some questions.” Students wanted to know, “When did you decide to become a teacher? How old were you? Why do you want to teach children?” “Where do you live?” “Is it far from Rwanda?” And then that question that we often encounter when we are talking with young people. “Is there racism in the United States of America?

Joni and I feel it is an honor to have the opportunity to listen to young people in this nation that continues to grow and believe so strongly in the promise of education for all its students. The questions that these Rwandan students have about who we are, where we are from, and what our home is like can teach us a lot about how we are perceived in this global context. So we are reminded to listen careful as we begin our time here in Rwanda. We will listen carefully.

After visiting the children and teachers in this Kigali Primary School, we feel like we have really arrived in Rwanda.

Linda V Beardsley

January 2026: Inspiration from Simple Things

 

Joni and I are traveling to Rwanda to work with Sister Laetitia on some projects she has been thinking of. We also are eager to make progress bringing a pottery studio to the MGS Maker Space. Bernie and Sue Pucker have been patiently watching Joni, myself and Ned Levering gather information about what installing a pottery studio will entail and moving forward. We have also learned a wonderful array of historical stuff about the role of pottery in East Africa.

Of course, for Bernie and Sue, Brother Thomas Bezanson is central to what making pottery means. Creating beautiful objects from the humble clay of the earth requires human hands, a curious, creative mind, an unflinching eye, and a spirit that believes in how beauty and sharing beauty is at the heart of how people have made art and objects with their hands, in community. Brother Thomas wrote, “The beautiful is at the center of every civilization in its art, its music, its architecture, its people.”

 

I’ve been holding these lofty thoughts in my mind as Joni and I navigate the details of preparing for the trip…only to learn when we arrived at Logan that Amsterdam airport is facing a weeklong snow event. And travel in and out of Amsterdam is iffy.

Brother Thomas wrote. “Inspiration can be found in the simplest moments.” Joni and I are keeping that in mind as we allow ourselves a space to “go with the flow.” We chose to fly out of Boston and risk being stuck in Amsterdam. The flight from Boston to Amsterdam set down at 8:30 AM. By 9:00 we had found the departure board that listed 90% of flights. As cancelled; Amsterdam to Kigali, DL9151, was “on time.” A simple moment that filled us with satisfaction, relief, and inspiration as we continued on to Rwanda and the work that always delights and inspires us.

I always remember that departing from the plane at Kigali airport features walking into that soft, velvet warm evening air. Surely that snowscape of Schiphol airport must have been a dream. We arrived at the MGS campus, encountered the usual warm welcome of the Sisters in their residence. After consuming the wonderful soup made from the MGS garden vegetables and herbs, Joni and I succumbed to a deep sleep.

Today our focus was on meeting with Sister Laetitia to plan for our tasks on this visit. Writing an email to a colleague in the Education  Department at Tufts earlier, I wrote, “It is wonderful to be at this school that nourishes every bit of my educator being.”  I hope to share some of those nourishing moments with you in this blog for the next 2 weeks.

Linda V Beardsley