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

It Has Been A Remarkable Trip

Saturday

July 1, 2023

An hour after the close of the Our Future Green Village Competition at Maranyundo Girls School, Joni and I were on our way to the airport to begin our journey back to Boston. It was a remarkable day for a final day in Rwanda. The Competition was a partnership among the PEBL Grant funded by LEGO Foundation, The Maranyundo Girls School and the support of Tufts University. It was an opportunity for the teachers who had been trained in Novel Engineering in April and December 2022 who had been given material to start a Maker Space in their school, to show what their students had been able to do to envision a “future green village.” The task was: 1) Identify a local environmental problem; 2) develop a solution; 3) integrate the solution into a design of your community. Teachers and students from 21 schools across  Rwanda participated. The day was amazing.

 

Joni and I were up bright and early to watch the banner being hung in the Main Hall just as the first schools began to arrive. What I first noticed was how happy and proud teachers and students alike seemed as they found their demonstration space along the perimeter of the Hall and set-up their exhibits. To see the joy ad enthusiasm of the work they had done was truly inspiring.  After all the schools had set up their projects as well as other projects they had made in their maker space clubs, the teams demonstrated their projects before a team of judges. As Sister Laetitia watched the demonstrations, she comments, “The students have created wonders.” Yes, she said what so many in the Main Hall were thinking!

 

 

As the judges deliberated, the students from MGS entertained us with a traditional dance and chorus. Maranyundo graduate and former Maker Space Prefect, Leslie Isaro interviewed a panel of both teachers and students who articulated their experiences of making as a form of teaching and learning. And then SANDE Robert announced the judges decisions and the winners in each category. The atmosphere was “electric.” The excitement was well deserved as award winners were given tablets for their clubs. The grand prize was a 3-D printer. Those whose projects were not mentioned as “winners,” also received materials for their clubs. Clearly, the work of making will continue to shape the teaching and learning of these Maker Space pioneers!

As I considered what the day had taught me, I thought about how the events of the day had brought to life 3 of the quotes that shape my own teaching and learning. First, I thought of Debbie Meier’s mantra that “Schools are where we learn how public life is lived.” The students who participated in this competition had been guided by their teachers to demonstrate how their experience of school, their learning every day, can serve their communities. They can envision how education can shape the public life of their communities.

 

Second, I was reminded of Chinua Achebe and his statement to Bill Moyers of what had guided his determination to write the African story from an African perspective. He believed that if you do not see a story in which you and your dreams are reflected, if you see “a gap in the bookshelf, write your own story.” These students and teachers who were represented in this competition were, indeed, using their making to write a new story of how envisioning a “green village” can be  a hallmark of the future for communities across Rwanda. Education should help each of us to “write the story” of the future and how each of us has agency to make that future a reality

 

Third, I recall the words of Senator Aloisea Inyumba, whose vision of education is brought to life every day in the work of the Maranyundo Girls School. She always reminded us that we must believe in the grassroots people. It is the grassroots women and men who have been strong and who will guide us to make the change a nation needs. The teachers and students who have been working together in the Maker Spaces to learn how problem solving in teams, how hands on learning inspires new creations are the “grassroots” people who can build on the work of ancestors and traditions to build new initiatives.

 

These are the thoughts Joni and I had as we rode to the airport with Sister Juvenal preparing to leave Rwanda once again. Each time we leave MGS, we are already eager to return. We were so inspired by the work the teachers had accomplished under the guidance of Djamila, Robert and Clementine. We were grateful to the tufts team that included Noella, Pascal, Toyin and Noah for supporting the work of the teams as they developed and demonstrated their projects. 

 

It has been a remarkable trip. 

 

Linda V. Beardsey

 

"I Feel Like a Writer Now!"

 

 

June 30, 2023

Friday

 

 

As I mused on the last days of our December trip to Maranyundo: “Leaving Maranyundo is always a process…” This time, the process included putting closure on the. Writing Project Joni and I had come here to share with the students, to give some shape to Sister’s focus of developing a culture of writing on the MGS campus, along with a culture of reading.

 

In December when we came and now in June, the students are studying for the school’s end of term exams. The S-6 students are also preparing for the National Exams. Their time is filled with prep times. So Joni and I were not sure how many final essay drafts would be in the folder we had left on Nadine’s counter. We asked students to put their drafts in the folder before Thursday morning.  Sister wanted to have the collection copied and given to each student who had participated in the Writing Project. But they had had so many exams to prepare for! So when I walked up to the Administration building to get the folder, I was unsure of what I would find. Yet when I picked up the folder I was amazed that 23 girls had managed to find time to edit and copy their essays! The remaining girls gave us their essays later that afternoon…with apologies.

 

Our writing prompt entitled “I am Learning: Writing about Becoming Educated” asked the students to consider 5 aspects of learning a lesson in their courses.

·      First describe the lesson.

·      Was the lesson easy or challenging?

·      What helped you to understand the lesson?

·      How did this lesson help you to understand how you are becoming an educated young woman?

·      Did you also learn something about yourself?

The students wrote thoughtfully about lessons in their classes and what they had learned. They also shared what they had learned about themselves in their classes. As teachers, Joni and I found these reflections interesting as they give a reader some insight into how students are processing both the content they are learning as well as how they are becoming thoughtful about using what they learn. Here are some examples of the students’ writing:

 

·      “Computer science is all about programming and it requires full focus and attention…I learnt the only thing you have got to do to achieve something is putting your whole heart in it, stay focused on your goals.”

·      The lesson that I learnt was being on the basketball team…I learnt every obstacle Kobe Bryant met he didn’t give up. Instead, he found a way…to improve on his skills.”

·      My favorite subject is Geography which is the science about the Earth…One day we were learning about pollution and the teacher was talking about how industries pollute…and also how we are the cause of pollution…I came to know that I can also destroy the environment …and must think of ways to conserve it.”

·      “It was a very challenging lesson in math on linear inequalities…I started getting discouraged, started crying…But I told myself never lose hope. I kept spending my preps on the lesson and I started making it!...I learned to stay calm in a stressful situation…Now, whenever a linear inequality is prepared on a math exam, I do it very gladly…glad that I never lose hope.”

·      “General studies and Communication is my favorite course…I can express myself…share my point of view on…what happens in the country.”

·      “I love when [something] gets hard but you manage to surpass it and win. I feel the same in math class.”

·      “Sometimes we learn and face different challenges. When I first came to secondary school I faced new subjects in class which were very complicated. Physics was one of those…I tried to follow physics in class and also making my own research…This really showed me that I am becoming an educated young woman.”

·      “Mathematics is the study of calculations, solving problems, equations…it is complicated if a learner doesn’t understand what he/she is learning…Then this day we were studying about vectors …each vector has an origin and a arrow shows the direction…That made me think that everything in life has a beginning and an end.”

·      “Education is something you are always doing…Education is not just sitting in class, face to face…listening to a teacher. We also get an education or learn from our mistakes, our experiences and all things that revolve around us all day.”

 

Partnering together and learning from discussion is working for them. The students often mentioned that they left a class with new information they did not fully grasp. When they had an opportunity to talk to classmates about the lesson, they found they understood material much better. This way of discussing lessons and concepts with one another builds on Sister Laetitia’s idea of collaborative learning, discussion prep and lifting each other up. Here are some examples of student writing on learning by discussion:

 

·      I am a huge fan of makerspace! I love all the activities we do in there…One day my friend and I were trying to design a game. We had to program microbit using some codes. But the game did not work out. I started getting frustrated…We told our problem to the senior student and she helped us. Our game was working…I learned I don’t always have to come up with solutions on my own…I gained so much knowledge interacting with the senior.

·      The lesson [about the Genocide against the Tutsis] was easy because I am interested more about my culture and country. The things that helped me understand the lesson was a discussion with the teacher as well as my classmates.”

 

 

Our final Writing Project meeting with the students included giving them a stapled copy of “The Collection.” The students took time to read each other's essays and comment on what they had learned from these lessons and writing conferences about their drafts. (Several students commented that they had also learned from Kaelen’s essay and her presentation.) A comment that captured the essence of the experience says it all. Picking up her packet of The Collection a student smiled and proclaimed, “I feel like a writer now!”

 

Yes, indeed!

 

Linda V Beardsley