Our First Day of School

The night before our first day at the school, Dal and I went to bed around 10am hoping to get a full night’s sleep. At 2:45am, the silence was pierced by the Imam's short prayer/announcement over the loudspeakers (1 of 10 that he performs daily during the holy month of Ramadan). Unable to sleep, I gradually woke Dal up at around 4:30am and we chatted about expectations of our first day. We knew to expect a lot of hugs, eagerness and noise. We discussed our anxiety about the fact neither of really knew how to teach English or math. What if the kids didn’t like us ? What if they ganged up on us ? What if they treated us the way we typically used to treat supply teachers back in elementary school ? These fears kept us up for the rest of the morning.

At 7:45am, we left the guest house in the truck and made the 5km drive to the school. We passed through the main town of Ruhengeri as Teste regularly honked the horn, alternating between greetings and warnings. As we turned down the road of the school, children began to sprint towards the main door. We felt like pop stars at the Grammys as we rolled up the driveway with our windows down and greeting by adoring children. Huge smiles and greetings of ‘Good Morning Teacher’ were given to us. As we stepped out of the car, we were all swarmed by the kids who wanted to either hug us our touch our hands. At one point, I literally had 20 kids around me reaching over each other to make contact with the muzunga (non-Rwandan) visitor.

One of my absolute favourite things about the kids is their canned answers to some basic questions. The answers always comeback rather loudly, even from the shy kids.

What is your name ? MY NAME IS SAMUEL IMANIREBE.

How old are you ? I AM 4 YEARS OLD.

How are you ? I AM FINE, THANK YOU.

Are you ok ? YES I AM OK.

There are 4 classes split by age (Baby class, 3 and 4, 4 and 5, 5 and 6’s). Each class rotates among outside play, classroom and feeding. We were able to participate in all 3 and it was loads of fun. Outside play was just like recess…controlled chaos. Kids sat on the ground with their legos, they talked with their friends or they played with soccer and bouncy balls. Simple games like playing keep away or heading the ball made them laugh and made me feel as skilled as Pele. I totally dominated them.

The classroom dynamics were interesting. The teachers are trying to teach the 123’s, ABC’s, days of the week and months of the year which the kids smartly recite. The kids attention span are similar to that of N American kids and there's lot of chatting with friends and what not, but it's clear to see that they all enjoy learning and want to be in school.
Feeding consists of sitting all the kids in a line and handing out bread and a sorghum/corn drink that contains water/milk/sugar. It’s likely the healthiest thing that many of these children will eat all day. As we distribute the mixture, the children exclaim “THANK YOU VERY MUCH” and finish their food. Not a fussy one in the bunch, however it’s not uncommon for one of the chickens that parade on the grounds to steal the bread from the hands of a child leaving that kids in tears.

On Day 2, we were able to distribute the suitcase of clothes we had brought over from Canada. After arranging them into Boys/Girls and small/medium/large, we would bring in kids 10 at a time and basically play dress-up. The children were thrilled to have new clothes and each left the room with a little more confidence and a lot more pride. Not once did a child express “I don’t like this” or “I want something else”. Rather, they happily removed the dirty clothes they were wearing and trust that we wouldn’t turn them into fashion nightmares. Many of the kids high-fived or hugged us after putting on their new threads.

Amazing Smiles

At the end of each day, all the children sit in a massive circle and are
led by the staff through various songs and dances. These kids have wayyy more rhythm then me, which isn’t really all that surprising. Today, we were also able to take some group photos. And most importantly, I was able to get the kids to do a thunderous chant of “GO LEAFS GO”. Dal expressed her concerned that we’re teaching these kids to be losers. Concern noted.

Here are a few photos of our days at the school. Once we have a faster internet connection, I'll add albums.

David distributing the food

Dal and her new friends

Inside the Classroom

Dal plays dressup

Showing off the new threads

Group Photo