Day in the Life of a Teaching Fellow

7:00 am

Waking up in the Faculty house on campus, often the first thing a Teaching Fellow will hear will be the giggling and chatter of some of the 180 middle school girls who inhabit the neighboring dormitories. They are the most cheerful of alarm clocks and most likely have been up since 5:30am preparing for the day. As the morning grows brighter  you will see the campus emerge from the mists, rising from the earth almost like a natural formation -it’s walls of bricks were formed from the same gorgeous red clay as the earth beneath them. The birds welcome the sun with a raucous chorus of tweets, whistles, and squawks from the tops of the bananas and avocado trees in the school garden behind the faculty house.

7:30am

For breakfast, you might quickly cook up some toast with peanut butter you bought in Kigali that weekend.  Or maybe scramble up some eggs or cook up some porridge and pour yourself some creamy delicious milk from the school’s cows that are pastured nearby. Or, perhaps, you are running late and instead have a cup of dark, famously rich Rwandan coffee.

7:45am

Then it is off to the administration building as students line up for school assembly. As is the custom in Rwandan schools across the country, they will start some days with a short prayer, the singing of the Rwandan national anthem, and hear announcements from Sister Juvenal, the Head of the School. Sister Juvenal is a seemingly ageless nun with a quick wit and a ready smile. She is the heart of the school and has an amazing skill of making everyone feel at ease – both students and teachers.

8:00-8:50 – First Period

You are not working with a class for the first period so you will be in the staff room.  There is limited internet so you usually try to check your emails or update the teaching fellow blog before the day’s data runs out!

8:50-10:30 am

You have a double period today during this time with a Senior One class.  They have been learning how to write paragraphs, so your plan is for them to create a travel brochure (complete with drawings!) to attract foreigners to Rwanda.   You start the lesson asking why Rwanda is special.  One of the students thinks Maranyundo is an exciting enough place to attract tourists and makes her paragraph about that.

10:30-10:50am – Break and Tea Time for staff

All staff converges into the staff room to enjoy African tea, a mix of about half tea and half milk.  The students use this time to relax and socialize or perhaps ask a question to a teacher.

10:50-12:30 – Third Period

You help Teacher Juritha set up her ladybug document camera for Political Education class.  Depending on the day, a teacher may ask for assistance because his computer is working very slowly or for you to help find an educational video from RACHEL to show the class.  With the raspberry Pi, he can now download videos and more information without accessing the internet.

12:30-2:00pm - Lunch

Lunchtime on campus is a very joyous and raucous time. Dining Hall staff bring big pots of rice, beans, greens, plantains, and pineapple. A big container of spicy pepper oil is passed around to spice up the dish.  After lunch, teachers prepare for their next class or listen to music. Depending on the day, the teaching fellows might head back to the faculty house for some down time, meet with students for extra help, or help teachers with technological questions.

2:00-430pm – Fourth and fifth Period

You have no more classes today so you work on planning your lesson for next week or simply take this time to read, listen to music or chat on the phone.  Perhaps you have an independent project in Rwanda and work on that.  On Wednesdays, the students have no scheduled class and will sometimes have an extra remedial lesson or meet for school debate in the dining hall.

4:30-6:00pm – Sports

The students change into their sports uniforms and play basketball or handclap games together. Some days it is also fun to go out and play too!

But often, the teaching fellow is scheduled to meet with her English tutoring group during exercise time. One of your jobs is to be a resource for some of the students with lower English skills, often students from under-resourced rural schools who come to Maranyundo Girls School less well-prepared. They are often some of the students from the most economically disadvantaged families. Thanks to the scholarships from the Maranyundo Initiative, these girls are able to attend the school, even though their families have limited resources.  However, they work extremely hard in their extra lessons and quickly catch up to the rest of the students.

 6:00-8:00pm - Prep Time

After a quick shower, all of the girls find study spots all over campus, some moving chairs next to the building walls for complete isolation and concentration. The students are so eager, that when power goes out and they have to wait for the school generators to kick on, they will continue to read by flashlight.

7:00pm – Dinner

Rwandans eat dinner much later than in the US. At the faculty house, it is a familial affair. Everyone helps to prepare the meal and eats together. Dinner is usually a similar meal to lunch.

9:00-10:00pm – Bedtime

Early to rise and early to bed! Everyone tends to go to bed early on the weekdays, especially since you will be up early.

If you are interested in becoming a Teaching Fellow at Maranyundo Girls School to support teachers and students, please see our listing on Idealist, or download an application here at our website.

Art Club

Marcella, the other teaching fellow, has started an Art Club as requested by several Senior two students.  Mon-Thurs, any interested girls go to the library during sports time to color, paint, listen to music, and just relax.  The girls have a goal to sell the goods they make at Visitation Day, a monthly event when parents come to Maranyundo to see their daughters.

Each meeting brings slightly different supplies. Today the girls made their creations with solely crayons and card stock.  They did the typical Happy Birthday and Congratulations you could find anywhere.

But then some of their works had a definite Africa/Rwandan twist.

This is a drawing of Nelson Mandela inspired from one of the books in the library. Clearly Maranyundo has very talented artists!

This is a map of Rwanda!

I couldn't come and solely take pictures, so I sat down and drew out the only thing on my mind right now: Virginia Tech Football!  After I few students asked about the symbols, I talked about football traditions and my university. They were very impressed!

-Kristin

Construction in Rwanda

There is a lot of construction going on on campus right now.  Next year Maranyundo is going to expand from solely a middle school to also include the first year of high school.  So that requires dorms and classrooms to be built before the January start date. Honestly, when I look at the progress, I wonder how they will be done in time, but Rwandans are very good at sticking to their goals! You can read more about the construction here and the expansion here .  

I have really enjoyed watching the progress and the methods for building these structures and my favorite things to do is compare the work to how I have seen it done in the United States.

From a bystander’s point of view, there are three main differences:

1.       The most obvious is SAFETY!

Everything is built by hand at the construction site, including haphazard bridges, ladders, and scaffolding. The small bridge above used to be turned over with the rusty nails just waiting to puncture through someone’s shoes. I do not want to even imagine what motivated them to turn it again!

This is the Rwandan form of a construction bridge to get up into the scaffolding. I don't think it would meet OSHA standards, but it does get the job done!

No need for an aluminum ladder, when you can build it yourself!

People just walk on these high beams and scaffolds without thinking twice. My stomach is always full of nervous butterflies when I visit the sites. Also, notice the lack of hard hats. And can we please talk about how I’m allowed to just waltz onto the site in a dress and flip flops without even seeking permission?

     2. Everything is done by HAND.

Very rarely have I ever seen any machines or construction vehicles at the sites. Huge holes are dug with shovels and the dirt is moved away in wheel barrels. It is really quite an impressive feat to watch! 

  

Here he is laying concrete, which isn’t odd, but the mix is brought in on wheel barrels rather than a cement mixer and gravel is carried in on women’s heads (see below) in baskets.

Also, I must point out that both of the men in the above two pictures asked me to take a photo of them (quite a common request in Rwanda). They then went right back to working - this was clearly what they wanted to be known for. You have to respect that kind of work ethic.


3. It is not uncommon to see WOMEN working alongside the men

I am so impressed by this. You very rarely see women doing manual labor in the United States, but here women are very tough.  I honestly feel pretty lame when standing next to them (just getting in the way and snapping photographs).  Not to mention they can carry things on their HEADS, something I will never be able to do.

-Kristin

Maranyundo Animals

Maranyundo owns several animals that always look super cute. I don't even have any words! Enjoy!

A reading culture emerges at Maranyundo Girls School

Considering 1 in 5 adults in the world is not literate and 2 out of 3 of them are women, International Literacy Day (September 8 annually) is a big deal! So today we are going to talk about books at Maranyundo.

Step on to the Maranyundo Girls School campus for any period of time and you will see it. Serendipitous glances during class breaks, walking on air to lunch with their heads in a whole different world, curled up together in a shady spot. The students have all fallen in love…with books!

After lunch, during free time, girls flock to the library and make a beeline for the two aisles of young adult fiction. Reaching over each other, they grab excitedly for the books on the shelves. One student giggles as she finds an interesting book. She quickly untangles herself from the fray and moves to a less busy corner of the library to check and see if the book is as interesting as its cover portends. Indecisive, she makes her way back to the crowd and continues on her hunt. All around, students are finding their choices and heading to check them out with the librarian. Some of the most popular books such as Harry Potter, computer books, or the graphic novels in the Aya series are checked in for bare minutes before they are checked out again and carried out of the library by another excited student. Many of the book’s covers, those that are a particular favorite with the girls, are worn white from so many hands and hours of reading and the bindings are beginning to let go.

The first few years of the school’s existence, students did not seem to read for pleasure. Books were reserved more for academic study. But each time the Maranyundo Initiative board members visit the school, they have brought some young adult novels with them. The girls' excitement about books seems to be growing by leaps and bounds as the number of available books has increased.

During a recent Friday school assembly, three girls were asked to give short book reports. One of the youngest students from S1 was so enthused about her book, James and the Giant Peach, that she proceeded to outline the entire plot line for the entire school. Students carry books everywhere they go, even reading while they walk between classes or on their way to lunch. Maranyundo students are very busy with class time, study time, tutoring, extracurricular activities, and sports so they find any available free time to enjoy the pleasures of reading for fun.

If you are interested in helping the Maranyundo Initiative supply more books to the Maranyundo Girls School Library, you can purchase books off of our Amazon Gift List . You can also learn more about how support the Maranyundo Initiative here.

Multipurpose Hall

Maranyundo Girls School is building a Multipurpose Hall as part of its expansion into a high school. The Hall will be used for community events such as weddings, conferences, and performances. It is one of the largest function halls in the district so when it is completed, it is sure to be in high demand. Rental income from the hall will go to support the school, helping it be even more independent in the future.

The grand opening is scheduled for October - which is amazing considering it seemed barely started when we first arrived at the end of January!  Let’s take a look at the progress.

These photos of the exterior of the Multipurpose Hall were taken on March 21, 2014.

These photos below were taken on August 18, 2014. 

The building now has a roof and no scaffolding along with a layout for the glass for windows. 

The glass panes have already arrived on campus and are just waiting to be put in. They can be seen below well-protected and leaning up against one of the school buildings.

Also from March 21, 2014, below are some glimpses of the interior of the main hall.

There is a huge matrix of scaffolding inside reaching up to the sky. It's amazing that all of that is built by hand! The ground is uneven, rough and pitted.

On August 18, 2014, there was still scaffolding inside, but it now has a beautiful roof, the walls are complete and painted and the floor is much more smooth and level. Check out the gorgeous ceiling below!

Here are one of the many dedicated people who have been working so hard to make the Multipurpose Hall a reality. He asked me to take his picture as he was high up on the scaffolding painting the trim on the exterior of the building.

-Kristin

Expansion construction

Maranyundo Girls School is expanding from a middle school to also include a high school! Currently the school serves grades Senior 1-3 and next year the plan is to have the first class of Senior 4.  Then each year another grade will be added until we have the complete Senior 1-6.  It is all very exciting!

Construction started only a few months ago but everyone is very confident it will be ready in time for the January start date in 2015. 

Here are some photos of the progress that has been made so far:

It doesn’t really look like much until you remember that most everything is done completely by hand. They make huge progress and very quickly! The pile of wood for the scaffolding, seen above,  reminds me of how far they have to go but also how fast they feel they can get it all done. I have full confidence!

-Kristin

Food from the MGS garden!

It seems everything is in season right now at Maranyundo!

Maranyundo has a beautiful garden on campus just outside the faculty residence. 

It has many plantain trees (a Rwandan staple food).

Eggplants are also eaten at least twice a week.

Bell peppers are added to EVERYTHING!

Kale is all over the garden. It seems to be the most common plant and take up the most space Which I love as green veggies are at a premium here. But I also find confusing because I have never seen a Rwandan eat it.  The only time I've seen it picked is for feeding the rabbits!

This plant is called Dodo. It honestly is not that special to be in season because it is ready all year round. But it is a special Rwandan food you can't find in the United States.  You can read more about the Rwandan diet here.

-Kristin

Field Trip

The senior two and senior three classes went on a field trip to learn more about Rwanda last month. They went to the Western Province and saw a tea plantation. Tea is a very important part of the Rwandan economy. Interestingly, most westerners only know about Rwandan coffee, but the average Rwandan is much more proud of their tea and has not ever even tasted coffee.

I was not able to go on the field trip with the girls, but I let a student borrow my camera to document the experience.  Here are her photos!

The school rented a big, greyhound style bus for the long trip

Different kinds of tea

-Kristin