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