Moving On...

Last Friday was the much anticipated Mwana Nshuti graduation! It was a good, but long, day. We had 19 students who were graduating and receiving tailoring certificates. Many of the students hadn’t been coming regularly the past month or so since their program was basically finished, so it was great to have all the students together for our special day. The program consisted of the “usuals” for any ceremony here: singing church songs, traditional dance, speeches from the leader of the organization and other important guests and food (and Fanta). We also had a video that I made of photos and video clips from our academic year (which unfortunately didn’t go over too well because of the skylights in the church) and an English skit. I was so proud of the students who did the skit; the plot was my idea but they used all their own words and certainly did some improvising. We also had a student read an original poem about the program and another read a short speech in English. The student reading in English did so well that the headmaster of the high school connected with the church (the church that founded our program and where the event was held, also where I worship on Sunday) offered her a scholarship to study for free at the school! Way to go Vestine!

I hope the students who graduated will be able to find a place to work as tailors (or start/join a sewing association/cooperative) or a place to receive additional vocational training (i.e. cooking, computers, etc.) or continue their classical education. Already 3 students have been able to return to school (4 if you count Vestine who should start next week) and 2 have found other vocational training programs to gain more skills. I’m happy for them as they move onward in their lives, although I will miss them! But it seems I have an eager batch of new students who are happy to have me teach them English, so that should be good!!

Other highlights from the past week:

=Visiting Ityanga, one of my coworkers. It was a slight adventure trying to find her house and overall the whole afternoon was an accomplishment because she only speaks Kinyarwanda – so our simple, slow conversation was especially meaningful.

=Playing goofy games (like sneaking food on someone’s plate when they aren’t looking) with my host mother and sister when the power went out during dinner

=Making no-bake cookies at Joyce’s house with her children, and proving to them that charcoal cookers (the Rwandan stove) work just fine! (It is typically assumed North Americans can’t use charcoal cookers, wash their clothes by hand, or use cold water for washing…but I’m trying to show people that isn’t the case!)

As much as I feel comfortable here, I still generally continue to wish I were closer to people here. It’s not a big deal because I’m leaving in a few months, and I certainly have many lasting memories from time spent with people here, but this past week was great because I visited 2 wonderful and fun Rwandan women and also randomly bumped into a former coworker who I hadn’t seen in awhile so we got to talk too!

Teachers and students with their certificates (unfortunately a couple left before we got the photo taken...and we were under orders not to smile, as is customary here...the students were happy, don't worry!)

My baking helpers, Bridget (almost 4) and Jessica (8)!
(The charcoal cooker is in the bottom right corner, not very visible though)

Preparing/eating the cookies!

I am looking forward to getting to know the new students at Mwana Nshuti and working with them (bragging point: I already know almost half of their names (maybe 20/50)…thanks to much photo taking and ordering!). I have gotten over my desire to keep teaching my old students, finally, and had 1 good English class with the new students who are eager to learn. But first, I am looking forward to a slight break – we have our MCC retreat in Burundi this week. 


Blessings!