Left to right: Dr. Sherri Woods, mHub; Yvonne Uwamahoro, mHub; Yvan Rubengebenge, GEI; Eric, Urukundo’s executive secretary; Juliette, Urukundo’s human resource manager; Mama; Jean Marie, Urukundo’s director, and Sherri Prince, an instructor at Youngstown State University traveling with Dr. Woods.
Dr. Woods is an assistant professor and Sherri Prince is an instructor at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, USA. We so appreciated their visit.
Mental health and well-being have long been a concern at Urukundo Learning Center and Village. The welfare of our students, employees and the community is important. Our goal is to have a full-time counselor and social worker on staff. Sharing our concerns are the Global Engagement Institute (GEI) and mHub, two organizations founded in Rwanda by Dr. Michael Grosspietsch of Germany.
Our association with Dr. Grosspietsch and GEI dates back to 2006. Dr. Grosspietsh said, “Our mental health and well-being are incredibly precious; we all need to take proactive care of ourselves. Realizing that many people worldwide lack access to even the most basic quality mental health services, I founded mHub in order to help overcome this enormous challenge.”
Dr. Sherri Woods and Ms. Sherri Prince came to Rwanda as volunteers at the GEI Mental Health Hub in Kigali. Dr. Grosspietschl suggested we might have interests in common. Dr. Woods and Ms. Prince traveled from Kigali to Muhanga and included Urukundo in their travels. Accompanying Dr. Woods were, from mHub, Yvonne Uwamahoro, from mHub, and and Yvan Rubengebenge from GEI..
We had more visitors the weekend of July 8. This weekend was a very busy time at Urukundo.
Not just busy, but also a happy time.
We welcomed in the new residence/guest house our first team since the pandemic. It was great to see a bus pull into the compound after the two-year, no-visitor-time period brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This delegation consisted of seven faculty and staff members from SUNY Buffalo State College, New York, USA. Professor Drew Kahn was team leader. Other members of the delegation were associate provost Amitra Wall and teaching artists Jonise Hall, Rose Corrado, Zhanna Reed, Gabby McKinley and Amanda Rojo.
Left to right: Rose, Jonise, Drew, Amanda, Amitra, Gabby and Zhanna.
What a joy, to greet the delegation from Buffalo State back to Urukundo Learning Center after a two-year absence!
Their purpose is to teach teachers through the Anne Frank Project. The Anne Frank Project uses the power of stories as vehicles for community building, conflict management and identity exploration, inspired by the wisdom of Anne Frank. Visit their "Anne Frank Project" website to learn more about this fantastic project.
Drew Kahn, distinguished service professor in the Department of Theater, teaches acting at Buffalo State. Professor Kahn is also on the Hope Made Real International Board.
Seventy-five teachers from the Muhanga District attended this year's seminar.
It was an exciting four days for Urukundo teachers, staff and teachers from the Muhanga District.