Hello Friends and Family from the USA and Urukundo.
The month of May in the USA has been very cold but the spring flowers have been spectacular. I am freezing. I'm delighted to report I have been given a clean bill of health and am ready to return home to Urukundo and get back to work. The report from Urukundo is very positive. Our staff is doing a excellent job while I am away. This comment from Helen Kweskin and her team of students :
"Please know how truly grateful I feel for all the love, support, and logistical thoughtfulness that allowed us to have such a rich experience at such a very special place. "
Thank you Helen!
Next month will be back to business as usual since I'll be returning June 12 to my kids. In the meantime, thank you to Carol Falke and Sarah Ketchley for their participation in getting this newsletter to you.
The month of May we will share with you the projects involved in Education at Urukundo Learning Center.
Funding for constructing the second grade class rooms is still the priority project for the present. Looking for partners in education to make it a success. Building each set of classrooms, one at a time, is very difficult and more expensive. If it were possible to contract for the whole project it would be more economical. Until that financial support comes we will continue one year at a time. I know with God all things are possible.
An education is so very precious and important to the future of any developing country. And it is definitely the case for children in Rwanda. Urukundo Learning Center now has 3 preschool classrooms with 75 three-four year olds attending in the morning and 75 five year olds in the afternoon. Two Primary 1 classrooms opened in January 2013 with 54 children. Plans are for two Primary 2 classrooms to open January 2014.
This newsletter will share the many opportunities provided for our children to explore their creativity and use their imagination, to love books and to respect each other. Our teachers explain their passion for their careers as educators, and the love they have for the children. It will share the classroom to classroom partnerships with schools in the US. And it will highlight the commitment Hope Made Real has made not only to children's education but for providing educational opportunities to adults too, by offering English as a Second Language classes.
So join us as we “Open New Horizons in Education!!”
Photo of Cesare at classroom door
Photo of child peeking out the door.
Primary 1 - Viete, Cesarie, Solome
Preschool - Andrew, Alexie, Louise, Theogene, David, Solonge
School Director - Maggie
David is one of our amazing preschool teachers who is also taking university classes. He asked the children to greet recent visitors to their class. He shared, "It is important to teach them to be respectful and to grow to be good citizens of Rwanda."
Louise says, "One-on-one time is important to develop opportunities for children to be creative and use their imagination."
Cesarie one of our Primary 1 teachers has been teaching for 11 years. She shared some of her thoughts on education. "School is essential to improving your knowledge and sharing it with others. At school children learn to be responsible and to take care of their materials. They learn to play, be creative and take time to think through things. Each child comes with different skills so it is important for teachers to improve those skills and sometimes reorient them to improve other skills. It is also about working with our parents so they understand the importance of their child's education. Parents are encouraged to help with homework, clean their uniform, reinforce good behavior at home and help the teachers to know their children to help them grow."
Carol Falke on teacher trainings:
Each time I come I bring teacher supplies, materials and books. It is important to weave these together to form a curriculum and themes for teaching. You can’t just give teachers what we “think” they might need, without sharing the possibilities for these teaching tools.
Next we worked on leveled reading books that were donated by two publishers as well as BIG books. Teachers learned how to introduce a new book and the steps to use when reading it - prereading, reading, responding, exploring and analyzing. Again we used role playing to teach the basics of beginner reading.
So in August we held 3 days of trainings and just this past April another 3 half days. A great starting point in April was for each teacher to teach the other teachers about their “classroom to classroom” partnerships. They showed what materials went together and why, how they taught their class and what they and the children learned. Role playing is so important and was a lot of fun.
*** Urukundo always has a need for preschool or primary teachers to come to Rwanda for a few weeks, a month or longer. Teachers interested in working with the teachers on curriculum development as well as working in the classrooms. Please email Arlene if you want to discuss this further.
Our teachers answered questions.
They learned about lesson plans.
Lesson plans - the teachers guide for the week.
Sitting on the mat for a reading session. It was good to see these young people become interested in education for 3 and 4 year olds.
The students finished their day by joining with our teachers for question and answer session. It was a full day. The students learned there is more to teaching young children than play. This early teaching sets the pattern for all future education. Their impact is so important for students of tomorrow. 