Donations received on this trip allowed for the now-in-progress expansion of the library. Pierce and Katie Keating presented the gift for the library expansion. Thanks to the Keating family, Diane Mastrull and other Philadelphia area friends for helping to raise money for Urukundo. If you have not read the article written by Diane in the Philadelphia inquirer published May 1, please check it out on the web.
Large annex added.
Beliza, Esperance, Claude, Luki and Aline. The first two are high school juniors by USA standards while the others are high school freshmen.
At Urukundo, life goes on.
The secondary school kids came home for the first time since moving to their new schools.
Boarding schools, of course.
Claude, Aline and Luki
Our recent high school graduates prepare for life away from Urukundo Village. University is now in their game plan. It takes a truck.
Bosco, Olivier and Abais. Congratulations, gentlemen. Well done.
Bosco and Abais will attend the Adventist University of Central Africa, Kigali campus.
Olivier will attend University of Kigali.
With the addition of these three, we now have quite a few in higher education:
• 22 students are at the university level or beyond.
• 1 is working on her master’s degree in Texas, USA.
• 1 finished college in Seattle, Washington, USA, in 2018. He returned to Rwanda and teaches phys ed at Urukundo Learning Center.
• 1 graduates from Arizona State University, USA, in May 2019.
• 4 have finished university or trade school and are gainfully employed.
• 3 will graduate in fall 2019.
• 5 will graduate in 2020.
• 2 will finish in 2021.
• 3 will graduate in 2023.
• 2 will graduate in 2024.
Our first generation of Urukundo kids are now young men and women. They are well on their way to a brighter future, thanks to you who have cared and shared. I thank you.
The project for the month was revamping the library, including adding more educational toys and and supplying more shelf space. Librarian Irene and Olive teamed up with Carol Falke from the USA to make this project a success.
Big question: What belongs in the classroom and what should be in the library available for teachers to borrow and return?
Preschool classrooms also benefited from this project.
Organization was the objective in the library and classrooms.
Preparation before organization
Every 3- and 4-year old enjoys dolls that to play with. Cribs are on the way for these baby dolls. Each preschool classroom will have a crib and hopefully two baby dolls. Never too young to learn about love. With 30 kids in the morning and 30 in the afternoon loving on these baby dolls, they will not last long. But, oh, what fun!
In the library for all to share. African animals to see and read about.
What boy and, yes, girl would not love vehicles of every description? With books to tell the story.
Construction in progress. All ages benefit from the library.
Space travel, futuristic indeed. Carol demonstrates rocket for teachers.
Let's go shopping, Vegetables, fruits, shopping bag, pretend money and a tea set for later. All part of the learning process.
Learning about caterpillars and butterflies was the project for the preschool.
We cover so many aspects of living and sharing.
Kids are getting the full impact of food.
Shopping, vegetables
Cooking aprons and chef’s hats. See the eggs and chickens on the aprons?
Serving. First term in culinary arts. We’re starting them young.
First visit to Claude and Luki in secondary school. Visitation is allowed the second Sunday in the month. The St. Bernadette Secondary School is a half hour from Urukundo Village and easy to get to.
Students wait for family and friends.
This month, Luki hurt his shoulder playing sports, and we were able to bring him home for a few days. If he were in a school several hours away, this would not have been possible. His shoulder was only bruised, and he returned to school after three days.
Our boys are growing up.
Big brother Diescor, our medical student, home for a break, visited with the boys.
Carol Falke came home for the eighth year in a row. She is family.
Carol is from State College, Pennsylvania, USA, and is president of the Hope Made Real board of directors.
Urukundo and the Learning Center are blessed by her presence.
What do you know about butterflies? Our preschoolers know a lot, thanks to Carol Falke.
First, you read a book about caterpillars.Then you color and cut out.
Next, you show them off.
Windows also work well for this activity.
Urukundo kids enjoyed playing Simon Says with the butterflies on the lawn at Mama’s house.
Touch your nose.
Touch your toes.
The parade led by Carol topped the play time.
The start of a new year is always exciting. Here at Urukundo, it is exciting and also a mystery.
There were many challenges in 2018. Our greatest challenge was national exams for the first-ever Primary 6 students from Urukundo Learning Center. The teachers and kids met the challenge and aced the exams. Thirty-eight students took the exams, and 33 made the top division. Remarkable. Congratulations, Urukundo Learning Center. Keep up the excellent performance in 2019.
