News from the Farm

June brought a wonderful team from State College to the children's farm - Joanne, Paul, Kira and Dave.

They worked wonders at the farm. The silage project included farmers from the community.
What a team!
The Agriculture Team enjoyed the children and worked very hard making improvements on the farm.
Paul with double trouble - Agide and Kenny.
Two Davids - best buddies.
Project Chicken Tiller
This tiller house for chickens is on wheels and can be easily moved. it is my understanding that it is not only good for the chickens but fertilizes the land for future planting.
The chickens are happy. They like scratching in the dirt.
The kids think the new house for chickens is great.
Claude and Becca inspecting the new project. They approve.
Project Pigs
The children at Saint Pauls UMC State College Sunday School class made buying our kids a new male pig their project.
With the money they collected we were able to purchase a male and also a female pig. Our kids at Urukundo send their thanks!
(Date on the camera is acting up again).
Kids inspect the new papa pigs.
The boys walked with me on my morning inspection - Soso and Claude peer in at the fence opening.
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Sports News

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The second half of the basketball court is completed and we once again have a court to play basketball and volley ball. We are grateful to the Carnagie Mellon team for starting this project.
Preparing the final stages of construction. Benjimin and his crew do a good job. Covering stones on basketball court preparing for cement.
First cement in place and beginning to dry.
Finished - a beautiful sight. Thanks for everyone who helped make this possible. Your gifts really do make a difference.
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May Greetings

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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.

Education Update

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.

A Day at School

A typical day at school means lining up to sing the national anthem and other songs to show pride in their country and to praise all the blessings they have. Daily sorghum porridge is served for the preschoolers as studies show nutrition is important for focusing and learning. For some this may be the only meal until dinner.

They learn hygiene by cleaning up before and after snacks. 

Listening skills are emphasized during storytime. 

Time for play is important to show education is fun.

The curriculum also includes creative arts, writing, math, history, science, French, English, Kinyarwanda and time in the library.

Opportunities for teaching in and outside the classroom abound!!!

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Celebrating our Teachers

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Our teachers are making a difference in so many lives. For each child as well as for their families. We LOVE our teachers and so do our children!!!
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."

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Teacher Training

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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.

Classroom to Classroom Partnerships

These partnerships have been a wonderful way for children and teachers to learn from each other. They learn about each others cultures, get to know students in each class and share what is the same and what is different between the US and Rwanda.
 
Friends Schoolhouse Preschool, PA

This new partnership focused on how babies are carried. The school's parents took photos of all the ways babies are carried in the US by mothers, fathers and grandparents and even kids carrying their stuffed animals. The teachers compiled a booklet to send with the book, "A Ride on Mother's Back" signed by the teachers. One parent sent a side sling baby carrier. In Rwanda we had the new sewing center make two smaller versions of the sling carrier for the children to use. The children in David's class had fun learning something new.

Mt. Nittany Elementary School, PA
 
Third graders at this school learn about Africa and through one child a partnership was formed. This child learned about the Urukundo Home for Children at her church where she and others collected shoes and money for goats. She shared this with her teacher who was excited to become connected. They agreed to collect buttons to be used as teaching tools for math in Rwanda. The Rwandan baskets overflowed with buttons, so they decided to make "Button People" as a gift for the preschoolers. In Rwanda the children created a button frame and a picture of hands with button jewelry as gifts for the 3rd graders. And of course they read "Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons". The third graders also wrote letters and drew pictures for the Primary 1 classes about their families, sports, food, pets, hobbies, snow and their homes. Learning together continues across the world!!!
Child Care Center at Hort Woods, Penn State, PA

This has been a 2 year partnership comparing classrooms, sharing children's photos and names and giving each other baskets from their country. Booklets of how each of the baskets were made were given to each school. This time the theme was, "A Circle of Friends". Photos of each pair of children, Picture Pals, were attached to a letter and artwork. Then the children in Rwanda sent back a letter with mosaic art to each of their Picture Pals.

An Aha Moment!

Walking from the library at the end of a day, I peaked in David’s preschool class. One group of preschoolers were using the building set, Straws and Connectors, that I left in August. When I saw how they were using it, I understood I should have taken the time to go one step further by opening the box and showing them the potential for building.

You see they didn’t know the connectors were supposed to be pulled apart to allow them to build “BIG” things. They used the connectors as a platform.

Notice the fun they had when they realized all the possibilities they had.  Even David, the teacher,  was having fun!!