Sister School Partnerships!

For the past three years, US schools have been partnering with the Urukundo School to provide teaching tools and resources. Classroom projects on a diversity of themes have been exchanged over the years. These have included creative writing, making books and researching many topics. This year after exchanging the projects, our head teacher Irene asked if the projects could originate from Urukundo. So for 2015/2016 the teachers and students will provide all the themes and topics for classroom partnerships.

Our Teachers

We are so fortunate to have such qualified and experienced teachers. Most have a teaching degree or are going to university to receive one. Irene, our head teacher, is continuing his education by returning to university on Saturdays for a certificate in school administration. We now have teachers inquiring when we will be hiring as our school has become a model in the district.

Preschool Skills

Children love butterflies so what better way to teach preschool skills….cutting, coloring, taping and tying. First our preschool teachers read books about them. Then they shared steps each child would do to make their butterflies. This project became more than the process of making them. They would also be used in the class when singing songs, to touch their butterfly on parts of the body, to do math and to simply have them flutter around during playtime.       

Creative Writing

Some of the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd grades classes took on writing projects. This year titles were, “How I go to School”, “How I Would Like to Go to School” and “Where I Like to Read”. What fun it was to compare what the Rwanda and US kids wrote. This was a great tool to learn about each other’s cultures.

Going to school…..In Rwanda the kids walk or their parents bring them on a bicycle or motorcycle. In the US they come mostly by bus or in their parent’s car. Fun ways the Rwandan kids would like to go to school are by helicopter, hopping on a frog, holding onto a butterfly or balloons or kite or on the back of a gecko or elephant. A dream for several would be to ride a bus like the kids in the US. Imagination was key for this project.

Social Studies

Together classes are working on a book about buildings in the US and Rwanda. What started as a list of 28 soon grew. In Rwanda, the first step was to go to the library or use their textbooks to research their building. Then they drew and wrote about them. This was a great opportunity to teach each other not only what the buildings look like but how the building is used, such as a courthouse, museum, cybercafé, hardware store.

Did you know there were no train stations in Rwanda? No fire stations in THEIR community? The kids know about trains and firetrucks which led to a great discussion. I just read that the first fire truck was given in 2000 and now there are 12 for the entire country.

Next year we hope the children can visit some of the buildings and we can take photos to make a book.

Math

Children love big sheets of paper and color. So 3 classrooms began projects making graphs. Two made a bar graph and one a line graph. The process of data gathering included making choices by voting on favorite animals and foods. Then they discussed how to use their data to make the bar graph. The line graph was on height. Students took turns measuring classmates then recorded their results. The graph from the US was in feet and inches. Urukundo students used centimeters but also noted feet and inches. Head teacher Irene was very involved and led a discussion about what each graph depicted and what they learned.

Science

François is our new science teacher. With many years of experience she was thrilled to see some of the teaching tools that have been brought to Rwanda over the years. Kits made by teachers about butterflies, insects, magnets, amphibians and reptiles. This year she worked on biomes with her students choosing 1 to draw and write about. Thanks for the great books in the library! After they finished they loved comparing how they depicted a particular biome and how a student in the US did. They were quite similar!

Francois provided a new list of science topics that she could use additional resource and teaching materials on. If you are interested in helping please contact Carol Falke at falkes@verizon.net and she can share what is being requested.

The Newest Classrooms

We are still raising funds to finish construction on two 4^th grade and one 5^th grade classroom to be finished by January 2016. Support for the building, desks, school materials and new teachers are always needed. Follow the construction progress each month!

4th Grade

3rd Grade

Our Youth's Future

I find it hard to believe that the little children we started out with in 2006 are now young men and women ready for university. Tresor, Divine, Alexander, Anett, Esperance and Lucie have all finished secondary school (High School). We are blessed to have support for 4 of our students and are praying for support for the other two. Let me know if you can help with their education.

Anett and Esperance still need $4,500-5,000 annually for tuition and expenses. Anett will study International Relations and Esperance Nursing.

AnettEsperance

Newsletter for March

With all the activity here, I am also preparing to go home to visit friends and family. It is a pleasure I am looking forward to. Imagine 2 months and 9 days in the US. I hope you will all welcome me and be as glad to see me, as I will be to see you.

My schedule is here.

We had several interesting visitors this month but having two members of the Hope Made Real board arrive was the best.

Marilyn Ely & Carol Falke are no longer considered visitors - this is five years for both of them. They bring lots of goodies for Urukundo Kids, Urukundo Learning Center and Urukundo Dental Initiative.

A new toothbrush for every Urukundo Kid. The deal was they brought the old one to mama and received a new one.

Carol set forth a challenge to youth in her area. 1000 toothbrushes in a month for Urukundo kids and Dental Community kids. The challenge was more than met the collected over 2000 brushes and we are the benefactor. We not only can now give toothbrushes to all children but also adults.

Marilyn is a favorite with the kids. She and her colleague Meridith Bakke heard our cry for backpacks and the kids were delighted to receive and parade with their new backpacks.  The old ones were in bad shape.

Assisting, Sharing and Teaching Teachers

Timothy Shea was a delightful fit with the kids.

Tim was here to become involved in the ongoing project to give aid to our teachers. Assisting, Sharing & Teaching Teachers is an important vision at Urukundo Learning Center. We look forward to a closer relationship with Tim and his Team players.

News from the Farm

The cowboys were delighted when a young woman chose to work on the farm as her volunteer project at Urukundo. Abby came prepared with a pair of  knee high black boots. Not exactly the latest fashion design but served the purpose.

Abby learned to walk down steep uneven steps  keeping her balance. Those steps are a bit much for me but I tackle them at least once a week on the arm of one of the boys.

Abby gathered eggs.

Milked a cow.

And earned the respect of all the farm staff.

She did not come a farmer, but she is leaving with a new respect for the farm and the hard work involved in caring for animals that are so important to our well being.