Visitors, Graduation and the first Goodbyes

It's been a very busy 2 weeks.  Firstly, the prime minister visited Musanze as part of the national celebration of World Food Day.  Then it was Nursery Graduation to celebrate the achievements of the Top Class of Nursery who have passed their exams and are moving onto Primary.   We also had visitors from the UK, who came loaded with audiology equipment to test and fit hearing aids for deaf children at the school and from surrounding villages.  Finally, and sadly for me, it was the end of the school term and time to say good-bye to the children.

Prime Minister meets the deaf children

The World Food Day celebration was focused on good farm prices and increased productivity.  The event was held in Nyange sector, where the Deaf School and CHH programmes are based.  All the children were invited to the event to hear the prime minister speak (Louis stood at the front to sign the speeches for the deaf children). The speeches were in Kinya-rwanda, altho I was lucky that Teacher Noel translated much of the proceedings for me.  At one point, the prime minister presented cows to 3 vulnerable women in the community.   You could see how happy the women were - one of them was dancing round, even tho she was quite elderly!   The highlight of the event for me tho was when the prime minster called out the deaf children in his speech, encouraging the community to greet them - at which point all the children (fortunately wearing bright yellow T-shirts!) stood up and waved at the crowds!   After he had finished, he went over to the children to shake hands with them and to greet Louis.  Considering how many people attended the event from both Musanze and out of town, it was pretty powerful to see him make such an important gesture of support.   I was so happy for the children and for Louis and the teachers to get such public recognition.

Bernadette leads the procession

Boys from the deaf school in "intore" costume

Last Sunday, it was Nursery Graduation to celebrate the Top Class completing their nursery education and moving up to primary school from the start of next year.  Altho to folks overseas, this might not be any big deal, it is an important event here.   Nobody takes education for granted and every achievement is celebrated.   Also, it was a great opportunity to raise awareness of FCYF’s wonderful work and projects.   The “graduates” wore gowns and mortarboards, which was very cute.  All the parents were dressed up in amazing outfits and beamed with pride throughout the day!  After photos at one of the hotels in town, they marched thru Musanze then were whisked up to the primary school, where there were speeches from Elie, Bernadette and VIP guests (including the vice-mayor of the district); certificates awarded to the children and songs and dances from nursery, primary and the deaf school.   The singing and dancing was definitely my favourite part of the day. Baby Class (3/4 year olds) sang several songs very enthusiastically, including one about HIV.  Middle Class, Top Class and children from Primary also sang, and children from the deaf school did some amazing dancing, with the boys dressed up in intore (traditional) costumes.   Becky and I wore beautiful Rwandan dresses for the occasion, which Bernadette had helped us choose beforehand, and welcomed parents and visitors.

Children from the school checking out the testing room!

We also had visitors from the UK last week running a hearing project at the deaf school.   Jane, an experienced audiologist, and Anna-mai from Jubilee Action arrived laden with donated equipment so that Jane, together with Louis, could test children from both the school and from surrounding villages and fit them for hearing aids where it would be beneficial for the children.   Everyone worked incredibly hard all week and Jane and Louis were able to test over 40 children, which was a massive achievement.   The school had been donated an audiology testing machine earlier in the year and Louis had been trained by a VSO volunteer to test so in order to maximize the number of children who could be helped, we all helped out with Louis focusing on testing, helped by me, Becky and Anna-mai, with Jane fitting moulds for hearing aids and providing guidance to Louis when needed, and one of us recording details on the computer for future reference and follow up.  I know that Jane felt like she had not helped enough children, but she was completely amazing and could not have done more in her week here.  One of the things I loved about the way she worked was that she did not assume that the children would want a hearing aid as the children from the school at least, are able to communicate via sign language and lip reading.  So once a test confirmed that a hearing aid would be beneficial, Louis asked the child if he/she wanted a hearing aid.  They all did!  One of my jobs when helping with the testing was to help “condition” the younger children for testing. The older children could press a button on the equipment but the younger children had to be taught that when they heard a sound, they had to drop a coloured counter into a bag.   Most of them got it quite quickly.  I found that I desperately wanted them to hear the beeps when testing so that they could have a hearing aid but of course, many were profoundly deaf or had no hearing at all so couldn’t. When a hearing aid wouldn’t help, Louis would explain to the child that they weren’t going to have a hearing aid and it would break my heart.   

The children from the school took the testing in their strides but it was a different story with some of the village children.   FCYF had done a radio broadcast a couple of weeks before to find parents with deaf children and many came to the centre, prepared to sit round all day waiting for their turn.  Several of the children were nervous and many had other problems.  One profoundly deaf child had severe scarring on his eyes and Jane was worried that he might go blind also.   We were able to get the doctor husband of a volunteer helper to come to school and he advised that the scarring was the result of the boy being too close to the charcoal fire his mother cooked on, so Louis had to explain to the mother that she must keep her son away from the fire or there was a risk of blindness.  Another child was severely traumatized and Jane found out that she wasn’t deaf at all.  When her family was questioned by Louis, he found out that the girl had had tonsillitis several years ago and a traditional healer (witch doctor) had put his hands down her throat and literally pulled out the tonsils, and the girl hadn’t spoken since, not thru physical damage but from fear.  Her family had assumed that she become deaf.   FCYF is planning to expand the number of children at the deaf school next year, and the good news from this week is that several of the village children who came to be tested are likely to be able to come to school. 

School term ended on Friday for all schools in Rwanda so sadly, it was time to say goodbye to the children.  On Thursday, it was our last chance to see children at the deaf school before they returned to their parents / guardians (many are orphans) for the holidays.  We decided to buy them "fanta"  (generic term Rwandans use for fizzy drinks / sodas) for all the children at the centre (68 deaf children and 64 CHH) and an American lady who volunteers two mornings a week at school, brought small cakes she had baked.   The children rarely get to have treats like fanta or cake so they were all quite excited (the little ones all kept their drinking straws!).  Of course, Rwandans are the most generous, thoughtful people anywhere and altho it was supposed to be our little treat to the children as a farewell, they turned the tables and made it into a special farewell party for us!  We were banned from the main common room while they "set up" and then when we went in all the children were assembled and the singing and dancing began!!!    I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was.  Firstly the deaf girls danced, then the CHH girls, then the two groups together.  Despite not hearing, the deaf girls danced in perfect rhythm to the drumbeat with the CHH girls, with other CHH girls singing.  Just beautiful to watch and the video I took of it is now a treasured souvenir of my time in Rwanda.  The boys got dressed up in their "intore" (traditional costumes) and danced too, and then everyone in the room was up dancing, including us.   So, so special.  Of course, after that it got all emotional and everyone was crying (not just me and Becky, but the children and some of the teachers!!).

It was also time to say goodbye to the primary school children.   Friday was school report day, so parents came to school with their children to see the teachers.  The children had done really well in their exams but for some it was not enough.  One boy was inconsolable for only coming 7^th out of his class of 40+ !   His mum was really happy and proud of him but couldn't cheer him up.  The two girls I sponsor did very well in their exams, which I was very excited about!  I went to talk to their teacher like a proud parent!!   I have some books for them that I bought in Kigali as a treat and am looking forward to seeing them this week before I head home.

Rebuilding a Home

Per my earlier post, you'll recall that the home of one of our CHH girls, was recently washed away pretty much leaving her and her younger siblings with no shelter.  Short term, they have been staying with their community mentor but yesterday, work started rebuilding their house.  This involved taking apart what was left of the old house and rebuilding using old materials where possible together with some new iron roof sheets, wood and materials.  I didn't realise but the rebuilding was going to be done by the other CHH children and the older boys from the deaf school, together with some of the teachers / vocational skills trainers.  Becky and I also went along to help!

CHH girls chat away whilst carrying rocks on their heads!

There was the most amazing feeling of community spirit I have seen!  Not that that was a surprise as Rwandans are very community minded, but it was so special to watch the children work so well together.  We walked down from the deaf school together after morning lessons, and all picked up some stones at the road side to carry to the home.  I carried a rather pathetic smallish rock.  Some of the CHH girls could carry 2 large rocks on their heads at the same time!!!   They used wrapped banana leaves to make holders for them.  Then others carried wood.   In less than 4 hours, the frame of the house had been built.  There were no arguments / debates over how to do things - the children just got on with it.  No breaks either!! Plus it was one of the hottest days since I'd been in Rwanda. 

Here are some more pictures from our rebuilding.   There are also more houses that need urgent repairs (plus many more urgent needs across the organisation), so sorry for the plug again, but if anyone has not yet donated and would like to, please visit my fundraising page.  Thank you so, so much!

A Day in the Life of...

Lakeside at Gisenyi

Instead of writing about my travels, for a change I thought I would tell you a bit more about my day-to-day life volunteering at FCYF.  As a side note, I’m writing this in Gisenyi, sipping delicious Rwandan coffee (grown locally) and overlooking the northern end of Lake Kivu on the border with DRC.  Another stunning place in this beautiful country.  Anyway, am diverting.  The objective of my volunteering assignment, arranged by AfID, is to help FCYF build their financial capacity.   This broadly means I am here to coach and provide advice and recommendations to FCYF’s director, Elie, and his team on financial management to ensure that their financial practices are not only at a level that can ensure the continuation of their programme activities but also support expansion.  For example, this might involve developing better management reporting information for decision making or ensuring that the financial accounting routines are at a level required by international NGOs and other organisations that might provide funding.   I’m also coaching various folks around the organisation on computer skills, primarily MS Office.  I’ve had (too many) years of crunching spreadsheets and multiple training courses – some of the team here have only recently had access to computers and never had any training nor used them at school.

Elie & Bernadette at Wisdom Primary

I’m half way through my assignment now and (sort of!) in a routine.  My day-to-day life is pretty simple, compared to the chaos of life in London.  I am living at the lovely home of Elie and his wife, Bernadette, which is a short walk from Wisdom Nursery and Primary Schools.  My colleagues at work are a great group of people including the teachers at Wisdom (who are mainly from Uganda); teachers and vocational skills trainers at the Nyange centre (5km from Wisdom on the road to Volcanoes National Park), where the Deaf Children’s Centre (DCC) and Child Headed Households (CHH) programme are based; Jacky, who is the social worker for CHH and Becky, who is the other volunteer at FCYF.   My closest work colleagues in addition to Elie are Pelagie, who is the accountant for the primary school and Angelique, who is the accountant for the nursery school.  Both Pelagie and Angelique studied in French at school (Rwanda swapped teaching in French for teaching in English in 2009). They both learned English at school but were a little shy using it with me at first, but now they chatter away in English.  They’ve both welcomed me into their team and are keen to learn new things – also there is lots of laughter.  It’s a fun place to work.

With Children at the Deaf Children's Centre

Elie is keen to make some changes to how the accounting and finance works, so I’m mainly working by creating new spreadsheets and processes, reviewing with Elie then coaching Pelagie and Angelique on how these work.  Then we follow up continually to ensure these are working effectively and then move on to the next thing.   I’m the first AfID volunteer at FCYF and AfID looks to build long term relationships with its partners so there will be volunteers at FCYF next year and they will adapt the coaching as required.   One of the reasons that working with AfID was so appealing is the long-term commitment – I will do whatever I can, then hand the baton over to the next volunteers.  When I worked in London, my day was broken up by meetings and calls, and to avoid too much time at a PC screen here (and because I also want to spend time with the children), I break up my week by spending a morning and an afternoon at Nyange, coaching computer skills to Louis, the director, and helping out in the classrooms with the deaf children and also when I go to Nursery a couple of times a week I usually get there for 7.30am when the children do songs and play before class (yes, even the 3 year olds in “Baby Class” have scheduled lessons!).  It’s so cute to watch the nursery children sing – a great way to start off the day.  I spend more time at the primary school than other sites because that is where Elie is based, and usually have lunch with the primary school teachers, where they frequently engage in lengthy and lively debates about all sorts of topics.  They are a great crowd (and no wonder, the primary school children are doing so well at debate practice!)

 It’s rainy season here at the moment, which means frequent heavy downpours in the afternoon and I usually head back into town late afternoon between rain showers if possible then if I need a break from work, I might go to town and grab coffee (there are a few nice little cafes in Musanze) or do some more work.    The evenings are pretty quiet and for some reason that I haven’t yet fathomed out, I usually feel exhausted in the evenings so go to bed embarrassingly early.

I love the time I spend with the children.  Most of the CHH speak no English or only a little and since I speak hardly any Kinyarwanda we have to find other ways to communicate.   So this week we were playing around with the video on my camera – the children were taking it in turns to dance for the video, then they would watch the images and laugh hysterically at themselves!!   But it’s a double life for these children, which was brought home to me this week when I heard that the home of one of the CHH girls had pretty much been washed away and she and her 2 younger siblings were effectively sleeping outside.   Her home is a 1 room hut and the roof has almost completely disintegrated, the walls have big holes in them, she is being harassed at night by folks poking her with a stick through the holes in the wall (Elie thinks maybe to see if she is awake as they want to steal the goat that FCYF provided to her) and she has no lock on the door.  This leaves her family exposed to all sorts of risks.  It's rainy season and there is torrential rain daily; also she is at risk of rape.  Also I found out that the 3 children have no mattresses and share 1 blanket. It was heartbreaking to see the photos but at least Jacky, the social worker, found out about the damage and Elie has arranged for it to be fixed urgently (new metal sheet roof, special sealing mud for the walls and new lock).   At least she has FCYF supporting her.  One minute loads of laughs and smiles at the centre and next misery at home. But I guess that's one of the reasons that the centre is so amazing - for one part of the day the CHH can relax and enjoy being children, hanging out with their friends and getting some training for the future.

Unfortunately FCYF has limited funding and there are other CHH children with problems at their homes, plus many other needs for FCYF projects.   So sorry for the plug, but if anyone would like to help by donating money, please visit my fundraising page at Just Giving.  I’ve been working with FCYF for some time now, and can assure you the money will be well spent and will go directly to where it is needed.

Right, time for me to leave the Gisenyi lakeside and get the bus back to Musanze.   Hope everyone has a good week.