We have just finished our fourth week in Rwanda and this week has been just as interesting and thought provoking as the previous three.
This week we decided to teach the children directions. To start with we went through the words with them (left, right, forwards and backwards) in the standard rote learning fashion. The peak of our lesson was a path drawn out on the floor with pieces of paper. One child would be blindfolded and another would direct him using the English directional words we had just taught them. There was a sweet at the end of the path which they got to eat when they completed the path. The kids got so into it that it lasted for about 45 minutes and the path was ever changing. The centre managers even got involved despite them getting confused with their lefts and rights. It was a really successful lesson but the kids took a while to work out that left and right changed when they faced a different direction. However, with the aid of the Capital Letter “L” formed between the thumb and the index finger. they soon grasped the concept. We presumed everyone really enjoyed themselves as smiling, laughter and keenness were the key features of the lesson.
The kids love to draw and are very creative and imaginative. When we were at the Kabarondo Centre on Thursday we gave the kids coloured chalk that we had brought with us. After a little prompting by us, the kids discovered the excitement of drawing on the ground of the centre. They created an amazing mural with drawings of cars, guitars, SACCA and anything they could think of. We taught them hopscotch which they loved and later taught our afternoon lesson on an outside wall as we were so inspired by their creativity.
We had decided early on to organise a sports day between the two boys centres linking the 13 girls with the Kayonza centre. Both centres were really patriotic and seeing the Kabarondo boys arrive on the back of the SACCA van all cheering and waving was really exciting! We knew from that moment that it would be a great day as the competitive spirit was very high. We organised several races from the normal 100m run to walking hands to book balancing. We also introduced wheelbarrow races and the three legged which took some explaining and which were hilarious to watch. The day brought out the children’s competitiveness and initiative. When giving an example of the potato and spoon race we realised the boys had cut their potatoes in half, creating a flat surface that fitted the spoon .This had never occurred to us and was really shocking but amusing at the same time. We were impressed by their drive to succeed and the lengths they were prepared to go to win. A highlight for us was the tug of war as by that time the scores were even and there was everything to play for. It took about 20 minutes to make the teams even and then when it finally started, the rope snapped in half within 30 seconds causing both sides to think they had won. Huge cheers erupted from both teams leaving us really confused as to what had happened and questioning whether they understood the rules. We called it a draw. After the football match, which counted for two points, Kayonza were crowned the winners by one point.
The winners of each race were awarded medals, which many of the boys were still wearing three days later. We were surprised to find that SACCA found the event and the competition between the two centres a new idea which they were really impressed by. After Sports day the boys wanted us to have lunch at the centre. We were given plates of meat and rice which in itself is a huge novelty for the children. Then six crates of fizzy drinks were brought in and the kid’s faces lit up. We found out later that this only happens for the children on very special occasions, such as Christmas and African Child day and were flattered that SACCA had considered Sports day such a special day. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for us and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.
On our day off we headed to Akagera National Park for a Safari drive with William. We went on both a game drive and a boat ride. We were told that most of the animals were in the area to the north which was six hours away from where we were. Yet we saw Zebras, Giraffes, Antelopes, Monkeys, Baboons and Buffalos. We sat on the back of the van for most of the drive so we felt like we were very close to the animals and to our surroundings. When driving towards the boat ride we happened to stumble across an elephant in the middle of the road. We were thrilled as apparently they are extremely rare to see yet William who was driving immediately reversed the car as supposedly they are very dangerous. We arrived at the boat ride and were shown hippos and looked for crocodiles. Whilst we were over the other side of the huge lake our driver somehow noticed the elephant drinking. We sped over and had our own private viewing of this elephant drinking and squirting water. This still seems really surreal and to see an elephant twice in one day is almost unheard of. People stay at the lodge for three days at a time and do not see one so we were extremely lucky to see one twice in six hours and it was the highlight of our day!
We can’t believe we only have two weeks left and are overwhelmed by how much we have done and seen in the past 4 weeks.
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