Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda! Hi Guys - hope everyone is well? Sorry for the delay in posting. I have been here now for a week. There have been issues with the Internet being down for a while (something about a cable being cut in Uganda?) and I've been flat out teaching and travelling back from work so this is the first chance i have had to stop and get the space to do this. I am sitting here now in a very busy Internet Cafe in the centre of Kigali, reasonably close to our accommodation, with my 1,5 liter of water next to me. Thankfully it is hot, but not roasting and there is a gentle breeze. We have encountered very few mosquitoes. We had to negotiate a bit of a hill to get here, and every morning on our way to the bus, so at first I thought I would be fitter when I return – now I don't think there is any chance ,given all the chips I've eaten this week! Rwanda isn’t called the “Land of a Thousand Hills’ for nothing – I’m just hoping I won’t be climbing a thousand, even though it feels like that at the moment!!!
Some of the team have gone off on a day trip to Lake Kiva and the rest of us have stayed behind in Kigali to chill and do some local stuff..We are heading off to Lunch now and then to visit the ‘Genocide Memorial Museum' in Kigali so I don’t have a huge amount of time to cover everything that has happened in my first eventful week here. I will attempt to give you a flavor of what I have encountered so far in terms of the country, the people and our CAMARA volunteer training in the schools.
I was very surprised how big and busy Kigali is, especially at rush hour when returning from work. It seems to have a small centre but then sprawl out for a huge area. People are very friendly but we have encountered some language issues as we have headed out of the centre, with more Kinyarwanda being spoken. I have picked up some more basic words which is really good in helping communication.
On Monday and Tuesday, we met Eddie and Stephen who work in the Camara hub in Kigali. I was very impressed with both guys and with the excellent organization in the Hub. This is where the computers from Ireland arrive and where Rwandan volunteers get the computers ready for use in schools across Rwanda. I was also impressed with the volunteers, some of whom had been sent out to local schools to train up the teachers.
On Wednesday I started teaching the course ICT in Education to 16 teachers in Doctrina Vitae School, Kigali. I must admit I was very nervous, and a bit worried about possible language issues. However the day’s training went really well. I did my best to keep my language very clear. Most of the teachers' English and IT skills were very good and they were very friendly. They seemed to enjoy the course and fedback that the applications we were teaching could be very useful for use in their classrooms. A particular hit was an application called Marble, which is bit like Google Earth. I was really pleased to get the first day over. On Thursday and Friday I worked In Nyamata High School, about an hours bus journey from Kigali. We taught 19 teachers and again it was a positive experience.
We did have some electricity issues. In Doctrina on Wednesday the electricity cut out for about 30 mins before lunch. However we got our students around one laptop (operating on battery power) and created a Kword Quiz as a class, for teaching Kinyarwanda/English which was good fun. On Friday the electricity was on but the computer room sockets cut out and we were without electricity from 3.30 onwards. This wasn't a major issue though, as we had evaluation sheets and revision to do, along with handing out certificates so it worked out grand in the end. Great team work from all the Camara volunteers facilitating the course and Rwandan volunteers who also worked with us to make sure the course ran smoothly.
I am looking forward to chilling out this weekend and to teaching again next week. I think we are going to Amahoro (Kinyarwanda word for peace) Stadium, Kigali tomorrow to watch the World Cup on a big screen there.
Quotes from the Week
Frank (one our CAMARA team co-ordinators) on the phone to Eddie, Camara Rwanda CEO) ,outside a restaurant we had arrived at for our evening meal. Eddie was due to meet us at the restaurant.
" Hi Eddie. We have just arrived at Heaven." ( Heaven is the name of the restaurant - photo to follow to prove this!)
Frank again - " Kay, can i borrow 20 grand from you ?" ( this was in Rwandan Franks - equivalent to30 euros )
Got to go now.. Need to head for Lunch and order food early - it usually takes a while for food orders to be delivered to the table - we have got used to this by now!
Take Care. Will blog soon…… Kay XXXX
Some of the team have gone off on a day trip to Lake Kiva and the rest of us have stayed behind in Kigali to chill and do some local stuff..We are heading off to Lunch now and then to visit the ‘Genocide Memorial Museum' in Kigali so I don’t have a huge amount of time to cover everything that has happened in my first eventful week here. I will attempt to give you a flavor of what I have encountered so far in terms of the country, the people and our CAMARA volunteer training in the schools.
I was very surprised how big and busy Kigali is, especially at rush hour when returning from work. It seems to have a small centre but then sprawl out for a huge area. People are very friendly but we have encountered some language issues as we have headed out of the centre, with more Kinyarwanda being spoken. I have picked up some more basic words which is really good in helping communication.
On Monday and Tuesday, we met Eddie and Stephen who work in the Camara hub in Kigali. I was very impressed with both guys and with the excellent organization in the Hub. This is where the computers from Ireland arrive and where Rwandan volunteers get the computers ready for use in schools across Rwanda. I was also impressed with the volunteers, some of whom had been sent out to local schools to train up the teachers.
On Wednesday I started teaching the course ICT in Education to 16 teachers in Doctrina Vitae School, Kigali. I must admit I was very nervous, and a bit worried about possible language issues. However the day’s training went really well. I did my best to keep my language very clear. Most of the teachers' English and IT skills were very good and they were very friendly. They seemed to enjoy the course and fedback that the applications we were teaching could be very useful for use in their classrooms. A particular hit was an application called Marble, which is bit like Google Earth. I was really pleased to get the first day over. On Thursday and Friday I worked In Nyamata High School, about an hours bus journey from Kigali. We taught 19 teachers and again it was a positive experience.
We did have some electricity issues. In Doctrina on Wednesday the electricity cut out for about 30 mins before lunch. However we got our students around one laptop (operating on battery power) and created a Kword Quiz as a class, for teaching Kinyarwanda/English which was good fun. On Friday the electricity was on but the computer room sockets cut out and we were without electricity from 3.30 onwards. This wasn't a major issue though, as we had evaluation sheets and revision to do, along with handing out certificates so it worked out grand in the end. Great team work from all the Camara volunteers facilitating the course and Rwandan volunteers who also worked with us to make sure the course ran smoothly.
I am looking forward to chilling out this weekend and to teaching again next week. I think we are going to Amahoro (Kinyarwanda word for peace) Stadium, Kigali tomorrow to watch the World Cup on a big screen there.
Quotes from the Week
Frank (one our CAMARA team co-ordinators) on the phone to Eddie, Camara Rwanda CEO) ,outside a restaurant we had arrived at for our evening meal. Eddie was due to meet us at the restaurant.
" Hi Eddie. We have just arrived at Heaven." ( Heaven is the name of the restaurant - photo to follow to prove this!)
Frank again - " Kay, can i borrow 20 grand from you ?" ( this was in Rwandan Franks - equivalent to30 euros )
Got to go now.. Need to head for Lunch and order food early - it usually takes a while for food orders to be delivered to the table - we have got used to this by now!
Take Care. Will blog soon…… Kay XXXX
Hi Kay glad to hear that you have settled in. What an amazing experience you are having. Just back from France with family. Rain falling hard in Ireland. Yes the Irish summer has finally arrived! Keep blogging, see you soon Niamh x
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