Umuganda, Painting at Ngwino Nawe and Lunch with the Street Children

This morning brought an early start for a Saturday. Every last Saturday of the month the Rwandans celebrate 'Umaganda', a morning of national community service. All cars have to be off the road between 8am and 12pm, during which time the local communities all donate the hours to a village project. The word 'Umaganda' can be translated as 'coming together in a common purpose to achieve an outcome'. This is part of the Government's efforts to reconstruct Rwanda and nurture a shared national identity. 

Blink and you won't miss it.

 This, however, was very convenient for Stephan to ensure that we were all out of bed and ready to go to Ngwino Nawe to finish painting the mural. After a hasty breakfast we drove through the quiet roads, hoping we didn't have to pull the 'mzungu' card if the police saw us out of time. The day may have been drizzly, but the spirit was eternally sunny. In the action packed few hours Maddie completed the learning wall with an alphabet under the giant chalkboards, and whilst Francine drew the pictures she was continually asked about the imaginative creatures and fish she was drawing.

The new learning wall.

 After she had been at her community service, Therese returned towards the end of our session and jumped straight in with painting some tropical fish. 

Many hands making light work.

Colour decisions on the outside wall.

Once the sounds of motor vehicles returned to normal very rapidly after midday, we jumped back in the car and were swiftly on our way back to the Street Children project.  On our arrival we were greeted by the excitable faces of the children all ready to go to their family and foster homes. Very quickly we were ushered into the main hall, where we were presented by Claudette with a wonderful lunch and sat down with the children to have their end-of-term meal. 

The most wonderful lunchtime.

Gentle, respectful conversations arose between children that filled the room with a calm hum. Just before we finished eating, it was time to celebrate the children's achievements. It was wonderful to see that 7 of the children had reached the top of their class, and 5 children were leaving to permanent new homes. The care, devotion and concern Claudette feels for these children was evident in her emotionally charged address to us all. The children are being equipped with skills to give them a bright future. 

Loom's newest entrepreneurs.

Another session of loom bands ensued, with both boys and girls getting snazzy with the patterns and with a deftness that was remarkable. Spirographs also were thrown into the mix, with the teachers leading the way in order to try and persuade the boys that they didn’t quite need to produce 4 bracelets…each! 

Concentration.

We are all so excited to see what the next year brings for these very special children, and their equally inspiring, driving force of a director Claudette.

Francine teaching 'Baby Five!'