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!'

Nkombo Nursery and Baho Neza Mwana Street Children

After a short boat ride across the dewy morning Lake Kivu, Team Rwanda 2014 arrived at Nkombo Nursery. The children were ready for us, with even the littlest in their uniforms waiting to see what we had in store for them. Inside Jo, Francine and Maddie had a range of pens and paper set out for the future Picassos, although by the end of the session it was doubtful  as to whether the faces or paper saw more of the action… Sparkly hearts were also adorned in unusual places that they definitely weren’t designed for, but just showed the creativity and eagerness of the children. Stephan, Bridget and Natasha led the others with games outside. After a tentative start with a rework of ‘Duck Duck Goose’, tunnel ball became a firm favourite with the children showing their competitive side with a few well placed elbows. We were then escorted back to our boat with multiple helping hands and a very friendly inkoko (chicken) who had accompanied us both ways across the lake.

Stephan organising 'Duck Duck Goose' 

Hard at work

Lake Kivu

A highlight of our trip so far was this afternoon’s visit to Baho Neza Mwana, a refuge for the region’s orphaned children who would otherwise be living on the streets.  Here we were given a tour of the village and shown where the children sleep, learn skills like sewing, eat and play.  With today being Friday, washing day, sunny spots on grassy banks were covered with clean clothes and linen left to dry.  Two bags we brought over from the UK were the source of inexplicable delight; one contained loom bands and the other a collection of nail polishes, nail art pens and nail art tools kindly donated by Models Own.  

Girls will be girls 

The most demanding customer!

Stephan gave Natasha and Bridget a quick tutorial on how to use the loom bands after which they demonstrated the technique to the children who quickly picked it up and effortlessly made bracelets, necklaces and other colourful accessories.  Meanwhile, Maddie and Jo had great fun painting nails and adorning them with glitter and patterns.  Some of the girls then took to painting their own toenails and even gave a few of us some interesting manicures.  

Bridget's new business...

When we had exhausted our supply of loom bands and everyone was happy with their painted nails, the children performed dance routines for their guests before heading down to a football pitch the size of, well, a football pitch, set on the banks of Lake Kivu.  The Rwanda Aid staff members led some warm-up exercises after which a competitive game of football commenced.  Bridget and Maddie were brave enough to participate in the game and we’re still not sure whether the constant calls of ‘mzungo’ (white person) were the children’s way of telling each other to pass to or kick well away from them.  Francine joined some of the others for a game of volleyball and once both these matches were finished, the children all carried firewood (mostly on their heads) back up to the village.  

Jonas dominating the football field

Shortly thereafter, Stephan arrived with crates of cold drinks and a big bag of sweets which everyone enjoyed after this busy but brilliant afternoon.  The wonderful children (and staff) of this village sent us off in such high spirits; they have left an impression that will not easily be removed from our memories or our hearts.