Picture of the Day 15/09/2014

We have now come to the very very end of our placement - thanks for sticking with us for so long!! Our time in Kigali has been life changing and we have learnt so much. We really hope that we have inspired you to 'Challenge yourself to change your world'!

From left to right - Claire, Rachel, Henry, Beth, Sam, Vicky, David and Chinwe!!

Lots of love Kigali Dream Team July to September 2014 xxx

Our Kigali Highlights

We have now come to the end of our Tearfund ICS placement, partnering with AEE based in Kigali City. We have had some of the best ten weeks of our lives; doing our project work, creating relationships with the staff, living together, celebrating birthdays and just generally having adventures.

SO we thought, what better way to end our trip than to celebrate all of our team highlights!!

Gasabo Mission Outreach:

Our entire team loved this day - leading the children in Sunday school, playing games with them after church. It was the first time we had done any work with children and having such a positive reaction from both the children and their leaders was fantastic, and a great encouragement!! We loved getting to dance with members of the community and see numerous choirs perform.  It was an honour being asked to come up and pray for people - it was one of the first times we felt we had truly integrated with a community.

Mission Outreach Blog Post

Moving in Day!!

We were sad to be leaving our friends from orientation however, our first day in the AEE guest house was full of laughter and joy as we couldn't wait to get started with the work and really get stuck in to the reason we came out here and joined ICS in the first place.  Further we were also so excited to properly bond as a team and live together - deciding who was sharing with who etc...

The First time the Staff Meeting was held in English:

This was one the best moments of the entire trip. Prior to our English lessons the staff were unable to communicate effectively in English and required a translator at all times. However after a couple of lessons their language skills improved dramatically and they were able to hold the meeting in English!! This was a great reinforcement that what we were doing was worthwhile and was having a positive impact. Post this and with more lessons the staff were able to hold a fully fledged debate in English during our last week.

AEE English Lessons Blog

Feeling like a Part of the Team:

We loved the way we were taken around the see all of the self-help groups and the projects that AEE were a part of - it really made us feel like part of the team that they wanted to share all of their work with us. Also the way that they included us in the staff meetings was lovely and how they were so genuinely interested in what we had been up to during our week and weekend.

Going out for Dinner:

We loved all our hangouts as a team, visiting different restaurants, experiencing new sorts of food. We even introduced Henry and David to the delights of Mexican food by taking them to Meze Fresh. We always had so much fun; laughing, joking, messing around, telling stories.

Climbing Mount Kigali:

We climbed Mount Kigali as a team - and although we didn't find the cafe at the top and it took rather longer than we expected. We had a fantastic time working together as a team, telling stories, encouraging each other and hanging out. We got down just at the rain began to start - lucky timing!! As a team we really showed how strong and determined we are through climbing Mount Kigali.

Conquering Mountains in Kigali

Celebrating Chinwe's Birthday:

Chinwe turned 20 whilst we were out in Rwanda and to celebrate her birthday we threw a party with popcorn, samosas (her fave!!) and cake. We were fortunate enough to be able to borrow some speakers and we all had a fantastic evening dancing and singing with friends. We were so happy that Chinwe enjoyed the evening  and thought that it was a fitting celebration for a 20th birthday.

Hanging out as Team:

All the nights that we hung out together: watching films, playing cards, playing murder in the dark and mafia. Nothing got the Dream Team going like a heated game of charades and the name in the hat!! So many nights were spent laughing and joking about that it would be too difficult to pick a favourite!

Picture of the Day 14/09/2014

Today our UKVs fly home to England! We wish them a safe journey; they will be sorely missed. We have become our own little family out here in Kigali, and made some fantastic friends!

Two of our UKVs will be flying to Kenya and then onto Heathrow, and the other two will be flying to Amsterdam and ending in Heathrow!

Picture of the Day 13/09/2014

We spent today at de-brief presenting back to the other teams what we have been doing during our placement and hearing all the exciting things that they have been getting up to across Rwanda!!!

It was so lovely seeing everybody again - but can't believe we all go home tomorrow!!

Conquering Mountains in Kigali

Conquering Mountains in Kigali By Rachel Garner

This is the third piece written by Rachel for her local newspaper The Brentwood Gazette!

What does it feel like knowing you’re going to be living and working with complete strangers for ten weeks? Honestly petrifying. I have to tell you for the entire week before my ICS placement I was racked with dread, uncertainty and at points convinced I wouldn’t be able to do it. A mammoth sized task lay before me – to immerse myself into an entirely new culture, with entirely new people for ten weeks and come out the other side unscathed.

It felt as if there was a ticking time bomb to judgement day.  Are they going to accept me? Will they like me? Am I really strong enough and mature enough to handle this? These thoughts were just the first of many challenges I would face during my time in Kigali. Challenges that felt like immovable mountains; too huge to face on your own. And then I realised something crucial – I don’t have to tackle these on my own. We are all part of one team! Team Kigali 2014 – international development volunteers, planners extrordinaires and mountain conquerors! Together we could achieve anything, and we proved that many times.

Some of the team on Mount Kigali with our lovely little guides!

Last Saturday we took a team trip to Mount Kigali. The plan was 45 minutes of climbing, finished off with a celebratory coffee and breath taking views. But in true “Team Kigali” fashion the plan went straight out of the window!  We actually spent about 2.5 hours climbing through densely packed forest, and we NEVER found that coffee shop. (Rwandan coffee is rather special).

Beautiful flower en-route up the mountain.

From an outsiders’ perspective this was a pretty rubbish day; lots of strenuous effort with no tangible reward. Yet this was one of my favourite days of the entire trip. We demonstrated how strong we were as a team; relying on each other to make it up steep hills right to the very top. We spent the day laughing, taking pictures, telling stories and revelling in each other’s company. When we reached the top we were proud – we’d achieved something to be genuinely proud of.

Some of the fantastic views we were lucky to see!!

It’s a good metaphor for our entire time in Kigali; trial after trial, not quite achieving what we set out to achieve but realising we’d actually achieved something else - something much more worthwhile. I never expected it to be easy, but I did have a glossy magazine view of volunteering. Take part in a few projects; snap some pics, tadah world saved! From an outsiders’ perspective what we have done is exert copious amounts of energy to no obvious avail.

But all these tests made us stronger, better, and more mature people. They demonstrated our personal strengths and weaknesses; allowed us to adapt as a team, to accommodate each other. Personally, I have been able to improve my flexibility, patience, understanding, forgiveness and the ability to think on my feet. And that’s just for starters. Together we have blossomed and moulded each other;  we have become a family; learning one from the other. We may not have had a glossy magazine experience of volunteering, but we’ve had something far more powerful – we have experienced life.

Beth, Vicky and Rachel midway through climbing Mount Kigali

There is something strangely liberating about spending your summer with strangers. You are free to loosen the chains of modern day society and live as who you are, with no pre-conceptions and no existing judgements. You are able to conquer mountains head on with a new zest and vigour. You are free to truly live!

Picture of the Day 09/09/2014

We had our last session at the nursery today - we taught the children about vegetables. We are really sad to see the end of this project as we all had a fantastic time and loved getting to know all the characters in our classes!!

We wish them all the best for their very bright futures ahead of them!

Picture of the Day 08/09/2014

Today we exchanged our AEE staff meeting for anther group debate - we had a great time with the staff discussing all the different topics. We will be so sad to leave them!!

Our team with some of the staff members!!

Picture of the Day 06/09/2014

On Thursday whilst the rest of our team were out at the catch-up school and EPR school, Sam went off with Madame D. to a self-help group training session!

Madame D. leading the session

Picture of the Day 05/09/2014

Today we held our group debate with the AEE staff. Despite some issues with the horrible rain - yuck! - it was a really successful session and the improvements in the staff's English were so obvious. Our main aim with the AEE staff was to improve their confidence and public speaking ability - we feel that this session was a great demonstration of that!

We were split into two teams, who had to argue for and against on a variety of topics!

Culture, is it really that shocking?

A member of our team - Rachel - wrote this piece for her local newspaper.

Culture, is it really that shocking? By Rachel Garner

According to the Oxford Dictionary, culture shock is “the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes”. So naturally when you are sending a group of 25+ teenagers to a completely different continent (Africa), with a significantly disturbing history (the Rwandan genocide of 1994), culture shock  is an issue that’s going to get flagged up. Both ICS and Tearfund continually mentioned culture shock during orientation weeks in both the UK and in Rwanda, and to the best of their ability prepared us for it. They highlighted possible behaviours that we could find distressing, offensive or just down-right weird.

One of our first weeks of placement - visiting the beneficiaries

However, I think that no amount of preparation is going to ready you for the reality of a different culture and that culture shock affects everybody in different ways. We were even given examples of In Country Volunteers (ICVs) who experienced culture shock within their own country. So given that we are a mixed team of UK and Rwandan volunteers I thought a good way to explore culture shock would be to talk to members of my team about their experiences; how they feel it has affected their time here; and also what advice they would give to other people going to different countries susceptible to experience a similar sort of culture shock..

From the team interviews, it is clear that we have all experienced some form of culture shock

“I felt overcome by everything that was different and felt like I had just been thrown into a completely new world” (Beth)

But what is fantastic is that, as a unit, we have been able to turn this into something positive and something to grow from.  One of my team mates described culture shock as

“realising that you are definitely an outsider in a situation” (Chinwe).

This can be particularly hard to move on from, but when you work together as a team, it is possible.

Members of the team working together at Kimihurura Farming Cooperative

Despite facing some challenges because

“culture shock influences team dynamics through what is considered rude in different cultures” (Beth)

which would sometimes leave one half of the team feeling as though they had been disrespected through a lack of understanding. Overall the differences in culture have had a really positive impact on the members of our team.

Learning from one another - different cultural skills

“It has affected us positively, you really get to know how other people live, and you adapt and become flexible because of the changing of environment” (David).

Culture shock has given us the opportunity to learn about ourselves and others, developing our patience, empathy, respect and understanding. Culture shock has even led to some of our most memorable moments as a team because

“it makes the team happy learning something new about another culture” (Sam)

and allows us to become more of unit as we create new friendships built on accepting one another for who we are.

Team Kigali, minus Beth who was doing some office work!!

So what would we say to other people who are at risk of experiencing culture shock? How can they turn it into a positive experience? My friend Henry said

“If you are truly a team, culture shock won’t be a problem.” (Henry)

meaning that no matter what happens, if you are able to work things out as a team, and find common ground, then you can’t really go wrong! But sometimes this needs helping out with a few top tips! The common theme throughout the interviews was to be open minded; be ready to find new experiences; be prepared to both ask and answer questions. I love the way Claire summed this up

            “to be flexible, patient and try to learn” (Claire).

At the same time it’s important to remember that…

“… if where you were was exactly like home then you might as well have stayed at home” (Beth).

Exactly! We went out to Rwanda to try make a difference and if it were no different to the UK, and if we didn’t find ourselves a little “shocked” at times by the culture, then we may as well have stayed at home. And I’m so glad we didn’t!

Picture of the Day 04/09/2014

We visited the catch-up school in GAHANGA for the last time today, we are so sorry to see the end of this project, we had such a fantastic time taking part. The teacher Olivier said "we thank you, we have spent a long time together, you've been a great help to us!"

Henry leading a class

To see what we got up to at the school watch our video - Catch-Up School

Holiday Camp Visits

When we started work with AEE the children had already started their school holidays, during July they get two weeks off school. In the second week we led two different holiday camps; one in the Gahanga sector and one in the Kikicuro sector.

Some of the children making animals shapes during a drama session - can you guess what they are?

In these holiday camps we planned many different topics such as: HIV prevention, hygiene and sanitation, music, drama, dreams and ambitions, and obviously lots of games! In the Gahanga sector there were around 160 children that attended whilst 96 children attended the Kikicuro Holiday Camp. In the Kikicuro Holiday Camp the caregivers were present instead of the teachers to work along side us in conducting these sessions.

The children were split into three groups depending on their age; one class for Secondary and P6, one class for P4-5 and one class for P2-3.

Children playing the trust game during one of the drama sessions.

The group for secondary and P6 was HIV prevention. The topics discussed were transmission and prevention of HIV, focussing on sexual intercourse and the importance of abstinence in order to avoid HIV. The students were split into 5 groups and were each given a different ‘impact’ topic that HIV can have on a person or their family such as: poverty, strifes in relationships, isolation etc. They were given time to discuss as a group how they would portray this impact and act it out to the rest of the group.

The Children really enjoyed the drama session and requested that they would love to do more drama in the future with their teachers. Drama has a very positive impact on children’s self-confidence and their ability to speak in public places in front of their peers, as every member in a team had to have a speaking part.

Children miming out their chosen profession to highlight their dreams and aspirations - these ones want to be footballers!

The group for P4-P5 focused on music, drama and dreams. The sessions focused on getting the children to express their dreams, and the importance of staying in school to get good grades. We started by playing a game to get them to use their faces to show various emotions. This was helpful for them to practice using their facial expressions and emotions while acting to give a good and captivating performance. They then split up into groups and had a different word that they had to portray in a mime (so they were not allowed to talk!). The children enjoyed trying to guess the words and some of the groups had very impressive ideas on how to act. Lastly the children split up into different groups depending on what career they wanted in the future and acted out different scenarios they might come across in that profession. The children were excited and happy to participate in these sessions and enjoyed learning a new song in English ‘Our God is a great big God’ which included actions to the lyrics of the song.

David and Rachel leading a session on personal hygiene - hand washing, clothes washing, hair washing!

The group for P2- P3 focused on hygiene. The children were taught the importance of personal hygiene and how good hygiene can prevent illnesses, such as worms or typhoid. We explained that by preventing illnesses it can enable the children to remain in school and to achieve a high attendance. The children enjoyed learning a step-by step process of how to effectively wash their hands.

All age groups participated in games together such as: Duck, Duck, Goose, Bulldog, making animal statues in teams, throw and catch with tennis balls and a national game Sticks, which is a girl v boy game where it doesn’t end until one team has caught up with the opposition team and touched them with their stick.

One of the children demonstrating their new knowledge!

As the holiday camps were a one off it is difficult to predict the outcomes of these visits, however we believe that as we worked alongside the teachers and caregivers our methodology will be passed onto them and can continue to use it to plan their sessions.

Picture of the Day 03/09/2014

We have been giving English lessons to the teachers at the EPR school - today we talked them through personal pronouns, possessive pronouns and demonstrative pronouns!

Sam and Claire talking through the sheets

Picture of the Day 02/09/2014

At the nursery today we were teaching the children about fruits, we did this by getting them to paint and colour in stencils, as well as drawing the fruit from real life objects!

Getting all messy with the paints!!

Nursery School Visits

During the last four weeks of our placement in Rwanda we will be teaching at a nursery school from 7.30am to 10am every Tuesday morning. The headmistress has requested that we follow the schools normal curriculum throughout our lessons, the entire team of eight will be splitting across all three levels. In total across the classes – baby, middle, top – there is about 65 children.

Playing games with the children

The headmistress also asked us to try and make sure that our lessons are as fun and interactive as possible; focusing on activities like music, games and arts and crafts.

The first sessions that we ran on Tuesday the 19^th of August had a central theme of animals; with the top and baby class focusing on domestic animals, and the middle class on aquatic. Before each individual session started we played some group games outside, so that the children would feel comfortable around us, and also so that they would be energised and ready to learn. 

'London Bridge is falling down'...

Once we were finished with the outside games, we took the children into the classrooms so as to begin teaching them about the animals. We taught them songs that we had written about each animal. The top class learnt about: cats, dogs, goats and pigs. The middle class about: fish, frogs and octopus’.  Finally the baby class learnt about: cats and goats. Each song was incorporated with actions to help them to remember them, and also to keep them active and on their feet.

Some of the posters we used as visual incentives

Throughout these music sessions we also played an animal stretching game, whereby the children would have to pretend to be a certain animal. In the baby class for example we used animals such as: giraffes, frogs, cats, birds – so as the try and keep the children as engaged and active as possible.

In the top class during their indoor session they went on to do arts and crafts. Chinwe and Henry who were leading that class go them to draw each of the animals that they had learnt about, as well as trying to label them. 

Chinwe leading an arts and crafts session with the top class

Our second session at the nursery also had a central theme of animals, this time focusing on wild and aquatic! We had a really great time interacting with the children, playing games, making them laugh, teaching them new songs. They particularly enjoyed making conga lines and doing the Hokey Cokey.

Playing follow the leader

Next time we will be focusing on fruits, and hope to get the children really engaged by bringing in practical examples that they can touch and see and smell!

Overall we have had a fantastic time at the nursery, and have really enjoyed getting to work with the children for extended periods of time. This has been a really rewarding project and one that we have all looked forward to going to each week - despite the stupidly early wake up!!

Henry teaching the top class about cats and dogs

Picture of the Day 01/09/2014

So we kicked off our September with a bang - planning out the rest of our week, and completing the planning for tomorrows lessons at the nursery school!!

We will be leading all three classes in a lesson about fruit!

Gahanga Catch-Up School Video

This is a video that shows the time that we spent at the Gahanga catch-up school, teaching the children, dancing, singing and playing games with them. 

To find out more about what we have done at the catch-up school go to - Catch-Up School

AEE Staff Capacity Building

Since arriving at AEE we have been giving the staff English lessons on a Friday morning. From the very beginning it was clear that they had very good English knowledge; what they lacked in was confidence and the ability to talk for an extended period of time.

As a team we decided that the best way to tackle this was to work with the staff on a one-to-one basis. Within which we would focus upon discussions, debates and public speaking. In order to help the staff to improve their ability to sustain an argument and a line of reasoning.

Vicky teaching Madame D

The staff responded really well to this method of teaching, and really seemed to enjoy the sessions that we spent with them.

Innocent - "I appreciate your methodology."

Faustin - "I like the English conversation methodology"

Aimable - "I'm very interested in your teaching methodology."

This was so encouraging for us as well all really enjoyed teaching the staff. We got into some really meaty debates and had so much fun listening to each side of the argument. Some of our most successful debates were...

• Smacking as a discipline should be banned
• A women's role is at home/ the husband should bring in most of the money in the family
• Homosexual couples should be able to adopt

A selection of our debate topics

The improvements in the staffs English communication skills were amazing and such a blessing to be a part of. After one lesson they held their weekly meeting in English. Where as they had previously relied on our team leader for translation. Also it is clear that their confidence levels have improved dramatically and they are no longer worried or embarrassed about making mistakes.

Aimable - "I have improved dramatically"

Innocent - "I can see improvement"

Madame D - "Discussion is my focus - it has helped us to be open"

The staff also asked us to help hem with their computer skills. To do this we created a number of step-by-step guides to popular computer programmes such as MS WORD, EXEL and POWERPOINT and gave a copy to each of the staff members.

Our step-by-step guides made by Rachel, Vicky and Claire

We have a wonderful time teaching the staff and felt like it really helped us to forge our relationships with them.

"You have done many many things for us!!" - Madame D

Picture of the Day 27/08/2014

One of the other guests here in Kigali is helping to re-decorate the guest house. She was painting outside on our porch!

The finished painting is so so beautiful!!!

Kimihurura Farming Cooperative

Since our very first week here at AEE we have been working at Kimihurura farming cooperative most weeks, which makes it one of our, if not, our most regular project we have been committed too.

Kimihurura farm is run by women in a local community. Some of these women are widowed and the income they earn from the farm is what they have to live off.

Rachel and Vicky watering

The majority of our time spent here is watering the crops. Although this may seem like an easy job that they could do themselves, it's the extra time that we are really giving. Whilst we are busy watering the crops, they can get on with other tasks on their agenda's such as feeding the animals or holding their team meetings with all the members of Kimihurura farming cooperative.

Henry filling up his watering can

The watering job itself can be quite tiring especially if the sun is out, as it is fairly physical as there is no hoses, so we have to continually fill our watering cans in the water holes. But we have a lot of fun together, we sing songs, and often it's a great time for us to learn more Kinyarwanda!

Chinwe, Rachel and Beth having a bit of fun!

A couple of weeks ago when we went to Kimihurura they asked us to work the land by using hoes. This was a really nice change for us from the watering we usually do. Also this gave us an opportunity to work along side two of the ladies who work on the farm. We had previously used hoes once before so we all had a fairly good technique. This meant we were much more efficient with our time and the ladies praised our efforts and work that we did!

It was particularly nice to help them with this task as one lady told us she was meant to be doing this work but was unable to due to her being pregnant! Like our previous time using the hoes, most of us managed to come away with blisters over our hands, but at the same time loving every minute of it.

Working along side two of the members of the farm

This particular project is nice for us to come back to and get stuck into physical work as all of our other regular projects are either teaching at schools or teaching English to the staff here at AEE.

It is also nice to come here as it is our only regular project that we get to work as an 8. It has been so lovely to work as an 8 and see how it helps our team to bond and have fun. In our teaching projects we always split up into groups to teach the different levels.

In summary our time spent at Kimihurura has been successful and after every session we spend at Kimihura the ladies are always very thankful of our time.