Carly - English Classes

I arrived in Kigali about 2 weeks ago excited to get involved with whatever IEE had going on, and they were more than cool with me jumping right in! I think one of the most satisfying things I’ve done so far is teach English classes with Savannah. My initial reaction to hearing we’d be teaching English the teachers (as opposed to the kids), I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t have a clue what to tell them! While that still may be true, the teachers seem to be enjoying the classes thus far. The best part about these classes is that we’re not just teaching them a language, but we’re also

using methodologies that they’ve never seen before. The hope is that they can use these teaching methods in their own classes and our efforts in these sessions with the teachers will trickle down to all the students at Kagugu.

We’ve split the classes up into debutant (beginners) and moyen (medium) - the teachers were all a bit reluctant to call themselves advanced! We have about 15 teachers in each class and teach the debutants Monday and Wednesdays and the moyens on Tuesdays and Thursdays for about 1 hour per session. So far we’ve gone over lots of vocab, superlatives, verb conjugations, present continuous tense, and are planning a debate on an article we read last week with the moyen group.



Savannah and I have been making great use of the awesome library at Kagugu. We try to incorporate books into every lesson we teach. We’ve used everything from the classics like 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' to other books that are a bit more foreign to me like 'Chief Pangolin' and 'Only One Dress'. The idea of having a book in your hand AND having the teacher have her own copy to read to you is something that I was lucky enough to not only enjoy in school growing up but something I came to expect. I’m really excited about introducing new materials and resources to these teachers so that they can use all of these books and facilities that Kagugu now has and make their own teaching more dynamic and interesting for their students.

The most satisfying part of the English teaching thus far has, without a doubt, been watching the teachers not only understand what we’re saying but using the English they’re learning. The other day, when we were teaching about superlatives, it was amazing to see it click by the end of the hour. You could actually see it in their faces, and they were excited to hand in their sentences and hear that they were 100% correct. Being apart of that has given me one of the best feelings I’ve ever had and I’m very grateful to both IEE and Kagugu school for that.

Kagugu story time- Savannah

Although the volunteers from the Teacher Training Program this summer have gone and are sorely missed by everyone at Kagugu, their impact endures in tangible ways. Today I had the pleasure of dropping in on a story time that Emanuel, the librarian who wrote his own blog below, was hosting. About fifteen students gave up one of the two hours they have for a lunch and play break in order to come have a story read to them. They sat on two long, wooden benches in the children’s library and listened to The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone read in English. I was impressed by how well behaved the children were. In any country it is often difficult for students to sit perfectly still and listen to someone read. That is even more true when listening in a new language. These students, however, were very attentive and listened enthusiastically to the story. When I asked them how they enjoyed it at the end, one student used his clear, correct English to say, “The story is very good.”



While Michael Clark was here this summer, he and Emanuel collaborated on some ideas for creating a story time such as this. Now Emanuel has taken the ideas and created a wonderful new opportunity for students at Kagugu to enjoy books.

Meredith Shepard

I went back to Kagugu yesterday. Brought my family with me to show them what this place means to me: children in the front row with their worn wooden rosaries, leaning forward . Pontien, director of studies, brought us around to the three classrooms that were still in session-all sixth graders in the middle of review for their national exams, the students I have spent the most time with. I introduced my family-sister, mom, then dad. Their clapping always rose at the end-my parents later asked why, and my only guess was that so few students at Kagugu have both parents that a whole family is worth celebrating.
We asked them if they had questions for us. I’d played this game with them already-asking them their ages, their habits, their names, favorite foods; and they had then reciprocated-the order of questions in each classroom always the same: “What is your name?”, “How old are you?” , “Do you have parents?” For my family it was also the same, each classroom listing identical questions and comments. “Thank you for sending Meredith to teach us”, we heard three times. “Do you have any advice for us in education?” one of the brightest in my P6D class asked. “We want to hear your voice!” each classroom told my sister. “What are your jobs?” “We thank you so much for visiting us.” My parents responded each time, “Thank You for taking such good care of our daughter. Thank you.”
I hadn’t expected appreciation, really. In two months of working there, we were whites who showed up most mornings in a big car or on motos, to penetrate the classrooms with fast English, or in my case, bad French. The screaming excitement we routinely received meant little to me: the attention was for my skin, not me. But in the classrooms yesterday, at the final good-bye to the last remaining students in the summer-school session, they winked back when I joked at them, pretended to shrink away when I pretended to push them, called my name when I walked in. My personal goal for the summer-to know and to be known beyond the barriers of difference-felt unexpectedly realized.
That night, long after I had left, I remembered a day in the classroom a few weeks ago before school was out, when I was sitting in the back observing a lesson and two children not from Kagugu hissed through the window “Muzungu!” Jean, a boy from the class just below the window stood up to look back at them, saying firmly “Her name is not Muzungu. Her name is Meredith.”

Simon-Peter Habiyaremye

How is the primary school education in Rwanda?
Our eduction in the Rwanda public school system is developed more now than before the war. The situation has improved because now students must pass tests and receive grades for their work in class. Also, the political system of Rwanda has opened the door to everyone to go to school because our country needs to fight against ignorance. Our kids go to school without paying school fees because the President of Rwanda gives public education for free. In summary, the education in Rwanda is good and has developed. What do you think of the education system in Rwanda?

About Kagugu Primary School
Here at Kagugu we are well, and we are developed more than other schools. You may ask why. There are three reason: we have a library, we have computers, and we have a partnership with a U.S. school and its teachers. We also have some knowledge of computers and English because the teachers came from the U.S. to train us this summer. We thank them very much. I wish to invite everyone to come and visit our school. We have also good teachers who are clever. As for our children, they are good also in English and other subjects. We have taken third place in all of the district.

Thank you very much!

Pontien- Director of Studies at Kagugu

I am Ugirumurera Pontien. I was born in 1978 in the northern province of Gakenke. I was born in a big family, but the genocide of 1994 killed all the members of my family. That is why I am an orphan. I am single.

I studied seven years in primary school and six years in secondary. I continued my studies at the University of Agriculture Technology and Education of Kibungo where I studied Economics.

I began teaching in 2003 at the Kagugu Primary School. In 2004, I taught grade P5 (P stands for primary). I was soon promoted to head teacher, and in 2007 I was named Director of Studies at Kagugu Primary.

Emmanuel- Kagugu Librarian

I am called Bukeye Emmanuel. I was born June 26th, 1980 in Jinja, Uganda. I attended primary school in Uganda at the Bulimbale Baptist School. I returned to Rwanda in 1994. I continued my schooling in Kigali at Apred Nderea and Kigali International Academy where I studied Math and Physics. In 2004, I joined the Information, Communications, & Technology Department of the Kigali Institute of Education and earned a diploma in Internet Technology.

In 2008, I started working with the IEE as a Librarian and Internet Technology Specialist at Kagugu Primary School. For the past two weeks we have been busy working with Michael and Savannah. We divided the library into two collections, one for the Children’s Library and another for the Teacher Resource Center. I hope when the teachers and students come back from holiday they will like the collections.

Michael Clark- Greetings From the Kagugu School Children’s Library and Teacher Resource Center

My time here at the Kagugu School was spent in developing the library spaces to support the recreational and informational reading needs of the students, faculty and visitors coming to the school’s wonderful new Reading Hall building. I also worked directly with Emmanuel, the school librarian at Kagugu, to support his work with students and books, organizing the space and instituting good librarianship practices in supervising the library.

While the shelves of “Library 1” and “Library 2” were brimming with materials, a system for distinguishing between types and uses of books were needed for a school blessed with such an abundance of resources where prior they had little or none. The two spaces lent themselves perfectly to creating two collections, one as a “Children’s Library” and another as a “Teacher Resource Center” of textbooks, teaching guides and other support materials. Now the two main groups at the school each have their own personalized, dedicated, friendly spaces and collections to meet their unique needs.

The “Children’s Library” collection has three divisions for each of the languages represented in the library- Kinyearwanda, English and French. A Fiction section for each was developed with color-coded spine labels for support in identifying literary formats and reading level. The Non-Fiction sections were arranged in broad themes and subject areas and a system of using baskets to group similar books helps identify them on the shelves. All books were inventoried, classified and labeled for organization and to facilitate check-out. In addition, an accompanying database was created with the information, which will enable Emmanuel to search on titles, authors or types of books. Signage and posters enliven the space and help users find what they are looking for, or they are free to browse for book selections.

The “Teacher Resource Center” has materials consolidated by grade or P-Levels and subject, so that teachers can easily locate classroom textbooks and materials for signing out. One bookcase was dedicated to the collection of curriculum and teaching guides loosely grouped by subject and includes other workbooks, and teaching materials. Each room has a book drop to clearly designate where books are to be returned and sign-out sheets for checking materials out. Emmanuel, Savannah and I spent two weeks transforming the rooms into dynamic spaces of exciting book lined shelves just in time for the return of the students and teachers for the final semester of the school year. I hope they all enjoy the newly designed spaces and find just the right book they are looking to read. Enjoy!