Mar 5, 2023
Kabarore Teacher Training College is also a working farm supervised by a Catholic nun, Sr. Yevgeny (sp?). She can be seen a few times a week figuring out what to plant in the several fields that dot our campus. I’ve seen beans, shallots and cabbage being grown, plus some other plant I can’t put a name to. If I understood correctly, the school can sell the heads of cabbage for 30 cents a piece. We sometimes get cabbage mixed in with our beans at lunch, so that shows that she school is using some of what they grow to feed the students and staff. Here is a picture of a cabbage patch with boys playing soccer in the background.
Feb 26, 2023
One of the cool things about living abroad is that you get services which are hard to find or don’t really exist anymore in the U.S., like shoe repair guys. In Kabarore, I have a tailor, Mr. Paul, who makes Rwandan-style shirts for me. He’s also making what we would consider a lab jacket. All tutors at Kabarore Teacher Training College wear them, but the ones they have are too small for me. I’m sick of getting my clothes covered in chalk dust, so for about $12, I’m having an ‘itaboriya’ (I think I have that word right) made for myself by Paul. His English is as bad as my Ikinyarwanda, but we get across enough to do business, with the occasional bit of help from one of my colleagues at the school.
Feb 21, 2023
One of the interesting things about travel is that you see English used in creative ways that cause a chuckle. Here’s a sign from a liquor store in Kigali. Last week, a student was wearing a sweatshirt that read, “It’s not drinking alone if your dog is home.” It took a while for me to explain that one to the students as those concepts do not really make sense in Rwandan culture. Finally, I see a guy in the Kayonza bus park who always has on a t-shirt with “Ask me how to get 10% off” on it. I’ll have to ask him one of these days.
Feb 18, 2023
One of the quirky things about bus travel here in Rwanda is that you have to give your first name when purchasing a ticket. Like Spanish speakers, when I say “Tim” Rwandans hear “Team.” The first bus ticket lists my name this way. When I was coming back from Kigali, I was wearing my Timon shirt, so when I said my name was “Tim,” the woman just looked at my shirt and wrote that down.
Feb 15, 2023
We had some fun writing Valentine’s Day poems in class. I prompted the students with “Roses are red/Violets are blue/I want to say/I love you” and then took away the Lines 3 and 4. After teaching them what a ‘rhyme’ is, the students took a shot at some love poems and came up with some nice little verses. Here is my student Timothy reading his poem to his classmates.
Feb 14, 2023
One of the quirks of this house is that a poster I have, a map of Rwanda, refuses to stay on the wall no matter how much tape I put on it. Sometimes it stayed up for many weeks but then mysteriously fell down. Mind you, I have two other posters on the other walls that stay on just fine. The map of Rwanda has been repurposed to be my new tablecloth – I can study Rwandan geography as I eat.
Feb 12, 2023
Things are improving slowly in our classrooms, however they are still under-resourced. My 11th and 12th graders do not have textbooks. Imagine trying to do a reading exercise this way! When I do, I have to read the story from my e-text and check for understanding frequently. Erasers are another big issue. In the first term, we didn’t have them – the students used sponges, bits of paper and rags to clean the board. In this term, every class got new erasers. Halfway through the term, some have bit the (chalk) dust. Here is all that’s left of one eraser – just one panel! It’s good enough and that’s what we have to use.
Feb 10, 2023
My landlord’s son, Manzi (English name ‘Melvin’), is a latchkey kid. As every student in Rwanda does, he has a very long school day, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. If he finds me home after school, that’s good, because he knows that he can get a snack and have some kind of adventure with the always-interesting American tenant. Today he helped himself to a honey sandwich, some cookies and some fruit. Since Rwandans don’t eat dinner until late, usually 8 pm or so, Melvin is hungry after his long day of study. As he was eating, he found an empty box of cornflakes and proceeded to cut it up into a house, with a front door, a back door, some windows and an “airplane door.” He’s an amazingly clever kid and his English is excellent.
Feb 9, 2023
One of the hardest parts of living overseas is missing important family events. Two of my nephews will get married this year while I’m in Rwanda. My Uncle James, a great guy, died last week and I missed his funeral as well. It may sound grimly Irish, I wish I could’ve gone to it as so many relatives were there and it is great to see everyone despite the sad event that brings us together. In this picture are my cousin James (Uncle James’s son) flanked by my brother Tom and cousin Brendan, who flew in from Ireland for this. (Photo credit: Steve Talty)
Feb 3, 2023
I’ve decorated my bike with the U.S. and Rwandan flags. I bought them at Ace Flag on Transit Road when I was home at Christmas. The Rwandan flag is quite attractive with a larger band in a nice shade of blue atop smaller bands of yellow and green. In the blue band, there is a symbol of the Sun. The flags are attached to my bike with electrical tape, which no volunteer should be without.
