Why can't I sleep past 5:00 a.m? I think it is because that's when the birds are the noisiest. It's also when all the crickets and night bugs stop their chirping because the birds are waking up. It he sounds of Africa are amazing! You don't need an alarm here. I even wake up now at the sound of a mosquito in the night.
Jeff gave us a one hour tour of the complex, explaining the vision of developing a Christian school of the highest educational standards. Much of the teaching and learning style here is by rote and memorization, the "chalk and talk" scenario with little student input and participation. They began 7 years ago with kindergarten and the lower grades. They gradually added more grades until in January they will add Grade 10. This year they received the highest recognition by being awarded a certificate for the top academic school in the District of Kigali.
To achieve the goals of reaching international standards of education, they have also begun an intense teacher training program featuring in service practical experience using more interactive teaching styles. In fact, the program is receiving so much attention that they are training 2 head teachers from each of 800 schools. Because they have trained Rwandans to teach Rwandans, the program is looked on very favorably by the Ministry of Education.
The school has grown to 500 students and eventually will have capacity for all the grades right up to Grade 12.
When the Komants first came to Rwanda, this piece of property was the least desirable plot in the city. It was 17 acres of undeveloped overgrown brushland. In 12 years it has been developed into a complex that includes the church auditorium with it's administration offices, several residences, classroom buildings, 2 science buildings, a library, covered meeting areas, playgrounds another administration buildings housing offices for the school and the Wellspring Foundation. Almost the entire property is beautifully landscaped with one corner that is rented for outdoor weddings. But by satellite, the drainage ditch looks like a natural stream bed, but is actually a concrete, stone lined run-off channel. The foundation spearheads the teacher development program and the catering group that provides food to the students 5 days a week.
At another corner of the property with a separate access gate and guardhouse, a firstclass medical clinic is under construction. It will be open to the community at large. It is a beautiful 2-storey building that houses offices, waiting rooms, toilets showers, examination rooms and doctor's offices.
Ingeniously, about seventeen 40-foot shipping containers have been configured in such a way as to provide 2-storey storage space with a roof spanning them to provide a dry metal working shop area for fabricating everything from metal bench brackets to railings and metal doors and posts. It is also where they keep things like wheel barrows, welders, cement mixers, etc.
With what we saw today, you would want a dry place to work. At noon, the heaven's opened and the rain beat down, rather across...horizontally! Even with a 10 foot awning over the patio, rain canhit the windows! We happened to be in a corner room above the church auditorium having lunch when the rain hit. You could not see past the tree outside the window. The rain literally thundered. It was like trying to look out your car windows in a carwash. The rain was so intense I thought the windows might crack. Brandon thought it would be cool to go out and have look. He got an umbrella from somewhere and went to open the door which knocked him backwards as soon as he unmatched it. The force of the wind and rain was unexpected. He tried to take a video with his ipod andhe sounded like a reporter giving a commentary on a tsunami! Fifteen seconds and he was more than soaked...the umbrella not doing one bit of good. Locally, they have been praying for rain. The bean crops are planted and rain was sorely needed. The price of beans has tripled because of poor bean production and it is a staple food here.
The rain kept us indoors for part of the day, but by 4:00 we were able to walk the 12 minutes to the MTN Center for supper and some breakfast groceries. Then home again...In the dark.
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