The house comes astir at 5:00 o'clock with the sound of roosters in the yard and the maid setting the table and the clanging of pots and pans and she begins preparations for breakfast cooked on a charcoal burner. We sit down to a meal of pancakes with peanut butter, honey or jam toppings and coffee. We are out the door at seven to two waiting moto taxis and wait for two more to arrive. Because they are late they are called "masasa" or old men because they move so slow. Actually the term is one of respect if you happen to be older, like me.
It's about a 15 minute ride to the village school where Peter and Diane teach. The school is actually in someone's home where the living room and dining room have been rented and transformed into a sewing classroom complete with blackboard and treadle sewing machines made in China. The dynamics are interesting as Peter and Diane teach through an interpreter and a national teacher teaches by writing notes and drawings on the blackboard. It's a very thorough 6-month program at the end of which the students receive a certificate. There are two sets of students a day, one class in the morning and one in the afternoon. They range in age from 20 to 50. Some of the students become very good at sewing and go on to successfully start a home business and to support their families. They can use the sewing machines and make purses, handbags and clothing to sell. The sales are split 3 ways between fabric costs, sewing machine repair and maintenance, and student income. It doesn't take long before a student has raised enough money to buy their own machine. Each class starts with prayer and a devotional for half an hour and then the classwork begins. Peter is working with local pastors and church leaders to see the construction of a sewing center for a proper school and a cooperative that will produce items for sale and generate income to support the teaching staff.
While Branden was excited to try his hand at sewing on a treadle machine, Peter and I took a long walkabout through the village. We visited the site of the new sewing center that is being built which should be finished by the new year and receive final inspection and approval by the government. The sewing center will serve as a classroom for teaching sewing and also a cooperative where former students can sew articles for sale or garments by order. It's great concept that will help women become self-employed and self-reliant.
On a construction note, they were digging the septic system which looks like a three-foot diameter well that is hand dug about 40 feet into the ground. One, and is down in the hole with a shortened pick and shovel, another is on top with a rope and bucket to pull up the dirt from below. There are foot hold carved into the side of the banks of the Bole. I peered down into the hole and could barely see some movement as the man was probably over 25 feet down to the bottom. A good way to bring on a case of claustrophobia! They don't use cribbing or any of the safety protocols we have in Canada. The sewer system empties into the capped off hole and fluids gradually seep into the ground. Solids eventually just compost and there you have it, a septic system.
Our walk took us past a one room home where a man and his wife and three children lived. They don't seem to need a lot to be content. Here you can host dig up red dirt, add a little water and form mud bricks that are then dried in the sun. When they assemble the bricks into walls they just moxie ip so fresh batch of mud and "glue" them together. The government is now insisting that public buildings like churches use fired bricks. All buildings need to be covered inside and out with a cement stucco coating. It prevents deterioration and possible collapse during heavy rains and flooding. We walked through planted fields of maize and corn and beans, staples here in Rwanda.
Our walkabout took us to the village center where new shops were in various stages of completion. Only a couple actually sported signs. We continued on to where a daughter church had been constructed and enough money had recently been raised to install the doors a day windows. There is actually quite a building boom going on and Peter pointed out all the houses that had sprung up in just the past year. As we passed mud home after mud home, the children who are out of school right now until January, would come running out to us and hug our legs or waist. Their clothing is the same color as the ground because they sleep on the ground.
We got back to the classroom and ate the lunch Alphonsina had prepared for us. During the afternoon class Branden and I distributed bouncy balls, skipping ropes and postcards out on the street. Branden played soccer in the dirt lane with a dozen neighborhood kids and sure looked like it afterwards. To go home, we walked to the highway and flagged down a Toyota pickup. Peter and Diane got in the front and Branden and I climbed into the box. It's amazing how many people wave and smile along the way.
We were dropped near the open market and went in search of inexpensive fabrics for Diane's sewing students. I was able to barter some good deals as well and donated the fabric to the school. We had a bit of an entourage following us through the market and a lot of laughing and yelling. When we had more than we could almost carry, we summoned moto taxis and the four of us headed home. Long days and you sure are ready for bed by 8:30. So ends our first full day in Ryabega.
No comments:
Post a Comment