Bugesera

So many friends!

Bugesera is the community where my sponsor child lives, but he doesn't actually attend the school run by Africa New Life. Our last day in Bugesera was happy and sad. We had some fantastic time with the teachers there and built sweet friendships.

I watched a few classes in the morning before the students had sports in the afternoon. It was really fun to watch and play with them too.

Lots of groups

I was being distracting :) 

Group work

Working hard

so much holy laughter. love our team.

Precious faces

Preparing to play soccer. Their version of shirts and skins. 

Soccer!

We went to the Bugesera memorial site. So many were murdered inside this church. Hurts my heart.

Brought Rose the day care curriculum from Lura Jane. So glad I was able to bring it. It's going to bless so many tiny lives!

You can see all the Rwanda posts here.

The Squatty Potty

As promised...there's a post about the squatty potty.

The squatty potty in Bugesera

Warning: If you are male, this might make you uncomfortable. 

If you like to laugh, continue reading.

So the first week in Rwanda, we had access to normal flushy porcelain toilets. PTL! The second week was different. We had the squatty potty every day while we were at the school.

Being a girl makes this a real challenge. It's a definite fear we have all had this week. The other ladies and I have had extensive conversations about what it looks like inside, what it smells like, and the most effective way to squat. We are all very much wanting to be successful in our endeavor. Failure is not an option.

The Challenges

1. Not peeing on your foot.
2. Not peeing all the way down your leg.
3. Not stepping in pee or other things.
4. Not missing the hole.
5. Not touching anything.
6. Not having anywhere to put stuff.
7. Not having the leg muscles to actually squat.
8. Squatting plus being relaxed enough to actually pee.
9. Not peeing on your clothes.
10. Not going pee, if you catch my drift
11. Not having flies land places you don't want them to land.
12. Holding your breath while also doing all of the above.
    
    

Things I have learned

1. Everyone needs a squatty potty experience.
2. Peeing behind a bush is easier than aiming into a hole.
3. Take a friend for moral support.
4. Be careful where you step.
5. Don't miss.
6. You get better with practice.
7. Use clothing to hold the things you need in the latrine.

Hopefully you find this helpful in your preparation for the squatty potty.

Update:
Another team member took a photo of the inside...

*This post was written with the help of the entire team of muzungu.*

My Precious Rwandan Family

I took a couple days off from blogging. The group was playing games in the evening, and we were resting. Here's a short recap from the last few days.

John is the BEST DRIVER! 

Saturday:
We spent time with the teachers from all three schools for the second day at the Leadership Conference. It was a great time of learning about the past, present, and future of Africa New Life Ministries from Pastor Fred. We also heard from Johnson about servant leadership. After the conference, we took a tour of the Rwandan National Library. All very fun, but it was hard to say goodbye to so many Kayonza teachers.

My discussion group at the conference!

Some pretty fantastic teachers!

More sweet teachers!

All the teachers at the conference at ACT

Sunday:
We attended church at New Life Bible Church again. I absolutely love worshipping with so many different kinds of people and worship styles. We had lunch with Dr. G, who has been teaching at the seminary since February. I met him in March, so it was nice to see him again. Lunch was on point. I tried goat for the first time. Definitely not afraid of trying new things, and it was a great choice. We did some more shopping...I might have trouble getting all of this stuff home. Oops.

Rwandan Chipotle

Goat burrito...you haven't lived until you've eaten one.

Monday:

We went back to the school in Bugesera for more observations and teaching opportunities. I observed math, science, and Kinyarwanda lessons. Moris, the science teacher let me ask questions of the Primary 5 students after he had completed his lesson on electricity. I was able to talk about some things powered by electricity that the students had never heard of before. Really cool and fun.

Now for the best part of my day. I was able to spend time with Eric again! Love my sweet boy! He came to the school where we were observing, and Fred, the ANLM social worker in Bugesera, came to get me so I could see Eric. Eric was very hesitant at first but warmed up quickly like last time. His English (basically name, age, and alphabet) has gotten better since March. We checked his grades from last year and from this last term to make sure he is improving. On the van ride to his house, I used Lauren's Kinyarwanda phrase book so I could talk directly to him. I asked him to sing a song, and he did. He is SO precious. We stopped at a Emily's sponsor child's home (her name is Princess, and I am jealous!) down the street from Eric's home. All the children from the street were lined up at the door of the van, when I noticed the Star Wars shirt I bought for him last time. I quickly realized that the other boy was his older brother, Claude. Some of the other children were Eric's sisters Sandrine and Belize and his little brother, Emmanuel. We played tag in the street while we were waiting for the other home visit to finish. 

We walked down the street to Eric's home, where I was able to see his mother, Immaculette, again and meet his father, Emmanuel for the first time. His father was SO excited to finally meet me. We had some great discussion about how their family is doing, and they want me to go home and give love to my family in the U.S. I thought that was sweet. His mother had turned the fabric I gave her last time into a skirt. Eric's mother has started going to New Life Bible Church in Bugesera, but her prayer is that she will grow closer to the Lord. My prayer for them is that they all come to know Jesus as their personal savior. I told them to read the Kinyarwanda Bible I bought for them in April. Both parents can read, so I have some major things to pray for going forward. 

It was a special time of playing, praying, and sharing God's love with my sweet Rwandan family. 

Bus selfie!

All the sibs!

Sweet papa

More family photos

Praying over their sweet family

Rwandan Family Photo

Sweet mama!

Loved getting to meet Dad!

Some fun things:

• We've played all sorts of games while in Rwanda. For example, Zoo, Spoons, Turrets, Quiddler, Fish Bowl, and Bananagrams. 
• The children at the schools do the "frat snap" when they want to answer a question. 
• I really love African Tea.
• There was a diabetic section at the Nakumart (Rwandan Walmart).
• Cassava is a root plant and matoke is an African dish made with cooking bananas. Matoke tastes like mashed potatoes.

Experiencing the World Cup in Africa

We spent the morning in Bugesera at the Kibenga Primary School. This is a special place because it is a government school  that was built by UNICEF. Once it was built no one wanted to commit for the long haul to run it. Rwanda had seen how well the Africa New Life Kayonza school had preformed, so the government asked them to run the school in Bugesera. All we did was observe, but it was still a great day interacting with sweet children.

We only stayed for the morning because we were going to attend/help run the Spiritual Leadership Conference at the seminary run by Africa New Life. We had the afternoon to rest, so I took a 2 hour nap. Definitely needed since I've been staying up too late. Best nap of my life.

We went to the conference where we shared African tea with the teachers that had traveled to Kigali from Kayonza, Kageyo, and Bugesera. It was great to see so many familiar faces from Kayonza and the last three days. Dr. Gerald spoke to us about the seven laws of a learner before we had a break.

The break was hilarious. They planned the teaching around the Cameroon vs. Mexico World Cup match. In the US, few would plan their life around a soccer match...American football maybe. (I'll include myself in this. It's why I won't get married in the fall...) I was sitting next to one of the teachers from Kayonza, who was obviously rooting for Cameroon, but I was rooting for Mexico. We had some smack talk going, but he was still gracious in explaining penalties to me. I'm learning...slowly.

We ate dinner as the match was ending, and he began to share with me about the different soccer leagues and the Champions League. I knew this existed but my understanding is so much better. I wish we cared about soccer in the US. Between my kids at school and being out of the country for the last three World Cups, my appreciation has grown for the game.

Ok. Enough soccer chat.

The best part of the night was worshipping the God of the universe in English, Kinyarwandan, and Swahili. It was great seeing how God is the same in every country. Such a humbling experience to see how small I am compared to how GREAT God is. Why did he love us so much to send his son to die on the cross for our sins so we could live eternally with him? How big is his love for us!! It was a fantastic time of praise and prayer to bring glory to our father in all that we do.

1 Corinthians 10: 31
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Dr. Gerald was also challenging our teaching with this verse tonight. Love it.

Teaching Rwandan Teenagers

I am so sad that we have finished our time in Kayonza. It is such a special place with fantastic people who love kids, education, and Jesus. I really do wish I could move and teach there. It still might be possible. We'll see what the Lord is up to in the future. Diabetes...I hate you.

Now for today...

The morning started a little bit rough because of my blood sugar being extremely high. I wasn't feeling well and was very thirsty. (normal symptoms) It just makes you uneasy being in a country where hardly anyone actually knows about your disease. The numbers are better now because of the prayer warriors and more insulin.

We get to the school and I immediately head to a Senior 1 (7th grade) math classroom. They were learning about binomial and polynomial identities. The teacher did a really nice job until the students asked questions. He wasn't able to describe how to work/think about the problems in a different way. For me, I feel like that is all I do in my classroom. I MUST explain things 3 or 4 ways before any lightbulbs come on. It was the perfect classroom for me to be used because I have so much experience in this area.

I walked around and helped students who needed further clarification. When the teacher saw that I actually knew what I was talking about, he asked me to work the 3 practice problems for the class. It was a little nerve racking but fantastic to be in front of 50 kids who crave learning.

Then it was tea time. So British with an African twist. Love it.

After tea time, I had to teach the lesson I had prepared the night before. It was definitely a collaborative effort by the team and some friends from my school in Houston, even though the team doesn't teach math. The lesson went fabulously! I could not have been more pleased! It was also affirming that the Lord has gifted me in specific ways, and He intends that I use those gifts for His glory.

The Plan:

I was instructed to teach displacement vectors. Cool. Never taught vectors before. I have always been a little afraid of vectors because I never had a great understanding of them. It's time I learned. The math is easy peasy, so I knew that I needed to make it interesting and different than their normal taking notes.

I walk in and pose this question: "A plane is traveling from Kigali to Entebbe. Kigali is located at (2, 2) and Entebbe is located at (5, 7). What will the displacement vector be for the plane?" I had the students write it down and think about 1 thing they understood and one thing they didn't understand. I got everything from what's displacement to them finishing the problem. That was what I expected, so at least my thinking was on the right track. Next, I tell them to stop thinking about the problem, which drove some of them crazy. I told them we would come back to it in a few minutes.

To illustrate a plane flying, I had the students make paper airplanes and throw them on a giant coordinate plane on the floor. They started at (0, 0) and they landed at various points. We found the displacement vectors for 5 of the students in class. We then came back to the original question, and the kids made sense of it easily. Every kid understood the concept and had fun doing MATH. Such a great day!

The last class I visited today was the Kinyarwandan class. We broke words apart into prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Each one has specific meaning, and it made me want to move here to learn Kinyarwandan and teach. I also got to know some of these kids a little better because I spent time in their class twice. They are great kids! I am pretty sure I will love teenagers no matter where I go. The Lord has just given me a heart for them.

Lunch was on point. I feel like I only use that phrase in regards to food...hmm. They included dodo in our meal today. I know what you're thinking and no, it's not a bird. It's kind of like spinach, and it's delicious. Bonus: cool names make anything cooler.

After lunch, we went to the school staff devotion time. Lauren sort of threw me under the bus. One of the women asked her if she would sing. Lauren said no, and told her that I am a fantastic singer. Long story short, I get asked to sing, so I say sure. My freak out at this point is "WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER THE WORDS TO ANY SONGS?" I end up singing the chorus, verse 1 and another chorus to "Bless the Lord", and proceed to forget the rest of the words. For no prep, it wasn't bad. Allowing Jesus to use my willingness to serve Him in whatever way He leads. It was fun.

Overall, a fantastic day of serving Jesus by loving people.

Silliness from the day that you probably will not care about:

• My name is Teacher Connie. Legit.
• Wes will raise his daughter alone and have to figure out how to dress her like a girl without giant bows. (Not married yet, no daughter, just predicting his future)
• Lauren has a feminist crying inside of her.
• Jessica's face likes to turn BRIGHT red.
• Janet likes to say awkward things.
• Emily likes to come out of left field with witty comments that make me almost wet my pants.
• Zach told us his wife's most embarrassing moment and didn't even think twice. 
• Lauren, Emily, and Jessica made a fortune teller (the foldable one from 4th grade). It had some evil things on it. My fortune: I will marry a man with suede shoes. 
• Game 1 of the World Cup! Go Brazil!