GLP RWANDA 2015 FILM

I can watch this film over and over again and never get tired of it.

It brings smiles, tears and memories that will never be forgotten.  The trip to Rwanda began with an insatiable curiosity about the country and the people. I am still asking myself what surprised me about Rwanda. After long hours on the plane from Aberdeen (UK) to Kigali (Rwanda) I could sense greater calm. The country has some incredibly landscape with thousand of mountains.  I cannot forget to mention lakes, volcanos, the local market and the greatest opportunity I had to live and feel Rwandan everyday life. I walked the  wide  dust street of Ruhuha and the clean street of Kigali. I saw lots of motorcycle  and bicycle taxi drivers. There was so much that I had to digest emotionally,  such as the genocide museums and memorials.

I also had my days of a tourist as most travellers have. I was fortunate to go gorilla mountain trekking at Volcanos National Park, explore Akagera National Park and Lake Kivu.  We all had time to be on the road at the weekends and take time to relax and talk about our experiences.

Curiosity: the Rwandan people take very serious the approach which bans plastic bags since 2006. For several times I went shopping and the store provided paper bags. It works and it is really inspiring.

I was amazed with what Rwandan people can carry on their heads. The women walk  with an incredible elegant posture, strength and beauty with a perfect erect neck with baskets, food and bags on their heads.

However I admit that I did not have the patience to wait for several hours to be served in the restaurants. I have no idea of what goes on in the kitchen and why it takes hours to prepare a simple salad with fries. Most of the time, I preferred to get some snack from the market such as fresh fruit, baked corn, baked potato, popcorn, yogurt and samosa.

Communication is not a problem at all. In Rwanda you can speak French, English, Kinyarwanda and a mix of the three languages. The culture, the dance and rhythm of the drums speak for themselves. I felt part of the culture.

SCOTLAND IN RUHUHA

It was a sunny day as all the other days since I arrived in Rwanda. The school was always a busy place and I used to spend time with students and teachers. That day was not different. After many hours in the library listening the students’ reading, I heard my name out loud from outside. It was a mix of anxiety, happiness and emotion when I saw my colleague from Angus, Scotland, and his family. I was delighted with the visit and the lovely experience to see familiar faces being so far from home.

What a great opportunity to take them around the school to introduce GS Rango, the staff and the students.

Literary it was Scotland in Ruhuha.

BANANA SHOPPING

As a Brazilian, banana has been always part of my everyday life. My mum used to plant it in the garden and the harvest was usually plenty for eating, making sweets and sharing with my neighbours. So, when I saw the banana plantation in Rwanda I thought that I could have it any time I wanted.  However, the story was a little bit different. Have you ever tried to go shopping in Ruhuha?

It was Tuesday morning on my way to school when I decided to buy some bananas.  It was a market day usually when you can buy anything you want. How difficult it can be! Well, certainly you need a good knowledge of Kinyarwanda if you want to negotiate the price.

On the side of the road close to the school I saw this lady that had a supermarket basket of bananas. I was feeling confident that I could negotiate the price as I wanted to buy everything. Those bananas would make everybody very happy at lunch time as we all love banana.

So, I asked the price to the lady: Angahe?  How much?

The lady was not sure how much she should charge the bananas from me (muzungu). Waiting for a response and while she was trying to think, a man jumped in and said: Rwf 40000. Believe me, it means about £40. Disappointed I went to school and told my colleagues about my attempt to buy bananas for our lunch. They all laughed and said that it was too much. Besides, the bananas were not beautiful.

Happily we got the same amount of bananas for Rwf 500 from another vendor for our lunch.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The GLP teachers from Scotland shared their outstanding skills, knowledge and experience as professionals with the IEE Mentors in Rwanda – Kigali.

The learning and teaching development gave to all of us a range of tools relating to building up capacity and competency from basic know-how to more complex and advanced understanding of managing group work, feedback, assessment, reading, speaking, writing and parents involvement.image image image image