More Fun Week Fun

On the second morning we headed deeper into the surrounding mountains. This time it took us over an hour of inclines, bends and turns to reach the school. This school was at the top of the hill with a 360 degree view of the valleys all around. The children gathered upon the slope of the hillside and awaited the arrival of the Fun Week Team. As I rounded the corner of the audience their smiles lite up, seeming to say, “Today really is going to be a FUN DAY!” Just as the day before, the event began with the National Anthem and introductions of the leaders and guests.

Shortly after, the fun beings. The children once again perform poems, dances and songs. All in honor of Children’s Rights and Fun Day. The third act (which can be seen in the video blog) is a traditional warrior dance, which is traditionally performed only by males, but today the girls are breaking down these centuries old barriers and perform alongside the boys. This creates an exciting buzz throughout the audience. The dancing is fantastic. The ground vibrates and the dusty earth rises in support of the children’s passion for a positive change in their community.

Once the performances are over the children are each given a Fanta and Rwandan Donut. Such sticky excitement.

Today I have asked to interview a few members of the community about the day’s events. It may seem like such a simple thing, a day for the children to celebrate themselves, stand up for their rights and to be rewarded for their hard work, but this is an unfamiliar activity for the community.

Here are some excerpts from my interviews.

Each grade is given two awards; one is given to the overall top performer and another for the girl with the highest marks in sciences. Nizeyimana Marie Garth was the top female in science in the 6 grade at Sanza Primary school. “The books and pens will help me with my studies and the book bag will help me carry my things to school. But my favorite prize is the dictionary, because I want to become an English teacher! Thank you for the kindness and support you have given us.”

This is Damien’s second time attending Fun Day and his second time winning the top student prizes! Congratulations Damien! When Damien is at home he doesn’t have much time to study. He spends most of his free time doing chores around the house. Each day collects grass for the family cow, afterwards he walks 1 km to fetch water. How does Damien do so well in school? “I always study while I am at school and next year I will study even harder so that I will be the number one student in my class again.”

Mukamurara Beatrice, a 51 mother of 3 girls is a member of the Sanza Primary school PTA said, “Today was so special for all of the children. These school celebrations will motivate children to stay in school and work harder. It will also encourage children who have dropped out to return to school. It is wonderful to see all of the children in the community benefit from your sponsorship of our community.”

Such a simple day, truly changes lives.

I dedicate this post to 3 of my friend who have all lost a family member within the past week.

To Jessey, you have been a longtime friend of mine and supported me with my brother passed away. Thank you for your support then and you and your family are in my thoughts now.

To Hesron, I am very sorry for the loss of your 3 year-old niece. I only wish I could communicate this to you better.

To Crystal, safe travels to Canada. We will be here in Kigali when you return.

Fun Week Fun

On Tuesday night I and 5 staff headed due East until we hit Lake Kivu. The journey was in the dark and like many roads in Rwanda they twisted and hugged the sides of the mountains. The road was built by Chinese contractors; in fact it seems the Chinese build all of the roads in Rwanda. The road to Kivu is particularly impressive as it has been cut into mountainside and hovers over steep valleys, but this isn’t something I would notice until our return journey to Kigali two days later. We arrived at our lakeside hotel in Kibuye just after 8 pm and settled in for the night.

Ten hours later I awoke to the sound of waves hitting the shore line that was just beyond my window. I opened the patio door to discover the island dotted Lake Kivu. As my eyes adjusted to the rising sun I tried to envision the shores of the Democratic Republic of Congo that were just on the other side. But that is a development tale for another day perhaps, today was the first day of Fun Week.

After a simple breakfast we headed 30 minutes into the mountains, which is a really short drive. As we arrived so did the children. A teacher and a whistle guided one of the schools down the mountain and announced their impending arrival. But to their astonishment a Muzungu was cheering on their arrival. Once they caught sight, the entire school stopped in their tracks. They slowly approached and gathered around saying nothing and only able to respond to, “How are you?” with “I am fine, teacher”.

It quickly became obvious that the chosen meeting location of the local government building was not a suitable place for 2,000 children. The solution was to send them to the “field” on top of the nearby mountain.

It turned out the “field” was a pine forest, but this was a blessing as the day was spent in the shade rather than the equatorial sun. The event started with the signing of the National Anthem. It’s always a wonderful experience feeling the National pride of a country beaming through the voices of young children. Short introductions, including the Muzungu trying her best to speak the very few words of Kinyarwandan she knew, lead to the children’s performances.

All of the songs and dances were written and choreographed by the children. The theme was fighting against child related violence and the promotion of children’s rights. Each school took their turn dancing, singing, reading poems and entertaining the crowd. Given the number of children at the event it was a bit of every child for themself and they slowly pushed in on the stage area, while other children took to the trees to get the best view in the house. I’m pretty sure if I would have climbed a tree at my school’s event I would have been very quickly escorted from the event.

After the performances prizes were handed out to the top children in each class. One prize was for the overall top student, while the second was for the top performing female in the sciences. This is done to encourage female students not only to stay in school, but to work just as hard at classes that typically thought to be only for boys. The children were very proud to have won the prizes, but they really didn’t know how to react. There were so many people looking at them, they were given such nice things (new backpack, English dictionary, math set, notebooks and pens) and a Muzungu was asking them to smile for a photo! It’s a lot to deal with for sure.


After all of the prizes were handed out it was time for the good stuff, Fanta and a Rwandan donut for all! The children were organized into their classes and made to wait for the arrival of their treat. As the tops were popped off their eyes were fixated on the fizzing sweetness just out of their reach. Fanta, Coke, Sprite and a few rogue Tonics were dispersed throughout forest. Their sticky smiles were quickly filled with baseball sized donuts.

As I wondered the forest I was greeted with curious eyes and eager handshakes. I’ve recently taken to the Obama style fist bump over the grubby handshake. Thankfully they love it and laugh when I complain they are too strong. We exchanged names, said hello, found out our age and then resorted to the camera for endless entrainment of taking photos and then showing them off.


The day ended with a typical meal of bruchett (meat skewers) and chips (French fries). Contrary to my travel goals and practices I don’t have any photos of Rwandan food, but I intend on taking some photos and sharing the Rwandan cuisine with you all soon.