Day 3 starts with two pieces of amazing news that we’ve all been eagerly awaiting:
- Hot water has returned to the Eastern Country Hotel
- Greg’s finally lived up to his promise and bust-out the speaker system for the bus journey
So as we head to the first two schools of the day, the Rwandan countryside rings out to the sounds of ‘80s soft-rock and at least 6 wannabe karaoke stars singing to Wigfield.
With two schools this morning, which we’re pre-warned neither will speak particularly good English, we’re aware that this morning is likely to involve a lot of demonstrations. Good job we all had a hearty breakfast which even included (relatively) cold milk!
The first school Lee, Ben, Eric and I attend turns out to be absolutely joyous, despite any communication problems. Both groups of secondary age children respond brilliantly to the relays and games of Rapid Fire that we prepare.
Most remarkable is the engagement of the children. As we wait for the other team members and Eddie to return from their session with the bus, we have some time to chat with both the girls and boys. It’s remarkable how interested they are! They’re only too happy to ask relatively personal questions; “What is your address?” and “What is your mobile number?” being personal favourites!! Communication barriers just don’t seem to matter, and this type of informal chat is the best element to our time here so far, in my opinion.
Back on the bus we head to town for lunch and to the afternoon sessions. “Back on the bus” means DJ Greg provides more soft-rock – I’m not sure the last time rural Kayonza enjoyed the delights of We Don’t Need Another Hero, but it certainly received the full treatment today!
The afternoon is again split across two schools; with three sessions at each. Keeping it simple, the team is split the as per the morning meaning Greg, Lesley, Jon, Jackson and Landroy (apparently not Laundry) drop us off and leave for their school.
By 17:00, everyone in the team has had a hard, hot but ultimately rewarding day. We work out that c970 young Rwandan minds have today received the ever important messages that we’re really here to reinforce. That’s at least c970 young lives that we’ve potentially altered the course of, and if one of those ‘potentials’ turns into an ‘actual’, then today’s endeavours will all have been worthwhile.
Back at Eastern Country Hotel, the evening concludes with three things all resonating in our minds:
- At some point, you will be told about Lee’s basketball shot
- We do still have somewhere to eat tomorrow night, despite Lee’s best efforts
- Today, Jackson finally heard the words he’s been longing to hear
From our miniature Yorkshire friend, after much harassing and cajoling and ear-bashing, came the immortal words “Good from you Jackson”.
Rich