Rwandan Realities

Entrance to the IPRC 

It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here in my new office at the Intergrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) in Kibungo, Rwanda, trying to complete my TESL, TEFL, TESOL certification for teaching English to foreigners. It's a Saturday and the halls of the school are full of song, clearly the day for music practice. The afternoon is cloudy and it's a pleasant 75 degrees out. My office in is the English Resource Center in the middle of a huge campus that houses both a university and a technical/ vocational training school whose curriculum includes welding, construction and civil engineering along with computer and IT training. My job will be to teach English to as many of the students as possible to align with the country's shift in 2009 from French to English as a national (non-tribal) language. Although it's been almost ten years, the English language level is still relatively low since most of the teachers were all educated in French.

Peace Corps Response volunteers with Response Coordinator, Balthazar (center)

I came here as a volunteer for the Peace Corps Response program, a more focused and professional branch of the Peace Corps with the intention of working in the capital city of Kigali -- enjoying all the amenities a major city has to offer -- to get some experience in teaching. However, the small village I was assigned to is about 100 kilometers south-east of Kigali, is quite small compared to the capital city, and -- judging from the stir I caused at the market this morning -- they don't see many white people here. I even scared some of the children there.. and have, in general, so far found them to be unapproachable, something I hope to work on during my time here.

When I arrived at my site late Thursday afternoon, I was greeted by the Principal of IPRC, and his Vice Principal, Juvenal (yes that's his name) who is now my new best friend (truth be known, my only friend in the area).  Juvenal was eager to show me around the town and point out the market place and various little shops where I could buy the necessities.

Along the road to downtown Kibungo

 He also invited me to be his guest the following day at an English instruction workshop hosted by the U.S. State Department for English teachers in the immediate area.

Nothing like digging right in!

The workshop was great! It was taught by an American woman (Leah) from New York City who has, in fact, taught English all over the world. She's been in Rwanda about 7 months and provided me with a wealth of information regarding the ins-and-outs of navigating life here in Africa.

And as they say, "the rubber meets the pavement" on Monday. I'll be introduced around to the faculty and work out some sort of operational plan that can begin to detail exactly how I'm going to add value to this institution. At this junction...the possibilities are endless!

 The only gorilla I've seen in Rwanda so far

PS. I have yet to break out the camera, all the above photos were taken with my iPhone. Once I establish the protocol regarding taking photos around here, I will add a link to those photos on Flickr.  For right now, I'm already an anomaly and don't want to appear as just another American tourist. .. since I'm not. Stay tuned...