At this time, Move Up Global focuses most of its projects at Nyabirehe, a primary school. But we also have a partnership with a school nearby named Rwinzovu. This is equivalent to a K-12 school and is run by a dynamic principal and vice principal. We went to meet with them, get a tour, and see what plans they have for their students.
We happened to visit on the day that students were getting their report cards. It was great to see that when a student receives a report card, the parents come to have a parent teacher conference on that day so they are involved in the education. This is one of the classrooms we saw, and a very proud little girl stepped up to show us her report card and explain that she was first in her class.
The principal wanted to show us that they needed help with their library, but then he took us into this big room full of books. I was floored! They have a lot of books, but now they have the problem of no librarian or way to distribute books! It was a good lesson to learn that each problem is site specific and needs careful attention to detail before trying to solve it.
They also have a good girls room, but they took half of it to make room for the library. So at Rwinzovu, they presented a big issue with facilities and space.
This building below was what they call the "old school" but it has a leaking roof and no floor, so the government said it is not safe for students. That means there is this large space that the school cannot use for classrooms. It is fascinating that the government gives the rules and enforces them, but does not come to help with funds to solve them, so the principals need to scramble for resources to solve issues like infrastructure and capacity building.
The big request they have is to help them finish building a wall around the school. So far, they have used locally available materials like stones and mud to build this stone wall around about 80% of the campus. However, they now want help to build a nice, brick wall and gate in the front of the school. At first, I had a hard time understanding why they did not just finish this wall around the school. But they explained, they need something official and professional looking at the front. Also, the biggest issue is that because they have a secondary school, they have teenager level problems. There is a commercial area just outside the school, so apparently teenagers who are bored leave school to go to the bars! Once more I was reminded, children (and teens) are the same all over the world! And while at some schools principals want a fence to keep the wild animals out, here they want to keep them in!
Other projects we are doing at Rwinzovu already is working on school gardens and farming education. The picture below shows one area of the school garden where they grow seedlings that are then transplanted into different plots to supplement the school feeding program. Whereas in the primary school, parents are asked to pay school feeding fees, in secondary school, there are blanket school fees which can be quite expensive for poor families. Move Up Global helps support some of these families where the students are vulnerable to dropping out. We want to give them every reason to stay in school.
Rwinzovu on its own has some great assets to share. A few years ago, they built a state of the art Smart Classroom. I had heard about this, but did not anticipate what I walked into. This classroom is in a separate building and has room for over 50 people at a time with computers, projectors and innovative furniture for collaborative learning. It was very modern and impressive. This is a space we hope to leverage as we expand our partnership with this school. We hope to bring expertise and use this space for trainings of all sorts, from computer learning to language skills to reproductive health education. The teenage population here is an active audience we hope to reach very soon.
Also, there is a flat, open space at this school for a decent soccer field, so they have a good team. They still need equipment and uniforms, and hope to expand to other sports as well, but the principal was very proud to show me medals their team has earned from the government. It was heartwarming to see the school spirit here and also hear that the teachers are eager for training and collaboration. There is so much opportunity here for growth.
Being able to see a second school was a very helpful point of reference for me. I am getting close with the teachers at Nyabirehe, and it is wonderful to have that personal connection, but we must also remember that there are so many people, all over the country, who are in the same position of need. So we must continue to build programs that have room to grow. The vision we have is big, and we are laying the first steps now.
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