The Center

*Since I did not have internet at the beginning of the week, I could not post this online. Here are my reflections from: 9/26/11

Today was my first day of work at the center. I met many of the staff and found out which classes I will be teaching. Students are placed in classes based upon their English-speaking abilities, not their ages. Every day I will have students from Primary 2/3 and Primary 4/5. Students in P2 and P3 know some vocabulary and they are able to read simple sentence structures but they are just beginning to speak in full sentences. Students in P4 and P5 have a much broader range of vocabulary and they have are able to communicate effectively already. I will also be giving the staff at EDD English lessons. I wasn’t expecting to do so, but why not?

Josieanne (education coordinator) told me that all the classes need work on speaking English. EDD does have two permanent teachers who teach the boys year-round, but they are still learning English. I can’t even imagine trying to teach students a language I can’t fluently speak.

Kinyarwanda-English dictionary and English textbooks for Rwandan students

After I received my class placements, I spent some time with the boys, which made my day. We all just hung out in the shade of one of the buildings and talked about our likes and dislikes. The topic of music dominated the conversation. The boys love hip-hop music. Actually, they are OBSESSED with it. They have a radio and CD player that is constantly playing music. They also have T.V. that plays Rwandan music videos (which I find quite hilarious). One of the boys named Sam had me listen to a song he wrote and recorded about his life before EDD living on the streets. It was amazing and he was so proud. One day, he hopes to be famous in Rwanda.

Tomorrow is my first day teaching. Stay tuned.