An excellent day, today, in all sorts of ways!
This is our eighth day of distributing bedkits and it took place right in Rubavu Town, about 10 minutes from where we are staying. The site was a school with children from grade 1 to grade 11 and the principal helped us by providing access to three classrooms which we used for handing out the bedkits as well as a space for taking pictures of the children receiving them.
In the classroom there was a timetable for the grade 5 students and it shows how much time these children spend in school, starting at 8:45 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. Students are provided a lunch by the school each day, a common practice in Rwandan schools. Blackboards are still being used with chalk for writing. Here is a picture of the timetable in one classroom:
We successfully distributed 500 bedkits today and thanks to the weather holding (i.e. no rain or thunderstorms), an excellent, hardworking Rwandan volunteer group from the local area as well as the Overseas Partner Volunteer Rotarians on site, all was done within five hours, our best time yet.
We try and make the experience of the children receiving the bedkits as fun and memorable as possible. Our team leader, Doug, is a master at this using his oversized clappers and bubble wands to the delight of the children. Some samples of Doug’s talents are pictured below.
When we finished the bedkit distribution, we then headed out to do a home visit. From where we distributed the bedkits to where the family lived, was about 5 kilometres. On the way there we saw other families on their way home carrying their bedkits. They had big smiles on their faces and looked so happy as we drove by.
At our home visit, we met a family where the husband and wife had two children and had received a bedkit this morning. They walked the five km home and were there to greet us. They lived in a one bedroom, brick/concrete three room part of a house. We were shown the main room and kitchen. The mattress was a very welcome addition so that the little girl had a place to sleep on her own without having to share the communal bed. The family was very happy and appreciative to get the rest of the bedkit which will, no doubt, be put to very good use.
The team worked very well today to ensure that another 500 children will get a good night’s sleep.
For the children . . . .
Team Rwanda, 2024
Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦