It was a good day!
It is a big operation to organize 500 children to receive their bedkits with contents of the right size: dresses for the girls, shorts and t-shirts for the boys, sandals, a basin for washing, sheets, a blanket, three workbooks, two pens, a mosquito net, a backpack for school and a mattress for a good night’s sleep. Oh, and there is a language challenge as well which makes it really interesting as do some of the cultural norms! It is a great learning experience for us all. And, at the end of the day, like magic, there are happy parents/guardians and children on their way home.
Rwanda is a recently added country for our distributions and SCAW has been working very hard with the Overseas Volunteer Partner (OVP), the Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga, to provide bedkits to various parts of the country where they are most needed. It is a tremendous undertaking given that the OVP sources the contents of the bedkits, organizes their assembly, and then, after selecting the various distribution sites, gets them to the sites. Once there, the distribution process of registering the children, getting their picture taken and handing out the bedkits is always a challenge, especially to do it in a timely manner. And then we have to get the children back to the parents. So, it has been a learning process for all involved.
Our distribution site was a local government area and included a small compound of confiscated bikes and motorcycles. Here are our fearless team leaders hard at work!
While the children and families were waiting, ‘Bubbles’ AKA Doug, entertained the children and adults alike. There were lots of happy smiles and delighted laughter.
Team Rwanda, 2024
Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦