If A Pictures Worth a Thousand Words...Lets Try This!

This is ESCAF, the wonderful School where I'm working. The classrooms you see are for grades P4 (fourth grade) through P6 (sixth grade) P3 classes are directly behind P4-P6 and the small brick building you see peeking out on the right, that's the Nursery where I teach! Every morning I walk towards the class slowly one or two heads peeking around the corner and then a rush of children running towards me with shrieks of "MAZUNGU!", what a way to start the day. I can't say they don't make me feel loved each and every day!

These are a few children in my class. I have 58 kids in my class with only three teachers (including myself) imagine the work it is for Mary and Monique to do alone...

The Girls! -try to tell me Kindergartners don't have attitudes! :) (Left to Right: Chance, Harriette, Joyeuse and KuKu) they're always some of the last to leave and sit in the back left corner of class after school and gossip. Kuku and Joyeuse both have mom's who teach at the school- Joyeuse is a spunky girl and Kuku thinks she owns the place, she kind of does! Chance and Harriette have older siblings at ESCAF so they have to wait until they are out of class to pick them up.

This is Charmant, he's a heartbreaker. I took this pictures shortly after he asked me to marry him.

This is Nice- her name, is Nice. It fits her wholeheartedly and she's wonderful. The children in Rwanda must have short, shaved hair until they are done with secondary school. Essentially until the graduate what we'd refer to as high school. Nice used to have long hair but they sent her home yesterday to enforce education rules, today she came back with a shaved head. The chidren were busy rubbing Nice's head today, she thought it was funny so I had to join in too. :)

This is Igor- On the first day of school Mary and Monique introduced me to the class. the explained to me that two of the children wern't normal so we just sit them in the back and leave them. I wasn't quite sure what this meant but kept my eyes on them closely. I quickly learned, I'm NO doctor and not one to diagnos anything- but Igor definatly seems to have a mental handicap of some sort. What it is i'm not sure and that issue is ENTIRELY unaddresed here in Rwanda. The teachers don't give Igor any class work nor do they expect him to participate... I give him class work though. Each day I take the homework to Igor, I work with him on it (even though Mary and Monique tell me not to waste my time) and he GETS IT! He does it with a little help and he LIKES to learn! He knows how to write all his letters, numbers, cut along the lines, color pictures, etc..he just needs a little help and someone to believe in him. Mary and Monique always tease me becuase I tell them that no one gets what a "child services" major is..everyone thinks i'm either a doctor or a teacher. So when Igor went running up to the front of the class to show Mary what he had done one day Mary looked and me and said, "You ARE a doctor! You fixed him!" ...well Igor was never broken...he never will be unless people continue to treat him as though he is. I think it's important, even though i'm half the age of these two teachers who have been teaching for years and years, to teach them a few things too. Like every child is worthy of learning, every child has potential and EVERY child is capable. Well, I promise you- I'm no doctor, but I like to hope I fixed Mary and Moniques perception ofthe "different children". They may not understand handicaps or learning disabilities, and i'm not exactly one to teach them or train them, but I think I did pleanty. Abandon no Child, just as God never abandons nor loses hope in you.

Kessy, she's the shiest, sweetest little angel...just thought you should all be blessed with a little Kessy!

This is Fargy, he's one of the youngest. If you look closely Fargy's front top teeth are rotting. They're decaying and almost disintegrated... Most of my classes teeth are rotting in some sort, it breaks my heart everyday.

If you ask me why I wanted to major in Child Services or why I do what I do..I think this picture pretty much sums it up.

and I leave you again with Charmant, just because I love this picture!