Teaching in Rwanda: Fun and Games at Nkombo Nursery and Baho Neza Mwana

Today the whole group went to Nkombo island to visit the nursery there. Travel there was a logistical problem with so many going all at once. The solution was the Toyota and a whole load of motos. The biggest issue with this was making sure that the moto riders had some kind of head protection before putting on the helmet.

Steph and Miranda

The upgrade in travel to Nkombo going over to the island on a motorboat rather than having to row felt like business class rather than economy.

Mark, Jane, Charlotte, Noelia and Miranda

Ruby, Beth, Emily and Mara

Steph, Stephan, Alex, Maddie, Steph and Jenny

Alex and Dave

Once we arrived at the nursery the group divided into four with four different activities: drama, music, sport and face painting. With 250 children aged from 2 years old to 5, we were grateful for the number of volunteers we had with us. The activities went down well. The group doing drama had the children being the animals in the story "Giraffes can't dance". By the time the second group did this, there was some serious method acting. The second group of children had become the animals through the magic of face painting. This was not as straightforward as you would think since some were reluctant to have their faces painted. Maddie and Beth decided to ease their worries by having their own faces painted. The sport continued with the animal theme playing the game "duck, duck, goose", though this was made more Rwandan by becoming "Pig, pig, cow". Music had a less animalistic but fruitier theme with the banana song. Even with the group's musical ability we could cope with all four notes and all five words in the song.

Mara and Jenny were joined by some friends on the walk up to the nursery

We arrived to find the children lined up for drill in front of the new classroom, due to be opened in August

Dave and Miranda teaching the banana song

Mark, Jenny, Dave and Steph teaching the banana song

Mara leading a drama activity

Beth and Alex playing games with the children

Ruby painting a lion

Noelia, Ruby and Beth paint faces

Steph and Marie-Noella, the founder of the nursery

Clothes donated by Devonshire House

The afternoon was spent at Baho Neza Mwana, the street children village. There was no real plan for activities here. However, activities evolved organically with dancing, juggling, playing with balloons and making bubbles, learning card games, as well as the inevitable football. The sun was hot, the activity full, and the level of tiredness by the end great.