I am so honored that I was chosen to go on this trip! I have learned so much not just about Rwanda but myself! It was an honor to be apart of this village and cannot wait to bring what I learned back to Buff State and the people I encounter in Buffalo! Working with the teachers and seeing how eager they were to learn was my favorite part. Going into the classes to see them implement it was the icing on the cake. Again I am so honored that I was one of the few chosen to go on this trip!
0 Comments
We went on a 6 hour safari! It was real nice to see animals in their natural habitat just living. This is our final night in Africa. I cant believe it is the end of this trip, the end of this new experience.
Today was a calm day. We went back to the market and I was able to find more gifts for people. With it being such a calm day and being able to process with the village really showed me how grateful I am for the trip and how it was am honor to meet everyone and go on this journey with them. This quote also stuck out for me that I got from the Kigali Memorial Center:
There will be no humanity without forgiveness. There will be no forgiveness without justice. But justice will be impossible without humanity. - Yolanda Mukagasana We went Chimpanzee trekking and I truly disliked it! We walked up and down hill for about 3-4 hours. We did this because we wanted to get a good look for the chimpanzees in the trees. This was truly one or the hardest things
I ever had to do and it pushed me to another limit! I made it through though. I feel like the old Tierra would have given up. My body hurts and I feel gross from all the dirt and sweat. Did a lot of exercising today. If you want a good exercise go trekking in Africa. On a positive note after i caught my breath and stopped falling It was cool to see the monkeys in there habitat though. I don't have pictures from this experience because if I would have moved i would have fell. hahaha! Today we were able to meet the Mayor of Muhanga. She was a very nice woman. With her we all went to do community service. The students who were there do community service so they can go to University. It was nice helping the family make their houses. We were also there for the cow distribution. It was nice seeing how grateful they were for the cows given to them. After that we had a long drive to the next guest house.
I feel like this experience has been moving really fast! I cant believe it's been 9 days already! Today I got to the classrooms of the teachers we taught yesterday and see how they can apply it to there classrooms. It was nice seeing it in action. You can see all the fun the teachers and the students had doing these games and learning. From what i seen Rwandan students already love to learn and go to school. It is nice that we can add this to their classroom experiement to make their time in school even better. Also Rwandan children really like seeing tourist. Everyone wants a hand shake or a hug. It was very overwhelming. But good day and I am having fun, but I also miss everyone back home.
Today was really exciting! I got to work with Rwandan teachers. This was a great experience to get in front and show everyone what we learned. This was great to see that I knew more than I thought. What made it even better is that these teacher I worked with were math teachers!! I loved doing all the exercises that I have learned. Seeing then involved and engaged was such a pleasure and anyone teaching anything loves to see something as wonderful as that. I hope
they bring this into their classroom and their children love doing it just as much as they did. One major thing that stuck out to me is how universal math is! The quadratic formula is the same anywhere you go. I love that they knew all the formulas I out on the board and I knew the ones they put. I think that is one awesome and unique fact about math. I am posting a picture of the group with my great partner, Amanda today!! I can't wait to go back tomorrow and do and learn even more from them! Wasn't feeling too well today but I pushed through because I was excited for the day. Today we visited Azizi life. This place gave us the wonderful opportunity in getting to experience the real life of a Rwandan family! We were greeted with hugs singing and dancing. It was was so sweet. They showed us how they cook. We helped peel sweet potatoes and get fresh beans. They also showed us where they get their water. This was about a 15-20 min walk from where they live. This walk in itself was life changing Haha. I was so tired and couldn't believe they would have to do that about 2 times a day. They then made us lunch with the food we helped prepare. It was such a nice time. We then made bracelets while the some of the other village members made balls. It was great making my own bracelet out of banana leaves. As it was time to go before we left we had a dance contest. It was so nice. We then departed with more singing and dancing. It was so nice being welcomed in their home to see how a families everyday life. After we rested after our day we then went to Urukundo Foundation. Urukundo means love. With going in there and hearing Mama speak you can definitely hear the Love she has for all these children. She reminded me that it doesn't matter what age you are to make a difference and that will always stick with me. Mama is 88 and came to Africa when she was 60. She is truly an inspiration. The village and I were welcomed to dinner where we meet some people on the team of the Urukundo foundation. We also meet some of the children that live there. We sung songs and we even did a fairy tale story for them. The three little pigs and the children were even ready and willing to help us. They then danced for us and showed us some of their moves. It was very nice to be in that environment. |
About TierraMy name is Tierra Purdue and I am a Applied Mathematics major with a concentration in statistics and a minor in Business Economics! With having this study background I feel honored to go to Rwanda and see firsthand how much they have grown over the years! ArchivesCategories |