50 excited little first graders marched toward a bus last Tuesday morning as they headed out on their very first field trip. Here in Rwanda they call a field trip a ‘Study Tour’. That sounds much more serious, don’t you think? :) This year, the administration at Wellspring Academy is hoping to see every class have the opportunity to go on a study tour. Considering that this is a very rare experience in Rwanda, the students at Wellspring Academy are thrilled to have this chance.

I was privileged enough to accompany the Grade 1 class on their study tour to a farm located about 30 minutes drive from the school. It was great fun to spend the morning with enthusiastic young people and be able to see more into the life of Wellspring Academy. The teacher started out the trip by having one of the students pray for safety on the journey and good learning throughout the day. Then the entire drive was serenaded by singing of “Mr. Kalisa has a farm, E-I-E-I-O”, “This is the journey that the Lord gave us…” and many other ditties.

The songs were occasionally interrupted to encourage the students to be taking in the sights along the way and for learning to be incorporated. “What do the colors on the street light mean?” “What does the policeman do?” “Why do farmers use terraces?” “What materials were used to build that house?” On and on, Teacher Teddy would ask the children questions to guide their understanding and help them think about what they were seeing.

As soon as we pulled into Umusave Farm, the students were clamoring to get off the bus. They could barely contain themselves, but the teachers did a good job keeping them in order. Imagine four teachers trying to monitor 50 six-year-olds on a farm! Many of the students had never been on a farm before and were amazed to be able to hold a chicken, pet a goat, and get up close and personal with a cow. Umusave Farm doesn’t only have animals. In fact their biggest purpose is produce. The farm is a major supplier of mandarins, oranges, mangoes and lemons to local supermarkets. All of the trees were bursting with fruit ready to be harvested and the students were each able to have their own mandarin and orange to take home with them.

The morning flew by much faster than the students would have liked and before we knew it, it was time to head back to school. It had been a successful trip to the farm: a time of hands-on learning and discovering.

This month we open our update with news of a generous donation from Big Steel Box. They’ve provided us with a 40-foot container that will be destined for Kigali in late August. 

Library

In Rwanda, things continued to progress well on the secondary school project. As planned, the library’s gable ends were built, trusses and purlins put on. The supporting columns plus the beam to support the library’s veranda slab was poured. 

Outdoor Auditorium

With more funds available through some support for the Outdoor Auditorium, we were able to get underway on pouring the massive floor, once again mixing it by hand! Over the course of three days our boys toiled under the belting sun.

Upcoming next month:

Library:

• Putting the metal roof and gutters on

• Form and pour the concrete veranda and pathway connections.

• Welding in place the structure to hang ceilings

• Plastering the interior of the Library

Auditorium:

• Finish the brickwork on the columns and one end wall

• Put handrails onto entry ramp.

Landscaping:

• Pathways connecting classrooms, sanitation block, library and auditorium.

Click here to read a full-length update,with PHOTOS!

Over the past few months most of the information highlighted has been the ‘bricks and mortar’ activity. However this month we start off with news of a $50,000 grant. These funds will go towards outfitting activities to purchase computers, biology and chemistry equipment plus various supplies to finish the secondary school.

Meanwhile, back in Rwanda we are seeing the beginnings of transition from rainy season to dry season. The brilliant green that envelops most of Rwanda for the greater part of the year begins to give way to a bit more dust. Through the month of June we will head into the dry season that will last until the end of August.

Sanitation Block Update & Re-cap

With the exception of connecting waste lines to the eventual site of a sewage treatment plant, the Sanitation Block is 99% complete.

Library Building:

As hoped, in May we managed to finish the library walls up to the level of the ring beam.

Landscaping

We continued progress to make the landscaping of our project a lot prettier and more functional.

Whereas a couple of months ago above the secondary school we just had a weed- surrounded workshop area, we have now made a landscaped area that will be planted with grass come the next rainy season.

Upcoming Next Month:

Library Building - Setting the trusses, putting on the purlins and the roof, finishing the gable ends.

Outdoor Auditorium - Pouring the entry ramp and floor and starting the brickwork

Click here to read a full-length update,with PHOTOS!

In 2007, the first phase of construction on the Wellspring Academy was completed and it was time to open the doors to students from Kindergarten through Grade 3. Samantha Kagabo had been attending a well known and popular school in Kigali when her parents decided to move her over to Wellspring. Samantha’s parents wanted her to go to Wellspring because it was a Christian school and they hoped that it would bring a change from the bad manners she was learning at her other school.

Sure enough, Samantha immediately loved going to Wellspring Academy. She found such a difference in the attitudes of her teachers and classmates. Her teachers didn’t get angry every time she made a mistake and she loved the small class sizes where everyone worked together to help each other succeed. But that wasn’t the biggest difference Samantha noticed at Wellspring. “My family went to church, but I didn’t really care much about God. At Wellspring, I was taught about the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and I realized what He had done for me by dying on the cross. I was saved when I was in Grade 4.”

Samantha is now in Grade 6 and eagerly preparing to move to Secondary School next year. Pressure is high on Grade 6 kids to do well on their national exams. They even come to school every Saturday for extra studies. Samantha especially loves math and science and hopes to focus on these subjects in Secondary School. She has big hopes for her future: “I really want to be a singer, but if that falls through maybe I’ll be a mathematician or an engineer!”

Samantha wants to continue her studies at Wellspring because, as she puts it, “Why would I want to leave a place that has changed my life?”

We need your support to ensure that students like Samantha can complete their education at the Wellspring Academy Secondary School.

April marked 16 years since the ’94 genocide. Each April, Rwandans commemorate the genocide through a week of mourning where business, schools and government are either closed or focused on memorial services throughout Rwanda. For our construction crew working on the Secondary School, there was mixed emotion as the crew remembered what they and their countrymen endured, yet at the same time their efforts are literally focused on building the future of Rwanda.

Sanitation Block

With the shell of the sanitation block now complete, efforts were focused on outfitting. Hassan, CLA’s welder, completed the toilet dividing walls, while others worked on connecting concrete pathways to the general purpose classrooms.

Library Building

With all the mixing and pouring of 866 square feet of concrete completed, the crew shifted its efforts to the brickwork of the library.  The library is made up of three group workrooms and a main library hall. By the end of the month, one third of the brickwork was competed with windows and doors framed into the bricks.

Other Efforts

Continued progress on pathways and drainage ditch covers took place throughout the month of April. We are nearing completion in covering the drainage ditches that carry large sums of water in the rainy season plus having a well-laid pathway between the primary school (at the bottom of the campus) and the secondary school.

Click here to read a full-length update