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.