Dry season in Rwanda is an excellent time to make bricks. Brick making is a fairly large industry in this country, and the simplest and least expensive methods used do not require many supplies. The few important elements needed for a small scale production are dirt, straw, and a water source, a nearby river or lake fitting the bill just fine. When traveling through rural areas in Rwanda, one will often see areas where thousands of newly formed bricks have either been set out to dry in the sun or in preparation for the oven.

Those who make bricks need little formal education to operate a small cottage-industry business. Moreover, no training at all is necessary in order to be hired to transport these bricks from the water source to the sales venue. Recently, Wellspring’s Parenting trainers met with Parent Teacher Association (PTA) leaders in Ruhanga, one of our schools that is located in a rural village. Student attendance is an issue at the school, and a growing concern amongst the PTA leaders is that primary-aged students are being hired by brick makers to transport their bricks.

An African brick oven

While some of these students are hired during times when they are not expected to be in school, others are working during their regular school times. Their pay, though minuscule by western standards, supplements the meager family income. Because the children are contributing to the welfare of the entire household, parents may not enforce that their children regularly attend school. Also, in African tradition, children were supposed to assist their families.

Although this is most certainly an example of child labour, prohibited by Rwandan law which sets the minimum labour age at 16 years, parents are not the only adults in the community who choose to look the other way. Local leaders turn a blind eye to the practice of hiring young students during the school day because the businesses and those who operate them are an integral part of the area’s economy. Village politics also almost always plays a part.

Ruhanga’s PTA leaders were at a loss as to what they could do to get the children back into school. Jeanne Tuyisenge and Wellars Nkwaya, our Parenting trainers, were able to work with them to formulate a game plan for next steps. They encouraged the PTA leaders to meet with the local leaders to share their concerns. They stressed the importance of passing these concerns along to district leaders who hold greater authority.

While the Parenting trainers have completed the formal part of Wellspring’s program, they remain valuable advisors to those with whom they have already worked closely. As we move toward our next phase of program delivery, we pray that we will be able to continue to foster these relationships while also empowering the PTA leaders to confidently make these types of decisions independently.

While transporting bricks may be a temporary fix for a poverty stricken family, the metaphorical bricks being laid at the village school can impact for a lifetime.