We cleared out of Nyabiheke Refugee Camp yesterday – having done a lot of doable! But we had one more exciting change to make before we returned to the airport with all our friends from the U.S. Often people who live in the refugee camps in Rwanda don’t make their way out of the camps. They may spend a little time in nearby villages or towns, but for the most part they are living, learning, and working in the camps. That’s definitely true for the refugee kids in Nyabiheke. But we know that meeting new people and experiencing new things gives kids – everyone for that matter – the opportunity to broaden their minds and their approach to the world. So, since we were headed to Akagera National Park for a game drive on the way to the airport, we decided to bring a busload of kids from Nyabiheke along with us. Boys and girls from all different grades piled into the bus in the morning – chosen for their performance in school. They ate breakfast and headed out on a 2-hour … [Read more...] about A Safari Near Home

With the trash in Nyabiheke Park all cleaned up, the water kiosk freshly painted, benches made and a pergola up – we needed to do just one more thing. Nyabiheke Park needed some greenery. And we wanted to make the park as green and lush as possible. We started with some climbers we planted at the base of the pergola – those will climb up and across the pergola, creating a natural shady spot for people to stop on their way by. We also planted a variety of trees, including palm trees to eventually bring some height and weight to the park. Next the shrubs went in. There are two main paths that criss-cross the park and are lined with brick. We planted tiny shrubs all along the pathway that will grow into an attractive hedge someday soon. But it’s not all about green. The park needed some color, too. So we chose marigolds and other flowers to plant throughout. It will take a bit for all the plants to grow up and fill in. “This spot will be an oasis for everyone in the … [Read more...] about Going Green

After we had refreshed the water point nearby our Nyabiheke park, it was time to get back to work on the park. The next step was to put up a structure that could create a little shade and make the spot a nice place to come, sit and take a moment. A pergola was perfect. But it was a community effort. Our staff engineer got involved to sketch a design and recruit a team of camp residents to help. First, we needed some substantial posts and some deep holes to sink them into. While a team dug out holes with machetes another prepared the posts and treated them to protect against rot and termites. Once we planted the posts and secured them with concrete, we had to give them a moment to dry and set. We finished things off with beams running both directions across the pergola supports. “This will be a special place,” said Jacques, our Partnerships Officer. “Once the plants grow up and across the pergola and people have a place to sit, this will be really special.” Speaking of … [Read more...] about The Perfect Pergola

There is a water point next to our new park in Nyabiheke that provides daily water to hundreds of people. The building was looking rough, and there’s no place for anyone to sit while they wait – often for quite awhile – to get water for drinking, cooking and bathing. “I would love if this could look like Asili,” said Victor, Nyabiheke Site Manager. Victor had recently been to visit ARC’s social enterprise in Congo called Asili. Asili water kiosks are bright white and staffed by helpful operators who ensure the water is safe and that no one has to wait very long for water. We knew we could at least help Victor freshen up the look of the water point, so we got to work. Our U.S. visitors got busy priming and painting the building alongside members of the community who turned out to help. It’s amazing what a little coat of paint can do. Meanwhile, we reached out to the camp carpenter/welder to build a bench for the water point. Once done, we’d position the bench so that the … [Read more...] about On Point

ARC has an annual ideas competition we call the Changemakers Award, when we ask our 2,500 team members around the world – ‘what would you do to make the people you serve feel joyful, valued and powerful?’ A couple of years ago, our Partnerships Officer in Rwanda - Jacques Rumanyika - submitted an idea to create a green park space in Nyabiheke Refugee Camp. Jacques wanted a lush communal space, somewhere beautiful that residents could go to rest, relax and recenter. So, while we had some labor provided by our U.S. visitors – including a 20-year Minneapolis Parks veteran – we decided to get started on Jacques’ brilliant idea. We selected a plot of land near the center of Nyabiheke and got right to work. Before we could get started with anything, we needed to prepare the spot. That meant some trash collection was in order. Neighbors who lived nearby the spot joined our visitors, donning work gloves and filling garbage bags with bits of paper and plastic that had accumulated over … [Read more...] about Nyabiheke’s Central Park

Nyabiheke Camp has a new computer lab, funded by a group of Changemakers who had visited the camp a couple of years before. And, we’ve been working on a partnership with Rwanda’s kLab – a tech hub and incubator in Kigali – to start a coding school in the lab for Nyabiheke youth. So, while we still had our visitors from the U.S. in Nyabiheke, we thought we should get them together with Nyabiheke young people to teach some basic coding and computer skills. kLab Managing Director Aphrodice Mutangana joined us to lead a simple coding activity using the Scratch coding language. But when he was about to start he noticed there was not a single young woman present. “I’m not starting this lesson until there are young women in this room.” Aphrodice sent the students out to gather their sisters, female neighbors and friends who were interested in learning to code. Once both young men and women were represented, Aphrodice got started. Our U.S. visitors – computer scientists and … [Read more...] about Scratch That Itch

Yesterday, we planted a new swingset at the Early Childhood Development Center in Nyabiheke Refugee Camp. But we noticed that the school could really use a few more items. Our Site Manager Victor told us that the ECD was set up several years ago with early childhood development learning materials. But those materials had never been renewed. Students were still working with the same items, and there was no money to replace the supplies that had been used up or broken. It was easy to see how we could start helping – and hard to stop ourselves at our $500 daily budget! ECD Centers often have different stations where kids can work on hands-on activities and developing particular skills. For the arts area, we had painter’s easels built and bought paints, markers and large rolls of paper to last awhile. For the blocks area, we brought both wooden and plastic blocks, and we purchased a few abacuses for the math and manipulatives area. We brought Play-doh, animal and alphabet … [Read more...] about Seeds of Learning

The early childhood development center in Nyabiheke introduces 4-6 year olds to school. 800 refugee children move through the small school each and every day. Morning students and afternooners cycle through the six classrooms, guided through their activities by teachers who also live in Nyabiheke. But other than their schoolrooms and the bathrooms, there’s not much else for the kids to do. “During recess and breaks, there’s nothing to occupy the pupils,” said Betty, whose organization operates the center. “They would love to have a balancoire.” A balancoire is the French word for swing – it seemed like a doable thing that would really make a big difference to the little ones at the ECD center. So, we checked in with our welder in Nyabiheke and found that a four-seat metal swing, fully installed, would be right on our $500 budget. We placed the order and returned to the ECD when it was delivered a few days later. The kids were so excited about this new toy for them all … [Read more...] about It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing