Ms. Terry's Blog

What a week it has been! So many things to do, so little time! This week marked week 1 of model school. That means the all of us Peace Corps Trainees got to teach in Rwandan schools for the week. Now, school is currently out here, so all of our students are volunteers who wanted to come in and learn more. Think of that, students who are actually excited to learn, even on break! Plus, all the students who attend receive a notebook and pen, which is a big draw when school supplies are scarce. My partner and I were paired with a local Rwandan primary teacher, and it was incredible to be back in the classroom! Even with between 80 and 95 students on any given day, they were still some of the best behaved students I’ve ever had. I taught about hygiene and health, concentrating on food groups and healthy eating for the first week. Do as I say students, not as I do. Now, as any teacher knows, kids carry a lot of germs. And sometimes you get sick. For me it’s usually just ...

We have three full weeks of training left. Next week and the week after we have model school (so excited!), then there’s one week of wrap up before we head to Kigali to swear in! Our time in Rwamagana has been fast and slow at the same time. Days dragged on (especially all day language class!), but the weeks flew by. I feel like I finally have a routine here, but I am also super ready to swear in and head to site. I will definitely miss the other trainees, but I think it’s time for us to leave the nest. In addition, over the past few weeks, I have been buying things for site and, thankfully, my list is starting to dwindle. There are few things I will definitely have to get in Kigali, but I’m hoping I will have enough move-in allowance money to spring for a toaster oven (just think of the possibilities!). And there have been a few comments about starting really early, but I must remind people that I spent about 3 months packing for college, 2 months packing for...

Yesterday (Saturday), I was able to return to Kigali for a very different reason than last week. This time, the other trainees and I were able to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which acts as as a memorial, a place of information concerning the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsis, and a mass grave for 250,000 individuals. It was an overwhelming visit. In addition to information about the 1994 genocide, the Memorial also featured an exhibit on other genocides, such as the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, etc. The most moving exhibit featured profiles of child victims, some as young as 9 months. Overall, these exhibits reminded me just how much we as people have yet to learn from our mistakes, and we desperately need to. After the Holocaust, there was a theme of never forget and never again. Well, it happened again, several times. And though some may feel “removed” from these events (it happened so far away, well, I can’t do anything about it, it’s not my problem, etc.), I think w...

So, I thought I had an ear infection. My ears hurt, they felt like they were full of water, and I couldn’t hear well. I called the Peace Corps Medical Officer and he told me to come to Kigali to look. I left training Tuesday around 2 PM and got to the medical office around 4 PM, where I waited for 30 minutes. Turns out, I didn’t have an ear infection, just a lot of buildup and was given some ear drops. BUT because it was getting late and the doctor wanted to check again on Wednesday, I got to stay overnight in Kigali! It was amazing. I had a hot shower, I ordered some pizza, and I watched a ton of America’s Next Top Model. Then, because no one could take me back to training until noon on Wednesday, I was able to order more food (chicken strips, fries, and honey mustard this time) and talk to some of the lovely volunteers who are about to finish their service. It was worth the ear pain. In other news, we had a small Halloween get together and heard from the amazing US Ambas...