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Bujumbura
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Umuganda
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Article by Nate Kempton
Labor-intensive community work project Article by Nate Kempton
Sole of Rwanda Article by Nate Kempton
UP THE PACE 8 PICKING Dance in the Hope Haven classrooms 9 10
HHR Founder, Susan Hollern on Campus!
CONTACT US!
HOPEHAVENRWANDA.ORG/CONTACT
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The students at Hope Haven showed off their crafting skills in the classroom this Valentine’s Day!
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Bujumbura Article by Nate Kempton
Nate is a specialist in agricultural practices and recently attended an agricultural symposium.
The ECHO East Africa Symposium on Best Agricultural Practices in Highland Areas was held in Bujumbura, Burundi. The three-day symposium was great! I learned so many new agricultural techniques for our land and made many new farming friends. The four stated purposes of the symposium included: 1.) To assist farmers to achieve great yields from their fields 2.) To improve farming practices to respond to a world wide declining soil productivity 3.) To discuss a variety of Christian based stewardship practices which will enhance soil resiliency and care for the earth 4.) To promote and continue learning and sharing through networks. The majority of attendees were Christians, and it was a huge privilege to start our daily program with prayer, devotions and worship music. One of the speaker highlights was Roland Bunch. He has worked for 45 years in agricultural development practices in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He discussed Green Manure Cover Cropping, and in another session he taught Soil and Water Conservation Techniques. We also heard from the East Africa Director of Farming God’s Way, Craig Sorley, who taught on the subject of Caring for God’s Creation. After the symposium with so many great and knowledgeable speakers I now definitely have a full plate of new and exciting programs that we hope to roll out starting in 2015.
Umuganda Article by Nate Kempton
Much like an American barn raising, in traditional Rwandan culture umuganda is a laborintensive community work project meant to benefit the entire community – with participation from all. After the Genocide of 1994, in an effort to nurture a shared national identity, the Government of Rwanda renewed the practice of umuganda. Modern day umuganda draws on the traditional Rwandan culture of coming together and helping each other for a common good. On the last Saturday of each month, villages and cells come together to do a variety of public works. Since coming to Rwanda, I have participated in numerous umuganda activities from building a government office to trenching a water line to grading the ruts out of the road. A recent umuganda was road repair on the road that leads to Hope Haven. We were a strong contributing partner in the project, supplying the rock and dirt to fill the numerous holes and ruts in the road. Along with our neighbors, we filled the holes and rebuilt a smoother surface for walking, bike taxis, motos and cars. Traditionally, after 2-3 hours of physical labor, the community has a large meeting run by the government leader for the area. September’s 400 meeting participants came to Hope Haven for the meeting. Our football pitch and covered pavilion created the perfect location to sit and listen to community leaders discuss community issues and future umuganda activities. We were honored to be a resource for the community and a place to gather, learn and serve each other.
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Sole of Rwanda Article by Nate Kempton
Have you ever wondered where your shoes go after you clean out your closet? When I was in 7th grade I had a pair of red Converse high tops with blue laces. To this day my mother swears she does not know where they went, but I now know where all great shoes go. Shoes are living a second life in Rwanda. I love the Rwandan shoe selection! Every person who steps onto our site has a unique pair of shoes – some of them even have unique singles. On a more serious note, most of the people in our community only own two pair of shoes – one pair for every day and one pair for Sunday. It really makes you think about how important shoes are for protecting your feet, especially when everyone here walks everywhere.
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PICKING UP THE PACE ARTICLE BY ABBEY PINT
The students at Hope Haven have been picking up the pace in the school’s dance classes! Both modern and traditional cultural style dances are being taught to all of the primary grades students. Dance is important to the culture of Rwanda and keeping the traditions alive means introducing it to the youth. Because of the dance instructions, the students have been able to put on dance performances on the campus. Hope Haven teacher, Priscillah teaches Modern Dance Class which ties back to our Hope Haven guest, Owner of Starstruck Academy of Dance and choreographer, Lisa Odell’s inspiration in Murindi. The kids still love “The Macarana” and the parents ask to hear the song as well! Pacifique, a choreographer who also has his own Rwandan ministry for kids in poverty, teaches the Cultural Dance Class. The Hope Haven students enjoy the classes and the school is excited to continue this practice!
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HOPE HAVEN FOUNDER, SUSAN HOLLERN
IS CURRENTLY ON CAMPUS!
Hope Haven Rwanda Founder, Susan Hollern is currently in Rwanda visiting the beautiful campus. During the weeks she is there, the campus will be active with progress. To kick off a great start to her stay, a large container was shipped to the campus and Susan was able to help upload a mass of supplies for Hope Haven. Here are some words from Susan about her trip so far: I have been at Hope Haven since Wednesday, February 4th. I can say that this place is a slice of Heaven! Transformation is occurring! Our children went back to school starting on January 26th. This is their 3rd week back and things are incredible. Currently 217 children are attending from the kindergarten age (broken in 2 classes - Middle & Top), 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. The baby class has a waiting list of over 50 children, and they will be able to start attending at the beginning of the 2nd term once the second primary building has been completed. We have new teachers along with some teachers that have been here from the beginning and they are excellent in the classroom. The progress on the second primary education building is great! We just watched them peel off the wooden forms for the 2nd story columns on Saturday. The cement cured properly! The bricks are ordered, and I think that I heard that order number was 12,000 bricks! This building should be functional by April 1 and ready for use by the beginning of the 2nd term. The computer program has started again. It is a really fun thing to watch the hand-eye coordination starting! Yesterday the 3rd grade class was working on the “Tux Paint” computer program. They were asked to draw a face. We will be adding tables and chairs from the container to our computer room soon. We are completely out of furniture at this point so we are grateful for the items that we will be unloading! The teachers have done a lot of professional development on the computer. Nate Kempton’s son, Collier, came for 3 weeks in November and went into detail regarding Microsoft Excel and Word programs. This was very helpful! They also worked on PowerPoint to be able to put lessons together. Most of the teachers had never used a computer before. We recently got new poles and triple phase wire throughout the community which will allow for power on our campus. This is big news for the community. We have been pushing for this since June 2012. It should all be a reality to have good and stable power soon. The buildings are incredible. They were barely completed last July. There was a lot of dirt and work to be completed. Now we have pavers, grass and nice landscaping. Everything is beautiful and it is very pleasant to be here! There was additional green paint added to the school buildings and rooms. It adds extra color but mostly the green paint gives us the ability to wash the hand prints off the walls so things look nice and clean! Nate, Fonda, Liz and I have been doing a lot of planning and discussing about what our program goals are for this year. We are off to a great start this year at Hope Haven Rwanda! Thank you to all the Hope Haven supporters! Ministry can’t be done alone.
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