Gacundezi Project | Highlands Team [Part III]
Highlands Trip Continued…The community based team
As I mentioned in the previous post the Highlands Team was divided into two groups to more effectively utilize their time in Eastern Rwanda. While the other team focused primarily on the government and business side of things, this group was keyed in on better understanding how to work alongside the local churches, health clinic, and schools. This group both investigated new areas to affect change as well as evaluate the success of partnerships already existing.
About a year and a half ago Highlands began a C2C (community to community) relationship with the primary school in Gacundezi. This commitment started with sponsoring children in the school. Currently highlands has sponsored a little more than half of the kids in the school. It works like this:
Food for the Hungry enters into a community that they have initiated a relationship with. Field staff then work with local leaders and ask the local leaders to identify the children in the school that are in the most need. Those children are then enrolled in the CDP program (Child Development Program). Once children are sponsored the funds are pooled to aid the entire group of children enrolled in the program. For example. Highlands sponsors children in the Gacundezi primary school. The school has 1224 students enrolled right now of those about 450 are part of FH’s CDP program; of those 450, roughly 250 have been sponsored. Those that are sponsored correspond by letter with the sponsor, which is one of the personal ways this positively affects the children, the funds though, are used to aid all 450 kids enrolled in the program. This means that the more children who are sponsored, the more kids there are that benefit (ex: if a small portion are sponsored funds may be used to cover school supplies, but as more are sponsored medical coverage can be extended as well).
So, the sponsorship was one of several things being evaluated and looked at while the group was out. Continue reading below to learn more about this portion of the trip.
Gacundezi Primary School -Part of the Highlands Church C2C relationship
Outside the primary school Alicia, Ketan, Phil and Dave are surrounded by excited children, children who don’t see many visitors.
Bathrooms (pit latrines) outside of the primary school.
The need for more bathrooms is just one of the areas the school needs assistance. Currently the largest need here is that of classrooms. With 1224 students, coming either to a morning and afternoon session, and having only 9 classrooms, there ends up being 45-60 students per class. To compound this problem, several classes end up meeting outside underneath the trees. Other than obvious difficulties and distractions with having class outside, there is a major issue that arises when in rains. When it does rain, which is frequent, students have to join another class inside. This puts 90-120 students in one room which quickly puts a halt to any education.
This is one of many problems in which the team is evaluating and seeking positive and creative solutions.
Student outside the school
Flowers in the garden separating the primary and secondary school
Secondary school
Desks awaiting repair outside of the secondary school
Vicki talking with a secondary student. They were discussing reading. The young girl explained that she loved reading and learning English, but like many students, she has a very difficult time find books.
Kenna sitting between two of the sponsored children
Stephanie taking one of her great photos
The group meeting with the head of the local PTA
One strength in this community is the way people work together. As Westerners we have this tendency to enter into situations like this with a mindset that “We are now here, we will fix all your problems.” In reality poverty, in all uses of the word, is extremely complicated. In most cases the communities we enter, whether as individuals, churches or NGO’s, often already have a lot of positive things happening. In this community we have been encouraged with the pride people have in their community and their willingness to work together. This is evident in the way parents work with the school to better their children’s education, in the fact that the local churches have a council that provides open channels of communication, and in how the government is such an active member of the community.
Original building of the health clinic, constructed in the late 90′s by a Canadian NGO.
One of the focuses of the group was assessing available health care and identifying ways that it could be improved. Currently Gacundezi has a health clinic that services roughly 150 people a day. The facility has an older building, as well as a newer building that was constructed by Oxfam in 2008. While it is much improved compared to what it was, it still has some major needs. The first two major needs are power and water. As of now the clinic functions without either. They use lanterns at night and have a small generator that can be turned on to briefly run tests with the microscope. Water is collected from the roof in rains and reused. Water for medical purposes must be boiled to sterilize it.
From what we gathered from the Mayor, both of these issues should be gone by September. Other opportunities are still present. Currently the clinic has only nurses, no doctors. Any surgeries or complicated cases have to be sent to the closest hospital which is located in Nygatare. Unfortunately there are only 2 ambulances (cars) servicing Nygatare Hospital and they have 18 different clinics that they cover.
Some of the biggest health issues that people come in for are malaria, diarrhea (dehydration), and respiratory diseases. The clinic is also working with an NGO to establish an HIV/AIDS testing and education program. Currently there are no solid estimates to how prevalent HIV/AIDS is in this district (though compared to other areas of Africa, Rwanda has relatively low infection rates estimated in the 6-13% range).
The team will now assess this and an abundance of information gathered to assess how a healthy (excuse the pun) relationship might be entered into here.
(above) people wait to be seen outside of the clinic.
(below) a nurse dispenses medicines from the clinic pharmacy.
The Church
As mentioned, the church in the area seems to be on the right path in that there is already a council representing the majority of churches in the area. This council allows for open channels of communication, they take on joint projects within the community, and they work towards a common vision. There are opportunities still in the community, that the church would like assistance with. At this point while some of those opportunities relate to construction of churches (more finishing/fixing existing buildings), one of the biggest opportunities seems to be in training pastors.
So what now?
All in all this team did an amazing job in a short amount of time. Making a posotive difference in Health, Education and the local Church is no easy task, and certainly something that must be done by walking beside people (not in front of). All that to say, it will be interesting to see what steps are taken next towards furthering this partnership. God has been incredibly gracious in the people he has brought us into relationship with, we truly met some amazing individuals, and if that is any indication to whether or not He is active in what is being done. I don’t think there is any question that He is, it is now a matter of dicerning the current information and using wisdom and the guidance of the Spirit to step forward.
Fabulous!! What a great overview of the Highlands trip. I’m so happy to hear there was a big focus on child sponsorship and that people were engage in how we can get more children sponsored. So amazing!
Chris it’s been so cool to read about all of the different areas of focus that you guys have been able to explore in Gacundezi. I am excited to think about what God will do in the coming years with what you have begun here.