Return to Muko School Rwanda

On this our third visit to Muko School in Rwanda, Izzy and I were a little disappointed to find that most of the school grounds and some of the newly constructed classrooms' floors had been covered with a thick mud caused by recent heavy rain that had fallen up in the hills that surround Bugarama village; this mud has little chance of drying at this time of the year as it gets rained on almost daily - as can be imagined, this meant that whenever anyone went into the classrooms, the mud came too! Flooding had not only caused damage to the area, we were soon to learn that unfortunately eight people had lost their lives during this disaster, only three days before we arrived.

Following this initial shock, it was a delight to see that six of the seven classrooms that had been built last year were now in use, two of them as a new nursery block complete with dormitory and a playground with a slide and swing outside, with the third soon to be completed. The other four new rooms that had been in use for the last year, along with five others, soon became our painting and maintenance project (for Izzy, myself and up to eight local people ranging from wives to college students.

We also employed a local builder with a team of up to eighteen men and women from the village who were able to plaster the interior of the five classrooms in which we had laid concrete floors last year. Exterior footpaths and walkways were also completed around this block so that children do not have to walk in mud and stones to visit these classrooms and the toilet blocks behind. This latter work is considered to be of great importance by the locals, to stop rainwater undermining the building - they were more than willing to donate some money to help. Numerous dangerous windowpanes have been replaced and it was good to learn that the school now has a 'no stone throwing' policy! Some classroom door hinges also needed replacing after being damaged in severe storms recently.

After a few trips to Kamembe the local town, and at the request of the Immaculee the school head, we were able to find and order four large plastic water storage tanks which were (at the time of our departure) still to be fitted and connected to the gutters to collect the daily rain that falls at this time of the year.

The computer room has now been completed by the British Council who through their Kigali office have installed eighteen monitors and keyboards for use by P6 Students.

A very fulfilling and successful trip!