Bosco, continued
On 3 April 2010 Dorothy Nelson sent an email from Rwanda:
"Just in case you were wondering what happened to my appeal for help with this young man's secondary education, I thought I would send you an update.
Bosco, thanks mainly to the efforts of Chris Middleton, is happily settled at Zaza Petit Seminaire. Awunick and I visited him last week. This is a friendly small school of 250 boys with very high academic standards. Classes by Rwandan standards are very small with no more than 35 in any class. The school is set in lovely countryside near Lake Muhazi and is surrounded by well-kept gardens and extensive playing fields. The students' day is long, starting with wake-up exercises at 5 and there is time for sport most days. Bosco's favourite is football. I asked if he is in a team and he said, "Not yet, some of the boys are bigger than me and have had more practice. I will get into a team in the second term." I have sent some photos of Bosco to Chris.
It was exam week when we visited so Awunick and I sat in the shade to wait for Bosco. We had asked where he would be and it seemed everyone in the school knows him. He emerged, with his best friend Afrika, who comes from the same area. They do everything together and it is a good reminder of home for a lad who had never left his village before coming here. We asked how the exams were going and he replied, "Easy, like drinking water." So there is no lack of confidence anyway. His remarks are delivered with such charm that he gets away with it. His marks bear it out too.
Bosco will stay at Zaza for the first 3 years of secondary and then probably move to Rwamagana, (which we also visited on the same day)
which is better equipped to encourage his love of Science when he gets to higher levels. It is very common to split secondary schooling in
this way and I think it is an arrangement that will suit Bosco well.
It was a lovely day out and I hope to visit again before I leave Rwanda.
Love
Dorothy
(Dorothy Nelson)"
Chris Middleton has provided background information below, and would welcome donations: BUT: Don't send money while this message is here, an account is being set up.
"Rwanda, a small, landlocked country in central Africa has a total area of just over 9,500 square miles and a population of nearly 11 million. These figures make it not only about one tenth of the size of the UK but also the most densely populated African country.
In the second half of the 20th century Rwanda had a sad and turbulent history. the majority Tutsis rose up against the ruling, but smaller numerically, Hutus. The following unrest saw over 1 Million people killed and many more living in exile. The divisions between the Tutsis and Hutus were social, not ethnic and before the troubles there was some mobility between them. Roughly speaking Tutsis were wealthier, and kept cows, while the more numerous Hutus were cultivators. The royal family were Tutsi. The divisions were partially created by the colonisers who instigated a programme to distinguish between the groups, often in the most bizarre ways. They stratified the groups, by various methods including the use of identity cards, and prevented any social mobility between them. In 1959, the Belgians departed having set up a Hutu army and government and the persecution of the Tutsis began. In 1990 the civil war began as refugees formed an army and invaded from Uganda. In 1994, the Hutu president Habyarimana was killed and an extreme fascist regime took over and immediately ordered the annihilation of all Tutsis – the Genocide. Not all victims were Tutsi – many ‘moderate’ Hutus died and there were reprisal killings as the RPF made its way through the country. The repercussions of this unrest are still in the news today with reports of belligerents returning home to an uncertain reception in Rwanda after many years in the Republic of Congo. Those returning from Congo are a mixture of Hutu refugees who have been used as a human shield in military camps, and survivors of the pre-94 regime and its army. The country is much more stable now and has a President who was elected in a free and popular election. In 2009 Rwanda became a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, only the second state with no previous connection to the UK to be admitted.
1959 saw Rwanda become free from Belgium but retained French as one of the official languages and that of education. In recent years the decision was taken to convert to English as the language of education and it is in her role of Basic Education Methodology Trainer that Dorothy impinges on this programme.
The economy of the country is dominated by agriculture; about 45% of the country’s GDP comes from farming, about twice as much as from industry and nearly three times the contribution from services. Farming is largely a subsistence activity, nearly 60% of the population live below the poverty line in a country where the average GDP per capita is about $1,000, ( this compares to the UK figure of $35,400 in 2009).
The government is investing in education, and over 70% of the population can read and write by the age of 15. However, with only about 1,600 miles of surfaced roads in the country, travel between distant points is not easy and so education is delivered primarily in the individual communities. Because of this situation secondary education is organised as a two-tier provision: there is a 3-year programme that is available to all, and a 6-year programme that is offered through selected centres which are often boarding schools and for which fees have to be paid. The 3-year programme is basic and does not offer access to further or higher education, while the fees for a good secondary school can be about 60,000 Rwf per term. In addition to the fees the students having to provide their own equipment, including bedding and a list of specified of clothes, together of course with travel to and from the school – it usually comes to an extra 20,000 Rwf per term. This totals about 240,000Rwf per year for the 6 years of the programme. At the moment the conversion rate is 850Rwf per pound sterling, giving an annual cost of just over £280 per year. For most people in Rwanda the school this expenditure represents over 50% of their annual income, and may even exceed the total family income. This means that a good education is only available to the wealthy and those lucky enough to be sponsored by some third party. Many foreign bodies provide sponsorship for students; some are large, national, organisations while others are very small. Many of the smaller ones are the result of the experience of volunteers, like Dorothy, working in the country. Despite all the schemes in existence the need for assistance far outstrips the supply.
It was against this background that Dorothy met Bosco whilst on a trip to inspect a local village school. An enthusiastic head teacher, devoted staff and a previous volunteer have made this a ‘model school’, the only one in the district. One of the features of the school is a science club set up by the volunteer and still running. It was this club and its activities which Bosco enthusiastically and competently introduced to Dorothy. Bosco is 11years old and has just completed his primary education in the minimum 6 years; it is not unusual for students in the final year of primary education to be 16 or 17.
Dorothy first met Bosco in early September while he was preparing for the exams at the end of primary school. Towards the end of January they met again and Bosco proudly told her that he had achieved a score of 93% overall, the highest score in the District, and had been offered a place at a secondary school about 50km away that is reckoned to be the best in the whole of Eastern Province. Such an offer would allow him to study the science subjects that he loves, and would help him in his ambition to become a doctor. Unfortunately Bosco’s parents, like many in the village are extremely poor and could never hope to meet the expense of all this, and so Bosco was contemplating having to do the 3 year programme locally and see all his ambitions vanish.
Following a short, and almost simultaneous, presentation at both Devon and Cornwall Area Meetings, we - that is Dorothy and myself - have started a fund within St. Austell Meeting to provide the necessary funding for Bosco. He clearly is a most deserving case. Within a couple of days I had received offers and a guarantee that allowed me to transfer enough money to Dorothy to pay the first term fees and buy books and other necessary equipment. An excited Bosco left for his new school on 31st January.
One major problem with schemes set up by volunteers to help provide finance is that when the volunteer returns home the scheme is left floating. To avoid such an eventuality Dorothy has recruited a team of three local teachers who will act as the local contact, one of them being Bosco’s ex-head teacher. Between them they have had previous experience of similar schemes, and were relieved when they heard how we were proposing to organise this one. They will act as our representatives and report to us on students’ progress, act as our agents for handling money and also identify other deserving cases for us to support if we can. We still have to generate a set of criteria against which they can judge potential candidates. One big advantage of this is that they will know not only the student but the whole family as well and money will go from the team direct to the school, not the family.
At the moment we have a regular income that will provide the basic cover of school fees for the whole of the 6-year programme, we also have reserves that will cover books for the rest of the first year. However, providing the fees for six years is not enough if we cannot provide for the other associated expenses such as books throughout the course. There are also many other deserving cases out there and it would be nice if we could envisage supporting others in future years.
A regular income of £20 per month should cover nearly all the expenses for one student for one year. An income of £25 per month certainly would at the moment; this however ignores inflation. If you feel that you could help, either with a one-off donation or with a regular programme of giving, please contact me and I will attempt to provide answers to any questions you have. Dorothy will also be happy to answer questions by email at lonelyelephant@gmail.com ."
Chris Middleton.
ChrisMidd27@btinternet.com