Day 8: Faye's First Step Preschool at Icyerecyezo Co-op

Tuesday, August 6th - Kayonza Rwanda

Written by Amy Cluck, World Dancer

An afternoon for celebration! Faye’s First Step Preschool officially opened at our Icyerecyezo ("Vision") Cooperative today in the district of Kyonza, located 86km from Kigali. This beautiful new building, painted a bold neon yellow, supports two classrooms, office space, latrines, and a kitchen.

Under a glorious blue sky with glaring sun bearing down, we attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with the Mayor of the District and proud members of the collective.  Having the Mayor in attendance was a high honor.

Dancers, women dressed in bright colors performed the traditional Rwandan dance and songs to the beat of a drum and invited us to join in.  Together we praised each other and the new school. 

We sat under tents that were on lend from another WD4H cooperative, Abaharaniramahoro, (a fine example of how these co-ops help each other) as the speeches commenced. The president of Icyerecyezo, Esperance, thanked WD4H and especially Faye Massey of Santa Barbara, for the support in building the school and providing the supplies and teacher training.  Faye, a long time educator and artist, was moved by the co-op’s dream of a preschool for their children. Janet, our amazing leader, spoke of Faye’s desire to unify her vision of education for all with this cooperative’s vision of an early educational start for their youngsters. Janet read a letter from Faye to the teachers thanking them for their dedication.   

Earlier this summer, two WD4H members, Sherry Robin and Pamela Albert, traveled here to train the teachers in the Montessori method and to set up the classroom supplies.

Inside the classroom, the students worked on a numbers exercise with small manipulatives. Engaged and attentive, many were barely aware of our presence, while others cried from all the commotion. We brought with us more educational supplies, small stuffed animals for all students and a parachute for group play.  When an afternoon snack of sorghum porridge was served, the WD4H travelers sat among and interacted with these sweet children.

Back outside, members of the collective and the travelers danced again, feeling the exuberance of the song, pounding out the beat with our stomping feet in the red clay dirt, stretching our arms out towards each other as if reaching across the ocean to form a bond of trust and understanding.  It’s an incredible emotional experience on this grand day.

THANK YOU, FAYE!

Thoughts from the travelers:

Linda Jalaba: The visit to the preschool was magical!! The children were so loving and attentive and it was so difficult to leave their sweet little faces! I’m still pinching myself....