Seeking a Ray of Sunshine

"No ray of sunshine

 is ever lost

 but the green that it awakens to life

 needs time to sprout,

and it is not always given

to the sower

 to live to see the harvest.

All work worth anything is done by faith."

-Albert Schweitzer

After reading an article describing the urgent need for physicians in the French Congo, Albert Schweitzer, at age 30,  told his family that he wanted to study medicine in order to become a physician for those suffering in Africa.

Almost a century later, the Ungana Foundation finds the state of medical care in Goma, Congo woefully lacking.   One of the largest problems seen in Goma is the lack of medicines and equipment.  

While in a meeting with the president of the Rotary Club last week we were informed that there is no medical scanner in the area.   Patients in need of being scanned must travel either to Kigali, Rwanda (3 ½ hours by bus) or to Kinshasa DRC (5 hours by plane) to receive treatment. 

We hope that with the help of a matching grant from the Rotary Club and other partners in the U.S. to substantially improve the healthcare situation in Goma. With our health care associates hard at work we look forward to reporting positive updates on this very urgent community need.

Alyssa Callister

President

The Ungana Foundation
 

Exciting XO Computers in Action

The deployment in Gisenyi (Rwanda) is well on its way.   The laptops are being deployed at EPGI primary (elementary) school to 84 children in P5 (fifth grade).  Last week was spent setting up the server and access points at the school (to enable constant wireless internet access on the XO), training six teachers (2 hours a day for a week), getting the computers through customs in Kigali (the capitol city of Rwanda), and taking inventory/re-flashing all the machines (updating the operating system).  Today we gave all the children their own computer (each with their own colors!) 

We will be holding a large Expo to unveil the project and the XO on July 10^th.   The Expo will be sponsored by the Ministry of Education in Rwanda and will include speeches by prominent officials, a demonstration of the XO put on by the children, workshops, and informational briefings. 

Alyssa Callister

President

Ungana Foundation

Christmas morning as a 5-year old.

That’s the closest comparison I can think of when trying to describe the look I saw on 85 Rwandan kids’ faces this afternoon as we handed them their new XO laptops. It really was incredible to see the amazement come out as they booted up what was now their first trip into the information age. During the next few months, and then for the rest of their lives, they will be able to progress like never before.

Rwanda is quickly beginning its ascent into being the foremost technological country in Africa, and is committed to making it happen in all areas of the population, including in primary schools. This investment in the future is inspiring, and was seen in the children’s excitement as we handed them this new instrument. Right off, they began testing the XO’s capabilities; taking pictures, searching for more information in the Wikipedia activity, and drawing pictures of their houses. Until now, the children have been entirely dependent on others for their education, awaiting instruction from the overworked, underpaid teachers. With the introduction of the XO, a child can supplement the education given them in school with their own interest-driven activities, with a healthy dose of problem solving, hands-on discovery.

At the UNGANA Foundation, we appreciate this refreshing confidence in the future. We are devoted to making this endeavor sustainable. Education is not effective with a “flash-in-the-pan” mentality, but must be seen as a process that will continue indefinitely.

With that in mind, we will continue to work with the ULK Primary School, offering them tools and preparing them for the time when they will be able to proceed on their own, learning things that we aren’t capable of teaching.

Coy Whittier
Communications Associate
The UNGANA Foundation

Today is the Day

Today we’re going to the ULK Primary School to deploy 85 XO laptops to 85 5th graders who won’t even know what hit them.

They’ll have no idea that with these new machines, they will be able to take education into their own hands. Right now, they have no idea that they’ll soon be:

• Writing the stories of their lives
• Adding pictures of themselves to the stories
• Sharing activities with their colleagues
• Drawing pictures of their favorite animals
• Learning English by creating their own memorize activities
• Surfing the Web for information on their own country
• Using an encyclopedia to learn more about the endocrine system
• Writing a report on the East African Community with research from various sources
• Learning along with their teachers
• Teaching each other
• Working in groups without even knowing it
• Emailing pen pals on the other side of the world
• Blogging
• Showing their parents how to use a computer
• Creating simple computer programming
• Who knows, maybe creating complex computer programming
• Playing problem-solving games

A whole new world of educational possibilities is waiting for these children to discover. In partnering with One Laptop Per Child, the UNGANA Foundation believes that, when given the right tools, children are capable of doing amazing things; even in the most remote places. Today we will see that seed planted, and we will see it nourished.

Coy Whittier
Communications Associate

Volunteering in Rwanda

Early this morning, I walked the last of the volunteers to Virunga bus station to send them off to Kigali and on to their respective journeys. I compiled a list that samples some of the experiences and accomplishments of the volunteers during the three weeks in which they participated in Ungana’s Masterminds programs:

Gave roughly 100 kids confidence in English conversation, Money Management, Health,
Music, Sports, and Art
Saw zoo animals in their natural habitat at Akagera National Park
Took a Road Tour of Gisenyi
Taught the same lesson 14 times in one day
Listened to the Von trap family singers sing Rwanda’s national anthem
Brainstormed, planned, and carried out 20 different lesson plans for 30 or 70 kids
Went to the beach during lunch
Played with street kids with a volcano in the background
Talked for an hour one night a week about personal love lives to complete strangers
Survived motorcycle taxi helmets
Got a sunburn at 5000 ft and 1 degree below the equator
Visited an orphanage with 670 children
Made banana leaf picture frames with local artists
Observed Rwandan education first-hand
Improved teaching resumes.
Spoke with local leaders
Slept with geckos
Gained bargaining skills in a goods market
Smelled methane
Adapted to a culture
Made new friends
Taught local athletes the ways of the Frisbee
Successfully managed 65 kids at one time in a 30 x 30 ft space
Waited 1.5 hours for food at a restaurant
Spent a cumulative one hour a week washing feet
Met Jack Hannah
Watched the complete third season of House
Demonstrated complicated activities to ESL kids
Over 10 days, put in 100 hours of work
Embraced the cold shower
Clubbed to Congolese Music
Fought mosquitoes
Learned Kinyarwandan, French, and ‘Jeff’ dialect
Spent three weeks in Africa’s most dense population

Made an impact

Thank you to Tyler, Christyn, Maren, Amber, and Ben for making the Ungana Masterminds program a resounding success!

Doctors and Children!

Hello hello it’s just your trusty friend Dave, the Health Care Associate again to update you on the latest and greatest of the Ungana Foundation! Well as usual things are trucking along and we are digging our roots deep here in the Gisenyi/Goma area. I truly feel as though part of me will always refer to this place as home and I’m not stopping that feeling. Coy, Alyssa, Alex, and our new buddy Greg have come back from Kigali to start the launch of the XO laptops. I’m excited to announce that the health care team will be conducting some lessons with these magical machines. It is still in the plans, but we hope to teach the children of U.L.K. Primary School how to use their new toys to find out if they are sick, diagnosis their symptoms, and find new resources on how they can live a healthier life.

Our Medical Student Volunteer Program (MSVP) is laid out and we will soon be approving it through the Gisenyi Regional Hospital. We have refocused on a new Rotary Club to team up with here in the area. Our education programs are in the works to be implemented within the communities here soon. So all is great on the Rwanda front!

I’m sad to say the volunteers are leaving us. Ben, Amber, Christyn, and Maren have been great additions to the group and have really impacted the community of Gisenyi. I can already hear the kids asking me where their beloved teachers have gone. It’s sad to say goodbye, but there is more to come and we are all looking forward to the experiences.
Well, like the volunteers I must say farewell, but lucky for us we will meet again next week……
Chao!

Dave Kenika Kuwada
Health Care Associate

Dave’s Health Care Update.....

Hey all its Dave once again to update you on the health care front here in Gisenyi/Goma. This week I have just been creating the needed, but not so fun documentation for the programs UNGANA is establishing here in the area. I’ve also been working on medical supplies as usual and I had my final meeting with Dr. John before he headed off to Kenya to finish his PHD. The meeting simply confirmed that we both have very high hopes for the future of the projects and the partnership with the University of Goma.

This next week I hope to meet again with the Director of the Gisenyi Regional Hospital, Dr. Sam, to approve the design I’ve created and finalize understandings for our Medical Student Volunteer Program (MSVP) which is to commence the summer of 2010.

As I was sitting around the living room discussing issues with the volunteers we discussed the issue of mosquitoes. I can personally attest that I highly dislike these insects and would think the world better off without them, but that’s just me…. Anyway the topic of nets and screens came in and I proposed the idea of a project concentrating on supplying homes with window screens for the future. I recently attended a conference that stated the great impact of window screens in reducing cases of Malaria and other mosquito vectored diseases/parasites. Currently, the Rwandan government supplies all citizens with mosquito nets, but why not supply these people with screens that are permanent and creates a mosquito free house rather than a mosquito free bed? I don’t know random thought, but I would love to hear your opinion.

Well those are the updates and thoughts of the week……

Dave Kenika Kuwada
Health Care Associate

Mastermind Volunteers

UNGANA'S Mastermind volunteers spent this last week performing demo lessons, discussing classroom management strategies, and teaching 150 children at Mubano 1 school. Allow me to introduce the volunteer teachers:

Hello, my name is Maren Jacobson. I am volunteering in Giyseni for the month of June. I love it here. I am originally from Austin, Texas, but attend school in Logan, Utah at Utah State University. My reasons for coming out here are many, mainly my love for new experiences and new people. Having been here for just one week, I am very much looking forward to this next month and its events.

My name is Amber Rhodes. I am volunteering with the Ungana Foundation in Giyseni for their pilot teaching program. I have been assigned to specifically teach music and English. I am from Spokane, WA. I graduated from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies and minors in music and Spanish. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to teach and volunteer here in Africa and I look forward to the next few weeks.

I am Ben Cragun and am here in Gisenyi volunteering with the Ungana Foundation’s teaching program, Masterminds. I am from Granite Bay, California, but have been at school in Provo, Utah at BYU for three years studying chemistry. Teaching is not my strength, but I am learning here how to be a patient teacher. I love to meet new people and have found a wealth of loving people here. I am excited to help the children here to have a better chance at succeeding in this world.

Hello dearest Ungana blog followers! My name is Christyn Costley and I am here in Rwanda volunteering with the Masterminds program teaching art and English. I have been here for almost three weeks and I absolutely love the people, the culture and immense natural beauty that surrounds me each day. I am originally from Ogden, Utah and have traveled quite extensively outside of my small hometown. I graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in International Studies and after volunteering here I will be working in Washington D.C. I know that I will walk away from this experience a more humble person and will gain more passion for serving those less fortunate. Therefore, I will forever be grateful for Ungana for granting me this opportunity.

While I find great refreshment in this team of talented and motivated volunteer teachers, I'm confident the next two weeks will bring both success and failure. However, along with talent and motivation, this group brings flexibility and imagination to every class and night discussion. I may function as their mentor, yet I assure you, their efforts have already taught me valuable lessons.

Ashley Linford
Programs Associate

More Pictures

New Developments on the Health Frontier

Today is blog day for Dave Kenika Kuwada and I’m here to update you on the recent developments of the health care department of UNGANA. Well since last week I’ve been busy setting up meetings, going to meetings, and researching sources for more meetings… Exciting? I think you would be surprised. In all this excitement I’ve been developing a close relationship with our friends over at the University of Goma medical school in neighboring DRC, and it is flourishing. I work closely with an anesthesiologist named John who I met at a medical conference last week, which I mentioned in my last blog. We have been working on creating a list of supplies, equipment, and drugs to send out to suppliers and anyone who can and will donate to the ever-pressing cause. Also, on our agenda is the establishment of nurse seminars and healthcare socials for late July.

Sir Coy Whittier – our Communications Associate, his aunt, and myself have also been looking into partnering up with the Rotary Clubs here in Rwanda and back at home in SLC to see what kind of projects we can collaborate on. The process is slow, but I have high hopes. Coy will be attending an OLPC conference at the end of the week and will be in the capitol so he will be dropping in on some of these Rotary Club meetings. All we can do now is hope for the best.

Well this is Dave sending his love from Afreka once again and as usual I’ll be back next week…..


Dave Kuwada
Health Care Associate

Pictures

From Coy

Throughout the last couple of days, I have gotten the opportunity to spend some time in Rwanda’s early educational system. Yesterday we passed the morning in the Ubumwe Community center, a wonderful building that was built in part by the Columbus Zoo and wildlife icon Jack Hanna. The facilities created a definite sense of community. Rooms were being used by distinct groups, providing needed services to children and adults. We first entered into a room full of artisans. There they used machines of various types and sizes to weave, sew and build various goods that would be taken to be sold in the market. In another room we attended classes with about 20 deaf children, and sat and watched as the teacher taught sign language. It was amazing to me to see the children get excited to learn new ways of communication. The last room was filled with handicapped children, who were overjoyed to show us their English skills by counting and showing us the colors. Both classes are provided to the children at no charge to the parents. The teachers work for little more than the assurance that they are contributing something to their country.

It was great to see our MasterMinds volunteers interact with the children; learning, teaching, and reinforcing. The UNGANA Foundation’s impact is slowly starting to resonate throughout the area. The spirit of the word ‘ungana’ – to come together to accomplish a purpose – is demonstrated in everything we attempt. Residents of Gisenyi are starting to take up the cause and offer their services to further our work. It is inspiring to be part of such an effort. Witnessing a people so committed to progress reinforces in me the knowledge that people will help themselves if given the tools and pointed in the right direction.

Coy Whittier

Communications Associate

The UNGANA Foundation

Thoughts from Tyler

The last couple of days have been very interesting. I have spent most of the time in the Ubumwe Community Center. We have sat in on a variety of different classes. The class that sticks out in my mind the most is the class where about 20 or so deaf children were learning to sign and communicate. It was very cool for me to see their joyful outlook on learning and happy faces. In another room they have different stations for different crafts that they make. I sat in at one station and a couple men named John and Danielle taught me and walked me through making a picture frame from banana leaves. It was cool for me to experience this because I speak little Kinyarwandan and they spoke little English, yet we had no problem communicating. We also went down to some local soccer fields the other night and started up a game of Ultimate Frisbee which we taught to and played with some of the people there. They didn’t know the game or really how to throw a Frisbee but learned very fast and became very good. It was a very fun evening and was nice to get to know more Rwandan people.

Tyler Whittier

Masterminds Volunteer