A Tale of Two Baskets

Building partnerships is a wonderful aspect of the mission in Rwanda. Bringing children together and teachers together. For over a year, The Child Care Center at Hort Woods on the Penn State campus has been "Picture Pals" with a class at the Cyakabiri Preschool in Rwanda. They have shared drawings and stories about themselves as well as compared what is the same and what is different in their classrooms.

Most recently they are comparing baskets that are unique to their geographic regions. Each are hand-made and have stories to share. The Rwanda basket, given at weddings filled with beans or rice represents Sharing, Saving and Solidarity. The apple basket, made by a local artisan in Pennsylvania, is made of maple and ash. The children visited trees on the campus to have their photos taken and picked leaves to press then sent to Rwanda with me. Booklets were made using photographs to show how each of the baskets were made.

In August I took 7 Rwandan preschool teachers and 9 teens from Urukundo to see this demonstration by a woman basket maker. For many it was the first time they had seen someone in their own country make the baskets. Learning continues to open new horizons across the world.

Conversations and observations will continue as children compare these baskets. What they are used for, trees and fruit in each country and stories of those that make the baskets.

What is next? Handmade musical instruments.