Carrying Babies

In Rwanda babies are carried on their mother's back for over a year. Everywhere I walked in Rwanda I saw these cute little babies wrapped tightly in beautiful colored cloth.

So it became the next idea to share with another school partnership that was just established with Friends Schoolhouse preschool in State College, PA.

I found the book "A Ride on Mother's Back" and created some fun activities for the classroom. Lynne Bradley, the director of the Friends Schoolhouse created a book showing how the moms of her preschoolers carried their babies in the US. There were quite a few ideas photographed with moms, dads, grandmas and even kids carrying their stuffed animals. One mom donated a wrap that she used to carry her baby.

With the new sewing enterprise at Urukundo we were able to make small sized wraps like the one donated so kids could carry babies another way. Linda put on one to demonstrate and even the teachers put on the wrap in the afternoon class to join in the fun.

David, the teacher we worked with in one class, asked the children on each page that showed a baby carried in different country,"Where is the baby?"

We worked with one teacher, David, and he in turn will teach the other teachers about carrying babies in other countries.

These school partnerships have been absolutely essential in the training of teachers. Bringing cultures together and showing again and again what is the same and what is different.

*Two children with the newly made US carriers and one with the baby wrapped on her back.
*Linda demonstrating
*The books from Friends Schoolhouse
*Storytime