Picture Pals

Nona Nina's class at The Child Care Center at Hort Woods at Penn State and Mr. Andrew's class at the Cyakabiri Preschool in Rwanda are "Picture Pals."

"It started with sharing a picture of Mr. Andrew's classroom in Rwanda with Nona Nina's children. The children were interested to find similarities and differences between their schools. They have a clock, an alphabet, a gathering rug, a bookcase, a world map and a picture of a spiral just like we do. Same, same but different!" ~~Nona Nina

Nona Nina then read "Same, Same but Different" about two boys who become "picture pals" although they live far away from each other. She decided to prepare artwork to send to their sister school in Rwanda. Each child drew a picture and had a photo attached to it with their name.

Nona Nina's class would then give them to Mr. Niyodusenga when he visits....their pictures, a copy of the book, a tablet and crayons just like the ones they used. He will take them back to Mr. Andrew's class and have them draw pictures and attach photos to their art. Carol Falke's team will bring them back to the US to Nona Nina's class.

Sharing also meant getting to know each other's names.

Mr. Andrew's class - Emmanuel, Nelly, Jean Marie, Orianne, Alscene, Angelique, Salmon, Callixte, Gisella, Jean Pierre, Foiba, Egide, Frasisko, Clevine, Chrisella, Martin, Aime.

Nona Nina's class - Caleb, Tayler, Elise, Adam, Larry, Khadijah, margaret, Dash, Lola, Taliesen, Aeshah, Addie, Ragga.

Little ones are reaching across the world in friendship.

Photos:
*Mr. Andrew's Class outside.
*Games and class Photo
*Nona Nina sharing
*Picture Pal drawing and final project to send

Basket of Friendship

"Mr. Niyodusenga, administrator of the Cyakabiri (pronounced Cha-ka-bidi) school in Rwanda visited our classroom today. We have been preparing for his visit for a long time. Mr. Niyodusenga gave us a beautiful basket with a lid. Along with the basket he had a lesson to share. The basket, he said, represents sharing, saving and solidarity. The children were able to give examples of sharing and saving, we will have to learn more about the word "solidarity". Mr. Niyodusenga knows four languages, so we sang our "Hello" song to him in English, Kinyarwanda, French and Swahili. He sang "Thank you" back to us in Kinyarwanda, "murakoze." ~~Nona Nina's Newsletter

Vincent participated in several activities during his visit. He joined them as they gathered for the opening of their day with sharing. Then there was math, reading, play, art, water science/play and outside play.

Learning about styles of classroom management and small group activities was his focus. After spending time observing the children and watching Nona Nina's interactions he knew there were many things he could share with the teachers in Rwanda. Water is play and water is science....for these projects he would return to Rwanda with turkey basters (his first time using them), a colander, funnels and more. Plastic tubing would come later with a team.

This partnership being formed is about teachers mentoring teachers in Rwanda. Nona Nina was a perfect teacher to work with as she has been an early childhood educator since 1974 and has a Montessori teaching certificate. She has taught workshops for other teachers in the areas of creative dramatics, anti-bias curriculum, conflict resolution and environmental education. We are thrilled she is a part of the Urukundo Learning Center through class to class partnerships.

Linda Duerr, Director of Education and Instruction at the center is also a key partner with us. She made sure Vincent had plastic smocks to take back and is facilitating connections with an art teacher, departments coordinating student internships and the Penn State Student Education Association.

All these partnerships are built on the importance of education throughout the world.

Photos:
*Vincent and Nina with water play.
*Vincent receiving smocks from Linda before the class goes out to play.
*Vincent, Nina and class singing "Hello" song.
*Vincent sharing the basket.

Kids to Kids

Learning to share across the world....

Miriam Powell, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pink Zone and a member of Mothers & More in State College sent me an email this spring after learning about my work in Rwanda. She shared, "As a former world cultures teacher, I spent quite a bit of time teaching my students about the civil war in Rwanda and discussing the lasting effects it had on modern African nations." She asked, "What is the name of the children's home and what are their ages and circumstances? And how does someone get involved with helping?"

She enthusiastically shared my story with moms and kids in Mothers & More. There's no slowing her down. You know what I mean if you ever met her! She thought the moms and kids would be thrilled to gather educational toys, games and books for me to take in August. And that's just what they did.

I had goosebumps and a lump in my throat when I saw what they collected....so many beautiful, colorful toys that will be very loved by the children at the Urukundo Home and Cyakabiri Preschool.

Duplo Legos, baby toys, cars and trucks, games, puzzles, wonderful books for all ages, a snuggly stuffed rabbit and more!

Mothers & More is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers through support, education and advocacy. Part of their mission is being involved in community service. Most has been local but they were looking forward to doing something global. http://mothersandmorestatecollege.com

Thank you moms and kids.

Photos:
*Mothers & their sweet kids and all they collected.
*Miriam & her boys made a difference.
*Miriam and Michael finding Rwanda.
*Michael and Joseph loading my car.

Beautiful Feet

Romans 10:15 "How beautiful are the feet that bring the good news!"

Last May I organized Barefoot Sunday to collect shoes for Rwanda, the St. Paul's Shoe Bank, other shoe banks and Nicaragua. Once I returned from Rwanda I realized the ministry connection was kids-to-kids and teens-to-teens. This was an opportunity to build leaders among our children and youth at St. Paul's. Leaders in mission.

Working with Tori VonLeer, Children's Ministry Director, was key. Her enthusiasm and amazing connection with the children and their parents got me started. Two 6th graders, Mollie and Leah volunteered to be coordinators of the Beautiful Feet shoe collection. And their moms Andrea and Patty worked alongside them. Then Tori had two children from each grade, 1st - 5th, volunteer to become class reps to communicate to their classes and make posters. Thank you Cooper, Hayden, Madeline, Rachel, Paige, Sarah, Reigen, Davis, Thomasin, Caroline, Kendall, Cassie and Lizzie.

Next posters were made to hang throughout the church and education building. Coordinators Mollie, Leah and Paige gave the Mission Moment at both services to tell the church about this project. Then on Children's Sunday April 22nd, with many children gathered around, they gave the Children's Message.

We even had a pizza party so the class reps could see pictures of my visit to Rwanda as well as meet Vincent Niyodusenga and ask him questions. They were not thrilled that dessert in Rwanda was only fruit. Also surprising to them was the fact there are 65 kids in each classroom. And before the party was over, empty baskets were balanced on heads. They couldn't imagine balancing a full basket.

These children are curious, loving,
respectful towards each other and ready to serve.

Luke 18:16 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs."

Children's Message

April 22nd was Children's Sunday and the message was given by 6th graders Mollie and Leah, coordinators of the Beautiful Feet shoe collection.

Leah: Did you know the Bible talks about beautiful feet? Romans chapter 10 says, "How beautiful are the feet that bring good news!"

Mollie: Do you know why it says that those who tell others about Jesus have beautiful feet? If you wanted to deliver an important message to someone far away, you gave it to a messenger and they would use their beautiful feet to deliver it.

Leah: Do you think the pastors have beautiful feet? And the Sunday School teachers? Yes they do. They are messengers of the good news of Jesus Christ, and they bring this message to many people. Do you tell others about Jesus? If you do, then you have beautiful feet too!

Mollie: We are thinking about beautiful feet because some people are carrying the message of Jesus Christ to Rwanda, Africa. Carol Falke from our church has been helping at a children's home there and we wanted to help too. So we thought we would have a shoe collection so she can take them to Africa when she goes in August.

Leah: Let us pray...Give us feet, Lord, and make us swift and strong to carry the good news of your love to people EVERYWHERE!

Photos:
The children gathered around for the special message.

Vincent Niyodusenga, visiting from Rwanda, thanked Mollie and Leah for their leadership in missions.

Teacher with a Passion

Janet Lybarger - A Teacher with a Passion!!!! Since I am not an educator I knew Vincent needed a mentor right from the start. Someone with a passion for teaching and love and respect for children. Someone who would work with Vincent to ensure his training focused on best practices in teaching and administration, make sure it was culturally relevant and after the training set priorities and strategies for implementing all he learned when he returned to Rwanda.

That person was Janet who taught preschool for 12 years, kindergarten for 1 and 1st and 2nd grade for 18 years. Her masters is in education to teach reading. Having spent so many years "in" the classroom I knew she would be the mentor he needed.

His welcome to Janet's house was a warm greeting in the midst of a snow storm. Then it was just a matter of getting down to business. A key resource used was NAEYC, The National Association for the Education of Young Children. The focus was on children including curriculum, classroom management, assessment of each child's progress and health. They also talked about qualifying teachers and their ongoing training and assessment, working with the community and families and most important of all was administration of the school by building on Vincent's leadership and management skills in education.

After several hours he left with his own homework. That's a teacher for you. He had resources to read through before he met with Janet at the completion of his school trainings.

A Rwandan basket that represents sharing, saving and solidarity, was given to Janet to thank her for her love and respect for teaching.

His training begins!!!!!

Vincent's Training

For two days Vincent trained at the Nittany Valley Charter School with the school's CEO Carolyn Maroncelli. She already has a connection with the Urukundo Foundation as sponsor to one of the teenagers, Liliane. A wonderful opportunity was waiting for Vincent - a stay with Carolyn and her family, in the country, for 4 days during his training.

One focus was school administration which included a staff meeting and a parent teacher meeting. Several key areas he trained in were the students Bill of Rights, teaching styles focusing on each child, how to involve parents in their child's education, setting goals with teachers and helping them achieve them and most of all providing the best learning environment for the success of each child.

The third day of training included a full day at the Stone Valley Charter School where Carolyn is on the board. It is located in a rural area and provides much needed preschool opportunities for young children. Seeing this school in action included the importance
of daily routine, preparing stations for small group teaching and observing teacher-child interactions.

As a thank you he presented Carolyn and the school with a beautiful Rwandan basket.

Look for news of his extensive training in early child education at Lemont Elementary School, St. Paul's United Methodist Preschool for 3 days, Penn State Child Development Center at Hort Woods and a visit to the Friends School a Quaker school. Also connections are being made with ESL teachers.