Big and sustainable Team

In two weeks, we setup 4 solar power charging stations, and wired up 135 houses for electricity in Gikomero, outside Kigali in Rwanda. This exceeded our expectations.  Initially, based on past experience, we expect to be able to wire up ~100 houses, and leave the rest of the houses to the local youths to finish.  It turns out we are quite a bit faster than we thought.  

There are a number of reasons for that.  The team is comprised of 2 professors, 1 staff, 3 student assistants, and 16 students from PolyU. But we also have 8 students from University of Rwanda and 14 local Gikomero youths with us.  Making up a team of 44 people.  These Gikomero youths have been working with us for the past 3 years, hence they are quite familiar with the project, and are a great help. 

We have distributed some of the tasks that used to be done by the teaching team.   These include making maps for the location of all the houses, managing inventories of all the tools (drills, hammers, …) and consumables (cables, lamps, controllers, …).  The students learn more from the responsibility and improve the overall efficiency of the project.

We have 3 very capable students assistants. We are more familiar with the local environment and the city.  Such that we can procure needed equipment and material more efficiently.  With the many years of experience working together, our team and the AEE team know each other well and are able to work more efficiently and adapt to challenges more effectively.  

All of these teach us that having a partner that is capable and sharing a common vision, a long term and stable collaborating relationship, a desire to continue to improve, and ultimately, experience, is critical to the success of an international service-learning project in such challenging environment.s  

Why Rwanda?

I have been asked many times, particularly during the past week, why I came to Rwanda, and return so many times.  The first thing that come to mind is how clean the place is, both in physical cleanliness of the environment, and in government.  There is no garbage, in the city streets, in the ditches, in front of and behind houses, … and in the countryside.  

In terms of the corruption index, a perception of the cleanliness of government, Rwanda is comparable to South Korea, and much better than China, South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Kenya, Cambodia and Myanmar - countries whose GDP per capita are much higher than Rwanda’s.  

The weather is great.  Even though it is right on the Equator, the average temperature is a cool 22 degrees Celsius, with many sunny days.  Perhaps mainly because it is moderately high in elevation, at around 1,500 meters.  

But what I like the most is the people.  The country is clean because the people keep it clean.  The government is clean also because the people keep it clean.  

Most people dress neatly.  Many men, even drivers, wear long sleeves.  The women wear colourful dresses and head wrappings, even when walking around in the countryside.  I am amazed at how the women keep their clothes clean, when water is so precious - people often walk kilometres with 20 kgs of water in jerrycans on the heads to take water home.  

There is a very strong strength of character reflected in the reconciliation after the genocide.  There have been similar tragedies in many nations.  But few display such honesty and positive energy in moving forward.  They face the evil squarely, establishing many memorials, and commemorate it every year with week-long activities in the kwibuka.  Yet the emphasis is on reconciliation.  There is no more Hutu and Tutsi.  Instead, all are Rwandans.   This year, the theme of kwibuka  is “remember, unite and renew”. 

There is a quite dignity and self-confidence to the people. even though they are still desperately poor.  The per capita GDP is only 711 US dollars, 1/2 of Kenya’s, 1.4 of Egypt’s, 1/7 of South Africa’s, 1/40 of South Korea’s and 1/80 of the USA’s.  Yet I do not feel a sense of inferiority among the people I met.  They look you in the eyes, shake your hand firmly, and treat you as an equal.  They even laugh at my clumsiness in climbing up and down mountains, knowing full well that I will take it in stride.  

When I go out running the morning, many fellow runners and even non-runners wave and smile at me.  And I do likewise in return.  

There is much to learn yet from these amazingly warm Rwandans.  

The Making of a Solar Electrical Power Charging Station

The core strategy of our project to provide electrical power to hundred of households in Gicaca is to set up charging stations to where households take their batteries to be charged.  The most physically and nerve-racking task is to install the solar panels on the roof of the house which acts as the charging station.  

Firstly the solar panels are affixed, cables connected, and properly sealed against the rain.  

Two local youths experienced in working on the flimsy roof climb onto the roof from a ladder.  They have to know how to spread their weight over a wide area, sometimes with the help of an upside-down bench, to avoid falling through the roof. 

Two people pass the set of solar panels to two others sitting half way up the ladders. 

The two on the ladders pass the solar panels to the two on the roof. 

The two on the roof fix the solar panels on the roof. 

The two then jumped off the roof to the cliff opposite the house. 

My heart was in my throat all the time the youths were on the roof.  And I almost could not bear to look when they jumped off the roof.  But they obviously know what they are doing. 

The whole process of getting the solar panels on the roof took only a few minutes. But training my students to plan and execute that took many months.  The rest is the installation of the wiring, the controllers, and the rest of the circuitry to complete the charging station.  

This is actually the second charging station that the team has installed on this trip.  I directed the installation of the first one.  Then I asked the students to direct the second one.  There are a few places where I have to provide some guidance.  But by and large they can manage it.  Now they have to do the other two.  

I told them they are learning to think, plan and execute systematically like good engineers.  This is going to be useful when they tackle other problems in the future.  I am not quite sure they are aware of the education that they are getting.  This is not something they can get easily in a classroom. 

Coffee growers of Rwanda

Coffee is one of the major exports from Rwanda.  Coffee berries are a relatively common sight in the hills around Kigali. 

Women (why is it always women) grind the berries with a stone, to separate the shells  (flesh?) from the beans.  

The result is a mess, literally.

Other women would pick the beans from the mess.  

The result is the raw, white beans.  

Given the exorbitant price for a decent cup of coffee, one would think that coffee growers should be rich.  Why, then, do the coffee growers live in mud houses, eat potatoes and cassava, and walk everywhere, …

while the coffee shop owners, dealers and exporters live in mansion, eat steaks and lobsters, and drive fancy cars? 

I was asked yesterday by a student why I am anti-establishment.  Perhaps this is why. 

My question for my students is: having seen the injustices of the world, what are we going to do about it?  Do we ignore it, complain or despair?  Or do we do something positive and constructive about it?  This is why we are in service-learning.  This is why we are in Rwanda. 

Food in Gicaca

Cassava is very common in Rwanda. In many places in the world,  cassava is turned into fancy food such as tapioca and made into tasty puddings, trendy additions to sweet milk tea, etc.  Here in Gicaca cell in Gikomero sector in Gasabo district, many households peel their cassava, and fry them under the sun. 

Many then pound them into flour. 

Some knead the flour into a dough, and make lumps of cassava cake.  

Very often a meal for the whole family consist of a pot of rice cooked over open fire from burning small branches.  (No wonder the mountains here are devoid of big trees.  Small trees are chopped down to make firewood or charcoal before they have a chance to grow big. 

Sometimes it is supplemented with a handful of greens.  How much is left when they are cooked?

Beans are common. 

Green peas are also somewhat common. They actually taste quite good eaten raw.  I don't know why people insist on cooking them. 

Meat is not common.

One cannot help but wonder: why are some people condemned to live at a basic, even subsistence level, while others live in relative and even absolute luxury? Even in the same country. Certainly across different countries.  Is it because of something that they did?  Or the parents?  Or someone else?  Then who?  And what?

Some have developed elaborate explanations based on geographical reasoning.  Some focus on the development of inclusive or extractive political and economic institutions.  

Ultimately, why does God allow this to happen?  Is God being unfair to some of them (us)?  If not, then we are back to the original question.  Why?  And what are we going to do about it?

Solar power charging station Rwanda

One day after returning to Hong Kong, I joined my colleagues taking another team to come to Rwanda carry out another solar electrical power project.  This valley in Gicaca cell, Gikomero sector looks picturesquely idyllic. One is tempted to imagine living here.  

Firstly, however, the houses are built with mud.  

Secondly, the living conditions here are rather basic.  

Finally, it is hard to imagine living without running water nor electricity. 

Can you imagine walking up a steep and slippery hill carrying a jerry can with 10 kilograms of water on your head.   These kids, less than 10 years old, know exactly how it feels.  I tried once, walking 1.5 kilograms on a relatively flat road with 10 kilograms of water on my head.  I had to stop and relieve my head many times before I could complete the tread.  We couldn’t do much with the eater problem.  But we have been working on the electricity problem.. 

I started this year’s project by visiting a charging station set up in 2016.  Two years ago, we out 12 20-watt solar panels on this house.  The combined 240 watts generated can be used to charge 5 batteries at the same time.  Two years later, the system is till working well. I was told the local youths have been coming to maintain the system.  It is very gratifying to hear that we have been able to pass along the skills to the local community.  These youths live in the community.  Many have completed secondary school but could not find jobs in the city.  Hence they return to the village to farm.  Now they are keeping these solar charging stations running.  

This year we are going to set up 5 more charging stations, and wire up 136 households with batteries, LED lighting, mobile phone chargers, and small radios running on rechargeable batteries.  We hope also to provide more complete training to these youths so that they can continue to wire up more houses, and hopefully, setup more charging stations.  What we need to do then is to raise more funding to buy the equipment and consumables for them. 

These are the gratifying fruits of many years to hard work, of many people from Hong Kong and Rwanda working together.  This is what keeps me from retiring.  I thank God for letting me work on this. 

Ohneanghing Community Learning Centre House 2 grand opening

On the last day of our trip to Kampong Speu, House 2 and the playground of our Community Learning Centre were finished.  We invited the kids from the village to a grand opening of the playground.  

What we built for the kids is a STEM playground.  There are games teaching various geometrical shapes.  There is a periscope for teaching optics.   There is a catapult that can be used to teach the theory behind projectiles.  There are seesaws for teaching mechanics as well as sustainability because it is built with recycled tires.  

The kids went crazy with the games.  We had to teach them to take turns, to play safely and how not to interfere with each other.  

The kids stayed until dark, until their parents called them home. 

A beautiful dog was sniffling around with interest.  But it seemed very wary with people.  But it seemed very found of, and in fact crawled all over, one girl little girl, who must have been its owner.  

Even then, a Moogli (Jungle Book, Disney version) - lookalike swinged by herself even after all the kids were gone.  We were wondering why she was able to stay behind while all the others had gone.  Eventually, however, she also disappeared. 

I found a piece of spare wood, and made a shark for the kids.  It wasn’t too difficult to do.  I used a saw to cut out a rough profile, my pocket knife to whittle out the shape, sandpaper to smooth it, and finally painted it.  All in all it took me about 2 hours.   The kids loved it.  

An American students remarked that she would go to a toy store to buy such a thing, and did not expect someone to make it.  I told her that someone has to make it so that she can buy it from the store.  Many of the students said they wanted me to make one for them.  Unfortunately I made this one for the community learning centre, for the kids.  And there were not enough time to make more.  

One kid seemed to be particularly fond of the shark.  Towards the end, he gesticulated to me, pointed to his school house, and said something.   At first, I though he wanted to take the shark to his classroom.  I tried to let him know that I made it for the community learning centre.  Eventually, the local volunteer told me has was concerned that if we left it outside, someone might steal it.  Hence he suggested to store it inside.  I really like this kid and his thinking.  So I told him we will put it inside the community learning center.  So that he can play with it when he comes to the center. 

Inside the center, other than the shark, we have installed specially designed tables with science themes, computers with educational applications loaded.  And more. 

When the sun went down.  We had to leave, reluctantly.  We are hoping that the center, with the STEM playgound, will not only provide a lot of fun to the kids, but also help to stimulate and exercise their interest in science.   We were all exhausted.  But we felt we had had a fulfilling 2 weeks. 

Ohneanghing Community Learning Centre House 2 in progress - what is a good teacher?

House 2 and the playground of the Community Learning Centre is in progress, and in fact, nearing completion.  The colourful outside wall murals are getting done.  Solar panels are already on the roof, ready to be installed.  Today the 16 people taking the Teacher Development Course on Service-Learning came to visit.  The 16 came from PolyU, Baptist U, Peking U and May Foundation.  They spoke with the students from PolyU and U of Maryland who are working on the Community Learning Center.  

Furniture designed for STEM lessons are being made, as well as the equipment for the playground,  The rudimentary seesaw has an interesting genesis.  Initially the students found a video on the making of such a seesaw and tried to make one.  Their initially design was not stable.  We gave them some suggestions but they insisted on doing it their way.  When their product proved unstable, I stepped in and insisted that they change to a better design.  Eventually they came up with a much improved design.  As a teacher, how much should we prescribe the design of a project?  How much room should we give the students to experiment with?  When the students struggle and even fail, and eventually learni to do it right, they learn so much more than when they just follow instructions and get everything right.  With service-learning, however, we have to deliver a usable product in a limited amount of time.  How do we balance between these considerations?  It is a learning experience for the teacher as much as the students.  When you strike the right balance, it is particularly gratifying.  But the students’ view is often different from the teachers'.  Sometimes I feel a good teacher is one who can guide the students so subtlety and unobtrusively that the students feel they are learning successfully on their own.  

Many of the children, for whom we are building the learning centre and the playground, are helping to sand the furniture, level the ground, and anything we let them help with.  I hope they feel they have a hand in building their own learning and fun space.  

It seems they are enjoying it as much as we do.