D

K is another girl in the Child sponsorship program. Initially she did not qualify because her family was categorised into a relatively higher level of poverty.  Later, the organisers realised that the traditional categorisation was too rigid - the financial situation of a family can change rather rapidly but the system was not agile enough to catch up.  Subsequently the present financial situation of the family is used instead, to better determine who are the children most in need.  Only then did D qualify - and her life changed. 

K is one of 6 children in the family, with one more expected.  At first, when we visited her, we were a bit puzzled because D’s mother look very young.  It turned out her father remarried - the children come effectively from two different mothers.  In the past, Rwanda families tend to have large numbers of children, when 6-7 seemed to be quite common.  Now it is more likely to be 2-3, particularly among the educated.  

The sponsorship, starting in January 2025, have given D hope for the future, in which she wants to be a doctor.  One of the many benefits of the sponsorship is that she can now pay for medical insurance.  Now when she gets sick, she pays only 0.15 US dollar to see the  the doctor.  With medical insurance, she might have to pay 40 times more, an impossible amount for her family.  Poor health is one of the main reasons a child drops out from school, besides not being able to afford books, supplies, uniform, etc. Her family can also purchase a small pig, for about 30 USD each.  As the pig grows bigger, it is going to worth a lot more.  A sow may also produce many litters of piglets, with 5-6 per litter, while each piglet may fetch 20 USD.  As pigs eat almost anything, it can be a good source of additional income.  

D has been praying for blessings for her sponsor.  When I brought her sponsor to see her, both were overjoyed. 

Some in the developed world are opposed to providing financial aid to developing countries.  Some hold the opinion that financial aid can become a disincentive for those in poverty to work hard to improve their own lives.  And much corruption breed from the handling of the financial aid.  In the case of child sponsorship programs like this, I see little danger of that happening.  I can see for myself that the money do actually produce real benefit of the child and her family.  The amount of money is significant enough to give the child a brighter prospect in a critical stage of her live.  But far from enough to make her and her family be complacent - to go lazy. I know the organisation enough to be sure there is no corruption. The organisation that runs the program - distribute the money, monitor their progress, community with the donor, etc., put in a lot of their own resources to run the program.  And the child ambassador, who is the first line of contact with the child, is one of many volunteers, typically a member of a self help group, one of the major endeavours of AEE Rwanda.  

I am very grateful that I have been able to come and see for myself how the program works, and play a part in this great program.  It is truly a case of where a little heart and a little money can go a long way, when one knows how and where to place the heart and the money. 

K

K is a girl in the Child sponsorship program.  The eldest of 2 boys and 5 girls.  Like many villagers who have no land, her parents work as labourers, often tending to other people’s fields.  Each being paid less than 1 US dollar a day.  She used to have to help out at home, and have barely one meal a day.  Her father felt bad not being able to send her to school.  

Now she and the family are doing better. Her parents are in a self-help group. Where they learn to save a little bit of money regularly, taking out small loans for special needs such as to invest in a small business.  The family is raising small farm animals such as hens to produce chicken, goats, etc., to supplement the family income.  

She is now having 3 meals a day.  She is attending school regularly and is in fact the top of her class.  She has grown much taller since I met her for the first time, and has a ready, resident smile. 

Child Sponsorship Program

Care for Children - Rwanda is a child sponsorship program set up 4 years ago in 2021.  A collaboration between African Evangelical Enterprise Rwanda and Jubilee Cares of Hong Kong.  Donors from Hong Kong sponsor children in Rwanda, helping them to stay and do better in school.  Primary education (ages 6-12) are free and compulsory in Rwanda.  However, parents are responsible for uniform, books, supplies, school lunch, medical insurance, etc. Students often find it difficult to stay in school because of financial difficulties.  Or being discriminated against, bullied for related issues, e.g., wearing tattered clothes, not having shoes, being hungry or sick, etc.  The sponsorship helps the children and their family overcome many of these challenges.  It also helps them generate a little income, by acquiring some farm animals such as chicken, rabbits, goats, pigs, etc., or setting up some small business in fruits, vegetables, etc. The sponsorship helps to keep them in school, a priority of AEE Rwanda in poverty relief.  In many countries, poverty is an undesirable inheritance passed from generation to generation. Education is seen as the most effective strategy to break that cycle. 

Since the program’s setup, thanks to AEE’s arrangement, I make an effort to visit some of the children whenever I am in Rwanda - once a year since 2023.  It was in July 2022 that I met C and her mother for the first time.  In 3 years, I can see very encouraging changes in C and her family.  

When I met C for the first time, She and her other were renting a small room in someone’s house. There were hardly any room to stand in besides their bed. Now they are renting a much bigger house. They have even purchased a piece of land and are making the mud bricks to build their own house. Also purchased another piece of land to farm. They still need to find the money to hire the workers to build their house.  But prospects are much better.

When I met them 3 years ago, I thought mother was a single parent. Turned out she was not formally married, so the husband lived apart. Now they are formally married. Father buys and sells milk.  Mom is quite a remarkable woman. Step by step, she is realising her dream for the family. 

What is most pleasing to me are the changes in Clementine.  She was fearful of meeting strangers, even her sponsor.  She couldn’t speak English and didn’t say much  She is now taller, stronger, more confident, and doing better in school.  She is also able to converse a bit in English.  Her prospects are certainly looking much better.  

Solar Training

The Solar Panel Electrical System that we install in each household is quite simple, and not difficult to operate.  Yet for villagers who have never had electricity, it is still a mystery.  Hence we need to provide them with some basic training.  Such as how to operate the switches for the LED lights and the controller, as well as the need to, and how to, clean the solar panel, etc. 

This year, through our partner African Evangelical Enterprise (AEE) Rwanda, we have recruited ~50 youths from the University of Rwanda, Rwanda Polytechnic, and other technical schools around Huye.  Some of them study mechatronics, electrical technology, etc., and are really skilled. Most are from around Huye.  Some are living in the villages, even in some of the houses being wired.  

I find it difficult to imagine attending university, and studying electrical technology at that, while living in a house without electricity!

Some of these youths can then help to fix some of the problems that may arise, and in general help to maintain the systems after we have left. They not only have the necessary skills but are also quite familiar with the systems.  

Hence we are here not just to install the solar panel systems, but also to pass along some of the  useful knowledge and skills.  This is what some people would like to refer to as empowerment.  

Shipment arrived, finally

For each household, we are installing a system composed of a 40W solar panel, a 12V, 12Ah battery, a controller, 3 LEDs, switches, a mobile phone charger, cables, and assorted small components.  It is a very basic system, but enough to make a significant different in the family’ life.  

One set may not weight much or occupy much space.  But 500 sets is a completely different animal.  They weight tons, and take up the better part of a 20-foot shipping container.  And we have to ship them from Mainland China to Rwanda. 

Rwanda is a land-lock country, hence the container has to be shipped to a port in Tanzania, clear customs, loaded onto a truck to be driven into Kigali, clear customs, and finally driven to Huye.  

There were delays at ports and customs, delays induced by the tariff wars, …  Even though we ordered the shipment many months ahead, the container still hasn’t arrived 4 days into the project.  We had already used up all the material left over from last years, and those we brought over in our suitcases.  We could not go to the field for two days.  We had to shuffle the schedule and fill the days with other activities.  

Hence when we saw the truck turning onto our street, in the distance, we were overjoyed.  Actually, it was more like relief. 

It was already 4 PM, hence too late to go to the field. In any case, we quickly unloaded the material, sorted them out, and organised them systematically. By then it was already dinner time. 

After dinner, the students quickly went to work.  Doing as much pre-assembly as possible.  So that we can do the installation faster when we get back to the field tomorrow morning.  

Exciting times, needless to say!

Avocados in Rwanda

Avocados are very common in Rwanda.  They are everywhere in the village.  One can even find avocado  trees by the roadside right in the middle of the city of Kigali.  

One can buy a regular size avocado in Kigali for 10 cents USD.  In the village, where they grow, one can buy one for 5 cents or less.  In rich countries an avocado can cost you a US dollar.  So an avocado farmer probably receives less than 5 percent of the price that the customer pays.  

The individual avocado farmer that grows the popular fruit barely survives.  But the buying, shipping and selling of avocados is big business.  Is this the kind the world that we like to live in?

 

Rwanda - then and now

Tomorrow, Saturday, I am flying out to Rwanda for the 18th time, to join our main group of students who are on their way there, to join a small advance team who arrived earlier this week to prepare for the project.  The main task this year is to install solar panels and associated indoor wiring, lights, etc., for 400+ households, in Huye in southern Rwanda.  100+ staff and students from PolyU will be joined by 40+ local youths in the project.  Plus some colleagues from within and beyond PolyU, to explore other possible projects. 

Little did we know, in 2013, when we went there for the first time, that we would still be going there more than 10 years later, with much bigger teams, and much deepened, expanded projects.  The first team had only ~20 staff and students.  One of my first deep impressions was how much effort the Rwandans were putting into keeping their country clean.  The other was how hard they work to recover from the aftermath of the Genocide.   

Our first projects were mainly about information technology infrastructure and education.  Installation of computer networks and running of workshops on computers.  We also helped to collect stories for publicity and promotion for our partner, African Evangelical Enterprise Rwanda.  We did, however, brought a gadget that we developed for Cambodia.  A suitcase-size solar panel + lighting set.  One evening, while we were installing a computer network for a primary school, the Center for Champions. the power failed.  The solar-powered lighting demonstrated its use.  And it evolved to become the mainstay of our Habitat Green project for East Africa.  

In the intervening years, service-learning, in particular international SL, has amply demonstrated it can achieve the original objectives.  Students learn about serving the community with their academic knowledge, empathy, and social responsibility.  

International SL, quite obviously, also contribute to achieving another major objective of PolyU - internationalisation.   The seriousness of our ISL, the immersive experience, the impact that it makes, the accountability, the reflection, …, contribute to make ISL a robust, reliable pedagogy for internationalisation.  This is now clearly recognised by the leadership at the university.  

Much research have also been conducted on SL and ISL.  Firstly to validate that the pedagogy does achieve the intended learning outcomes.  But also to inform our own teaching: what are the critical success factors? How to help students learn - even those who participate reluctantly?  How to make short trips count? - The trick is careful design and meticulous preparation.  In some cases, the SL experiences actually lead to new research in the academic discipline itself.  The optometry team is researching on developing eye-testing applications for the mobile phone, to facilitate their overseas projects.  The output from all these research is evidenced by numerous publications in conferences, journals, organizations of conferences and symposiums ourselves, even international alliances.  

SL also contribute naturally to the so called UNSDGs (United Nations Strategic Development Goals).  Properly done, SL aims to address needs of the community: education, health, energy, …  ISL, in particular, takes students to places where the need is most acute, where they can make a real impact.  That is exactly what the SDGs are about.  

Did we plan this in the beginning?  In 2010, or even 2013? No.  But looking back, it seems most logical and natural.  Service-Learning is not just an end in itself, although it is worthwhile by itself.  It can also be a means to achieve many other most worthwhile goals, when it is creatively, rigorously done.  That is something we are convinced of.  That is also what keeps us going.  Rwanda, here we come, again. 

Queen Victoria

The sitting statue of Queen Victoria remains in Victoria Park, for now.   It was originally installed in Statue Square in 1896.  Subsequently, in 1952 it was placed here.  She was the Queen of United Kingdom when Hong Kong was taken over by the British in 1842.  

She was the person for whom so many things in Hong Kong were named: Victoria Park, Victoria Harbour, Victoria Peak - often known only as The Peak.  

For how long will the statue of Victoria stay?  There have been numerous efforts to “decolonize” Hong Kong.  Changing colours, renaming places, streets & institutions, …  

Like it or not, these are important parts of the history of Hong Kong.  Removing them do not change history.  Perhaps some people believe they can rewrite history?