HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We hope you’ve all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We are so excited to jump into 2013, with so many incredible things planned and we hope that you’ll be part of the journey.

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS

What are you doing in 2013?

Why not volunteer and join a short term HOPE: Global Education training team in 2013 to help change the quality of education in developing nations.

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67 million children worldwide are missing out on education.

200 million children are currently in school in developing nations but learning very little.

In developing countries the quality of education remains unacceptably low. 50% of Year 2 children in developing countries cannot read anything at all.

If all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty. This is equal to a 12% cut in global poverty.

World Bank, EFA FTI, 2011

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We need teachers but we also need professionals from various sectors.

HOPE: Global is looking for Australian teachers, nurses, administrators, photographers and IT specialists – willing hearts and hands to give 2-3 weeks to build the capacity of schools, orphanages and vocational training centres in Rwanda, Cambodia, Uganda and Kenya.

By training one teacher or worker in a school or orphanage, the quality of education increases and equips hundreds of children.

VOLUNTEER DATES:

Uganda – April 13-28
Rwanda – June 22-July 7
Kenya – Sept 14-29
Cambodia – Sept 21-Oct 5

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION NIGHT:

Tuesday 22nd January
7:00pm – 9:00pm
HOPE: Global Offices
Suite 106, 33 Lexington Drive Bella Vista NSW 2153

RSVP to info@hope-global.org or 02 9659 2553.

If interstate, we can arrange to Skype or conference call during the meeting.

For further information about volunteering, to download our information pack or apply online, please visit the HOPE: Global website.

This year, our annual Walk of Hope is going global! Our aim is to walk the circumference of the earth – 40,008km! The Global Walk of Hope will consist of local Sydney events, the Kids Walk of Hope and the Adults Walk of Hope, and our global event, which anyone can take part in from anywhere.

The Global Walk of Hope will kick off on the 16th of February with the Kids Walk of Hope and finish on the 2nd of March with the Adults Walk of Hope.

Registrations are now open for each event and all the details can be found online here. 

Join us in 2013 as we raise much needed funds to train thousands of teachers and NGO leaders in Rwanda, Kenya, Cambodia and Uganda!

“Let our New Year’s Resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word” - Goran Persson

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Love & Blessings from Mark, Darlene & The HOPE Team xx

VOLUNTEER ARMY
We currently have over 50 volunteers visiting Rwanda and Kenya right now. This volunteer army, made up of 4 teams, have embarked on a journey of a lifetime. Made up of doctors, teachers, engineers, builders and willing hearts, each have been moved by Rwanda’s rise to out genocide and are donating their skills to make a difference.

Working alongside already established projects supported by HOPE: Global, volunteers are:

screening school children for health issues
installing water tanks and building houses for widows
training mentors for schools in the transition to English
training lecturers and teachers in Early Childhood Education and
so much more!

We’ve already received so many incredible updates from our volunteers, here’s just a glimpse of what they’ve been experiencing:

“We watch lessons. The teachers are young and engaging. Many are planning to do a degree. Others are planning to marry. They must find the requisite three cows as a dowry. The PE lesson is a riot of laughter and excitement. They love the cheap, coloured balls we’ve brought. Planned lessons are abandoned in favour of simple ball games. Teaching is a delight. Such fun. Such noise. Such good feeling.”

“His (President Kagame) speech was heard in snatches over the radio. It was more noble than charismatic. More reflection than celebration. Small wonder. There has not been a Rwandan I have spoken to that has not lost a relative in the 1994 genocide. A waiter quietly telling us his mother was murdered. A painter confessing to losing both his grandparents at the hands of torturers.”

“Just completed three days of repair work at Kigali Fruits of Hope School. This was the very first Nursery School (Pre School) in Rwanda. This dream has commenced an educational movement in this country so much so that now this team is the first to come and introduce an Early Childhood Education Program requested by the Rwandand Government. What an uplifting experience and one that will stay with me forever”.

You can read more updates at our HOPE: Global blog.

HOPE: Education Team and Kings School Team – 2 of our 4 volunteer teams currently in Rwanda

ICT Training and hand washing lesson at Fruits of Hope School

CITY 2 SURF

HOPE is joining the annual City2Surf on Sunday August 12th! City2Surf is the world’s largest run and Sydney’s favourite sporting event. Around 80000 people will take the 14km journey from Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD to finish at Bondi Beach. With only 5 weeks to go, now is a good time to jump on board! Whether it’s walking, jogging or running the 14km or simply joining our fundraising team (no matter where you are in the world!), just head to our website for details on how to get involved.

GET INVOLVED HERE!

TRIVIA NIGHT – YOU’RE INVITED!

If you’re local to Sydney and want a fun night out for a good cause, we would love to invite you to our next Trivia Night, in preparation for our HOPE: Education Cambodia team, leaving in September. It’s going to be a great night for a great cause. Why not grab your family, friends and workmates and book a table, or buy an individual ticket and come along.

The Trivia Night is Saturday 11th August. Full details and tickets can be found here.

HOPE: GLOBAL RESOURCE PACK – Save over 20%!

You’re favourite HOPE resources are now available in one package deal. All profits go to support HOPE: Global projects and the Mbwirandumva Initiative in Rwanda – a counselling and vocational training centre for women.

Get your pack today online here.

Love and blessings from Mark and Darlene

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“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me”

Matthew 25:35

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For further information about HOPE: Global, volunteering, or to support our projects financially, please head to our website www.hope-global.org

Address: PO Box 6049 Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 Australia

Tel: +612 9659 2553

Email: info@hope-global.org  Website: www.hope-global.org

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HOPE: Education Rwanda Team

Written by Leonie Quayle

We have had a full and fruitful two days based at the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE).

The Early Childhood Team have concluded the final two days of the training that began last week with the Kings Team. ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf’ was a highlight and just one of many great moments during the sessions equipping Rwanda’s first group of Early Childhood Trainers who will then be responsible for implementing the new Early Childhood Curriculum from 2013.

The Primary English Team jumped courageously into the task of absorbing and digesting the current version of the brand new Rwanda ECD curriculum in a matter of hours, in order to then commence revising and making recommendations. It is a privilege to be invited to be involved in working alongside Rwanda’s educators at this level.

These past two days have been the culmination of around two years of relationship development. It is exciting to see the partnership with KIE deepen and hopefully mark the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

Kings School Team

Written by Kate Robertson

My bed is hard. Very hard, so hard that I’ve had to fold blankets to lie on. The teachers at the early childhood training, their beds are hard. Their bed is the floor of the hall awaiting our return. They walked a long way to learn with us. Another Rwandan buffet for lunch, not rice and beans again. What shall I have for dinner that’s different? The teachers at the early childhood training, they had a Rwandan buffet. Beans and rice again. They couldn’t get enough. They may not eat again today.

How to teach child development, preschool games and phonics to those who only speak Kinyarwanda. Singing helps. Across Rwanda preschools will be the sound of “The Wheels on the Bus”. The people of Rwanda are so gracious they nod and smile as if they understand every word, and that every word you say has been the most important thing they’ve heard so far. Maybe Pastor Christophe and a Sonrise School graduate Amon, our translators, encouraged them. Highly intelligent men whose assistance to us was invaluable!

The hall sits below a government school. The children come to play nearby. The come to the fence and watch us. Some of the boys get brave and come through the fence to see us, talk to us and show us their soccer ball. It’s made of plastic bags tied up with string. Plastic bags are no longer used anywhere in Rwanda. This ball is very precious. The boys become confident, jousting to have photos taken, then they scatter as though a grenade has gone off. The guard, one of whom is seen everywhere, approaches with his baton. The speed of the boys departure indicates the baton may occasionally be used. The same happens in a field near the preschool, cheeky boys not at school lurk too close to the bus. Emmanuel produces a stick that he waves at them.

Emmanuel, Angel, Happy, Blessing and Innocent. Blessing sleeps on her mother’s back as her mother listens intently alongside Innocent to our presentations. Happy and Angel are both teachers at Fred’s school in Kigali. Emmanuel is our driver. He has come away from Kigali with a very small bag and a huge smile. A country filled with people with hope in their hearts would name their children this way. They are all hopeful all the time. The work we are doing is fulfilling some of that hope. They are doing their best with the skills they have, we hope we can make their best even better. They will go back to school on Thursday with charts, with songs and games and with new ideas. If each one has 50 in their class, that’s over 1500 preschoolers singing 5 cheeky monkeys.

The final activity at Early Childhood Training was making puppets to use in drama & language activities – it was a hit!’ – Michelle Shaw

Written by Tim Hawkes – 1st July

We saw the President! Ok, Ok, it was but for a nano-second as he whisked past us in a black limo surrounded by outriders and flashing lights. He was en route to the Stadium to give an address at the 50th Anniversary celebration of Rwanda gaining independence on 1st July 1962.

His speech was heard in snatches over the radio. It was more noble than charismatic. More reflection than celebration. Small wonder. There has not been a Rwandan I have spoken to that has not lost a relative in the 1994 genocide.

A waiter quietly telling us his mother was murdered. A painter confessing to losing both his grandparents at the hands of torturers. The Sunday Times No 338, Kigali, Sunday July 1, 2012 runs a front page story on Denmark extraditing Emmanuel Mborushimana, a former inspector of schools no less, to face multiple murder charges alleged during the genocide.

Given that only seven genocide fugitives have been brought back from overseas by the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit (GFTU) in the last 18 years, it is tempting to think that there has been little justice. This is not quite true. Village courts have been operating up until a month or two ago, hearing the confessions of their own villagers and seeking reparations from them if they have been implicated in the genocide.

More significantly, the lack of convictions hints at a country whose capacity for forgiveness is extraordinary. Rwanda wants to move on. The words ‘Tutsi’ and ‘Hutu’ cannot be spoken. The President said so.

We worship in a packed Kigali church. The singing is wonderful and the sermon is on Leviticus Chapter 25 – the year of the Jubilee – the 50th year that calls for men and women to return home and wipe out all debts. There could not have been better text.

This year, it was declared that genocide is a thing of the past – something to sober and warn us. It was declared that it was no longer possible to be Rwandan refugee, because there is nothing to flee from – unless you are a genocide killer, for the GFTU is still active.

Looking at school buildings being constructed, seeing the stately purpose of those carrying their offering on their heads and hearing the words of the President, brings to mind the Old Testament injunction to rebuild the ruins, to raise the walls and restore the breaches in the nation.

I suppose that’s what we are trying to help with.

The Rwandan Flag

The Rwandan flag was adopted on October 25, 2001. The Rwandan flag was created to replace the previous one that had been in use since 1961, just before Rwanda gained independence from Belgium on July 1, 1962. The government wanted to disassociate the former flag from the country’s genocide of 1994, when ethnic violence ravaged the land.

The blue stripe represents happiness and peace. The yellow symbolises the country’s mineral wealth and economic development and green symbolises the country’s natural resources and prosperity. The sun stands for unity, transparency and enlightenment from ignorance.

Source: World Flags 101.com 

Read the President’s 50th Anniversary speech here.

HOPE: Global Early Childhood & Primary/English Team

Written by Leonie Quayle

Ist July 2012

From various corners of the globe, we’ve arrived safe and well in Kigali on the 1st of July, Rwanda’s Independence Day. The billboards marking the occasion around town state ’50 years…a journey of resilience’. Whether returning to Rwanda once more or discovering it for the first time, our two week adventure has begun!

First on the to do list was to cover the basics – change money, buy sim cards, air time and water and enjoy a Rwandan coffee (ok, the last one was an optional but much appreciated extra).

Importantly, today we met Bob. Who is Bob? Bob is the man in whom we will daily entrust our lives over the next week as he drives us all over Kigali. We’ve bonded already through our first vocabulary lesson, learning an important phrase in both English and Kinyarwanda – ‘nta kibazo’, translated ‘no problem’. We’re all going to get on just fine!

A rather last minute declaration of a public holiday tomorrow means that while we’re unsure of exactly how the planned schedule will unfold, we’re excited to be here and ready to serve this beautiful nation.

HOPE: Global’s Early Childhood & Primary/English Team – ready for the adventure of a lifetime!