(Note: This blog was written a few weeks ago but posted recently.)
“The Land of a Thousand Hills.” Soon I’ll wake up and be living in a new country, one that is completely different than the one I’m from. RIght now I’m in “Big Sky Country” but then I’ll hop over to the “Land of Enchantment” or “entrapment” as many of my friends frequently call it, then fly across the Atlantic Ocean to the place of rolling green hills. From Montana to New Mexico to Rwanda. Rwanda will be my home for five months.
The first thought that pops into people’s minds about Rwanda is the genocide. In 1994, tensions between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups erupted. Over 800,000 people were killed within just three months. But Rwanda has made leaps and bounds overcoming the tragedy of 1994. Today, they have a stable government and the country is in-fact one of the safest countries in Africa.
I’m excited to travel to a place where positive change is taking place. The plan, so far, which could change, is that I’ll be involved with the extra curricular activities of the school. So I’ll coach soccer and teach yoga to girls who come from all over the region to study math, science, leadership skills and English. I’ll also monitor a dorm and perhaps do some tutoring as well. Who knows what is in store! I’m not sure what to expect but I do know that the school is full of inspirational young women whom I can’t wait to meet.
Girls at the Gashora Academy come from every possible background and may not have the opportunity to use their brains if it weren’t for the school. The education of girls and women is an incredibly effective part of making the world a better place and the Gashora school is a piece of that better-place-puzzle. I can’t wait to be a part of it.
-If you’d like to learn more about the the Gashora Girls Academy, click on the link below or on Rwanda Girls Initiative on the menu option above.
Julia View 