Field Trips

Rose Plantation
As a school, we were able to go on three field trips this last spring. The first one was to a rose plantation. We were able to learn about the growing and caring of roses and a little bit about marketing. Most of the roses grown here are flown through Kenya to a European market, but some are sold in the country. Afterwards students wrote poems, some that were just fun, and some that reflected what they'd learned.





American Embassy
Our next field trip was to the newly built American Embassy. President Bush arrived early in the spring to open the Embassy (the Sager's were able to be there to see him arrive at the airport). Soon after we were able to see it for ourselves. We learned about the different safety issues taken into consideration when it was built and where the materials came from (many things were shipped from the states or other countries because most Rwandan building supplies are not of a high enough quality). We also met many of the staff and learned about some of their jobs. There are six marines stationed at the embassy and they told us about their role here and what kinds of things they would do in an emergency. Our tour guide was in charge of granting (or not) visa requests and told us what kind of things she looks for in applicants. One of the most popular features of the embassy was its drinking fountains, a novelty in Rwanda. Any time we passed one, all the students would stop to get a sip. An interesting fact that we learned was that the ambassador at the time of the genocide had once been a missionary kid in Burundi and was the only US ambassador to Rwanda who actually spoke Kinyarwanda.

Wood Carver
Our last field trip of the year was to a well known Rwandan woodcarver's shop. He studied in Europe, but then came back to Rwanda to work. He created the carvings in Rwanda's main genocide memorial and has done art shows here, in Europe, and in Canada. He showed us the process of making a carving, beginning with the drawing and continuing to the finished product. Here is a picture of him working on a small statue.