MARTINE

Age: 16
From: Kigali
Grade: Isonga (EY)
ASYV Family: Margaret Ekpo
Goal: She wants to finish her studies and eventually be a business leader and show that women can also be leaders in business in Africa
Favorite Quote: I don’t have to change my personality for the sake of others – Malcolm X
Hobbies: She loves singing, Celine Dion is her favorite singer and she enjoys playing basketball and spending time with friends

Our first full week helping with English enrichment classes was spent going through a variety of exercises and games to help the students get a better grasp on those pesky English prepositions. Many a class was spent holding out a pen, a book, or our hands to try to clearly show items that were over, under, next to, and in front of (among others) other objects in the class. Imagine it…Teacher: “I have a pen.” Class: “You have a pen.” Teacher: “I put it here.” Class: “You put it there.” Teacher: “I put it on my shoulder.” Class: “You put it on your shoulder.” Teacher: “I put it under this desk.” Class: “You put it under that desk.” …you get the picture. After a week of repetitive (necessarily, I should add) preposition review, Andrew and I were tasked with leading our own English classes the following week. We were granted the ability to be creative and go off curriculum, yay! In the advanced English class, we felt the students had the ability to free think in English, so we decided to teach the words to “We Shall Overcome”, it was a hit. We gave the students the chance to rewrite the words to the song based on their own hopes and dreams. It was as inspiring and heart-warming as you’re imagining. Later that day, Martine, a member of that class, spotted and approached us at school and asked if we could print out a copy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. She had decided to read and share a persuasive speech as homework for the Debate Team and chose MLK as her muse. Is this young Rwandan teen really reading Martin Luther King on her own accord? Yes. We are officially hooked. This was the start of our relationship with Martine, which continued as we moved on to next print and distribute MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (more extracurricular reading and discussion for Martine and a select few other motivated young individuals) and engaged in a number of enriching conversations on a variety of different topics outside the classroom, over lunch, and at Debate practice. Getting to hear the ideas and thoughts of students like Martine has given us a sense of the enormous potential this young generation of Rwandans has and will offer toward the growth and development of this country. I can’t wait to watch from the sidelines in total awe.