Umutara Deaf School. We are a small, struggling school for Deaf children in a remote village in the north east of Rwanda. Hardly anyone had heard of us, so we were very excited to come third in the Eastern Regional heat of the Innovation in Education completion. As a result, we were invited to Kigali for the finals, where all of the successful regional groups would compete.
The ceremonies began with traditional dancing, and speeches by the leaders of REB, the British Council and VSO, all of whom were the funders and organisers of the event.
So, on 3rd September 2015, five of us set off at dawn on the long journey from our school to Kigali. We were the Head teacher and Deputy, the Chairman of Friends of Handicap, our local NGO, and two of the deaf children from the school. We spent the night in Kigali so that we would be ready for the next day, when the awards would be made. We were hopeful that we would receive an award of some kind. The two children were so excited to visit Kigali, and to stay in a good hotel. They had never experienced anything like this before.
At 8 am the next morning, we started to set up our presentation on the stall that we were given. Then people began to visit all of the stalls to make their choice of winners. There were several different categories for entrants, Innovation in Teaching Methodology, Innovation in Vocational Training, Innovation in the Education of People with Disabilities, Innovation in Inclusive Education, etc.
We were so excited to receive the award for Category 5 - Innovation in Inclusive Education. Our Head teacher, Elevanie, proudly received the Award and our Deputy, Omar, accepted the prizes of school materials. The day was then closed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education.
We travelled back to the school that evening, tired but so elated that these influential people had recognised our achievement - a small group of people who want to make a difference to the lives of poor deaf children in Rwanda. When we arrived we had to wake the teachers and children up to show them the trophy and books!
At 8 am the next morning, we started to set up our presentation on the stall that we were given. Then people began to visit all of the stalls to make their choice of winners. There were several different categories for entrants, Innovation in Teaching Methodology, Innovation in Vocational Training, Innovation in the Education of People with Disabilities, Innovation in Inclusive Education, etc.
We were so excited to receive the award for Category 5 - Innovation in Inclusive Education. Our Head teacher, Elevanie, proudly received the Award and our Deputy, Omar, accepted the prizes of school materials. The day was then closed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education.
We travelled back to the school that evening, tired but so elated that these influential people had recognised our achievement - a small group of people who want to make a difference to the lives of poor deaf children in Rwanda. When we arrived we had to wake the teachers and children up to show them the trophy and books!
Our Trophy!
