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The Indiana Daily Student

IU organization opens library and playground in Rwanda

Campus Filler

Most American elementary schools have libraries and playgrounds, but for Rwandan students at Kabwende Primary School, their library is an old classroom and their playground is a field, where they play soccer with balls made of banana leaves, rope and plastic bags.

Books & Beyond, a nonprofit IU organization, will open a library and playground for students at Kabwende this summer. Director Vera Marinova said she hopes this will free students’ minds and increase creativity and engagement in the classroom.

“I think that because of the current political climate, it is important to see that IU has these kinds of organizations that are very inclusive,” Marinova said.

The nonprofit organization collaborates with local elementary school children at the Project School and Harmony School by having six workshops throughout the year that teach them to be 
authors.

Nancy Uslan, the program’s visionary, said she envisioned the program after her first trip to Rwanda in 2005 because, as a Jew, she said she felt a connection to the Rwandan people who had experienced the country’s genocide.

“I believed by developing and providing a program whereby one of the missions was to learn how to appreciate diversity through communication and relationship building, Books & Beyond could, in some small way, contribute its part toward helping history from repeating itself,” Uslan said.

These stories, along with stories written by Rwandan students, are then published in an anthology, “The World Is Our Home.” Every year, there is a new volume, in which the stories are published side-by-side in both English and 
Kinyarwanda.

In 2015, Books & Beyond started collecting materials to fill the library through local book drives.

“This is a unique situation in Rwanda,” Uslan said. “Libraries — they’re nonexistent there. Having a library in a school is extraordinarily unique.”

Although this library opening demonstrates the program’s progress, Marinova said it is only the beginning of a five- to ten-year plan.Because libraries are uncommon, IU students who travel to Rwanda teach the children how to use library resources.

She said the collection of books is planned to expand, so students have access to books not only in English, but also in French and Kinyarwanda, the country’s predominant languages.

To open the playground this summer, Books & Beyond is collaborating with Play360. Play360 is a local organization, directed by IU Interior Design Lecturer Jonathan Racek, which helps organizations build international 
playgrounds.

Marinova said the playground will come with a curriculum, so Rwandan teachers are able to incorporate the facility into their teaching. Because it can be difficult to keep young students focused throughout the school day, she said they’ve always had kinesthetic lessons increase engagement.

“We’ve always struggled with creativity for writing the stories for our books in classrooms,” she said. ”It’s somewhat difficult to get those young students to stop being as nervous, as shy and to get more creative.”

Earlier this month, Books & Beyond received the 2017 Best Practices in International Education Global Partnership Award from the National Association for Student Personnel Administrator International Education Knowledge Community, giving them national recognition for their work in the Bloomington and Kinigi communities.

On April 4, the program will have Visions of Rwanda, its biggest event of the year. It aims to educate the Bloomington community about the positive aspects of Rwanda, while still remembering its past.

Marinova said many people around the world have a preconceived idea of Rwanda, which she said is possibly due to the Rwandan genocide.

“Events like the Holocaust, the genocide are important to be remembered and learned from,” Marinova said. “Yet I think Rwanda is trying to create a new image of itself and be remembered for other, more positive aspects.”

The event will showcase drawings that Rwanda elementary school children have drawn based on what they have learned about the country, as well as the stories they have written for “The World is our Home.” The event will auction off Rwandan items and provide Rwandan food. Assistant professor of political science Cyanne Loyle, who has studied the Rwandan genocide, will be the keynote speaker.

Although Books & Beyond has received national recognition, those involved in the program are still striving to expand the program globally.

Marinova said she has been contacted by elementary schools across the globe, but recognizes expansion would require resources the program does not currently have.

“We’re dreaming, and we’re not saying no to this dream,” she said, “If time and energy and resources permit, I will be so very happy to make sure that happens. I’m working on it.”

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