Dictionary Distribution Drive! - Delighted Denizens

You guys never cease to amaze me.  THANK YOU SO MUCH.  The folks at Scripps Networks Interactive Knoxville (with some other helping hands) have sent a huge shipment of Kinyarwanda/English Dictionaries to ASYV.  I am so excited and so overwhelmed with gratitude.

I know that it was a concerted effort and that many people donated books, so many thanks to Vikki Neil for coordinating that and thank you to everyone who got involved and pitched in. Extra thanks to Jillian, Amy & Erin who I know were excited to help from the start and gathered donations.

The books have allowed us to place several dictionaries in each of the 32 family homes as well as many in the school and other libraries and study locations around the village. Additionally some books have been held back in reserve as awards for the winners of the upcoming spelling bee and village quiz night.

I opened the large boxes with a few of my girls from the Eleanor Roosevelt Family: Yvonne and Josianne. (Aren't they beautiful?) Some photos of that are below (Photo Credit: Jerrod Popham).  

Yvonne & Josianne helped me to distribute the books thoughout the village.  You can see the smiles.  However, what we really needed to convey the excitement is sound.  The girls were giggling and couldn't help opening and paging through the dictionaries right away.

Think about that for a second.  These are teenagers.  Giddily, eagerly flipping through a dictionary.

The sounds in each house when we brought the books were like Christmas morning with bikes and a new gaming system.  All of the kids shouted, "Wow!" over and over and hugged each other.  I'm not kidding or exaggerating.  If you got a "wow" out of an American kid for a dictionary it would probably be sarcastic, but these students were genuinely thrilled to have a key to unlock the language they've been working so hard to learn.  I really cannot express how grateful and excited you have made 500 kids, kids that I think are just amazing.

I can't imagine how frustrating it's been to try and learn a foreign language without a dictionary, but I know it will be much easier for them now.  The dictionaries will be used every night while students do their homework and throughout the day at school.  Starting now and years from now, when these students have better chances than they would have at scholarships and jobs due to improved English, this effort will be the reason. It's a real, substantive change that's been made and I am so appreciative.

Here's a few pics of us opening the boxes:

(Thanks so much to fellow volunteer Jerrod Popham for taking and giving me these photos.)

And here are a few more of my thoughts in interview style:

How does it make you feel that these people at Scripps sent you so many dictionaries?

 Overwhelmed with their generosity.  I know why I give to these kids.  I work with them every day and I know they are so deserving, but that people half a world away who have never met them care is a real testament to the generosity of the good people at Scripps in Knoxville.  It makes me proud to know them.


Where you surprised they wanted to get involved, since you were at Scripps as a consultant and not an employee?

In a way, yes, but in my time consulting at Scripps I was continually made aware of how Scripps gives back to United Way and many other generous charitable campaigns.  The staff I worked with in Knoxville were very supportive of my endeavor and interested in my plans, and I know they are just wonderful people, so I'm not really that shocked that they once again decided to get involved and make a difference.  As a consultant, Scripps employees never made me feel like an outsider, but instead treated me with genuine Southern hospitality, welcoming me into friendships and their homes, and when they learned about this great cause, they got involved, regardless of the labels.

How has this donation affected the Rwandan people you are working with?

 It directly impacts the lives of 500 vulnerable orphans in the residential youth community where I work.  They take all their classes and tests in English but learn it as a second or third language, after Kinyarwanda, their native tongue, and French, the official language here in Rwandan until 2008.  These students are so dedicated, but they really struggle to learn a language without a Kinyarwanda /English dictionary.  That's where Vikki Neil and Scripps stepped in to get involved. When I was handing out the dictionaries, the kids were celebrating like they just got the best present in the world.  They were so immediately appreciative and excited.

(reference: http://www.africaportal.org/articles/2012/05/31/costs-and-consequences-rwanda%E2%80%99s-shift-language-policy)


How has this donated affected you?

Does it sound sappy to say it has re-affirmed my faith in humanity?  In a large sense, I feel great that my friends and colleagues care about this organization for orphaned and vulnerable Rwandan youth and want the best for them.  On a micro level, I work with these kids every day and I have grown to really love them.  I am so excited for them to have these dictionaries and learn English better.  So the effect on me is that Pacifique, who works so hard, has another tool to help him learn, and that Agnes, who is too shy to ask questions, can learn straight from the book. And there's 498 other kids with stories like that who will truly benefit from this.