6 Futures Update - The Wonders of a Gap Year!!!

For every generation, there's a gap?

You remember this picture:

Top row L-R: Claude, Maurice and Innocent
Bottom row L-R: Serge, Pacific and Du

and maybe this post about those six young men.

These were my top six students at ASYV. We worked together a ton and I really love these kids. They're being very serious in these official photos, but I remember them more like this:

Serge, Pacific, me, Innocent, Claude & Du.
(Maurice typically not pictured because, as always, he is behind the camera.)

So last year I told you that one of these six students received a full Scholarship to McGill University in Montreal (Innocent in the top right). I also told you that Pacific (bottom center) and Claude (top left) were accepted into a gap year program called Bridge2Rwanda.

Well a gap year does wonders. Five (5!) of these six students now have full scholarships to universities abroad! I am delighted for them all.

Thanks to support from Bridge2Rwanda and mostly their own hard work, Pacific (bottom center) will be attending Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Texas & Claude (top left) will be attending the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.

Always resourceful, Maurice and Serge both found their own gap year programs. Serge was working with a program at the US embassy and will be joining Innocent at McGill University as a MasterCard Scholar. I am so glad they will be there together. Maurice was in a film internship program supported by the German government (? sure, why not?) and will be joining Immaculee & Jeaninne as a MasterCard Scholar at Arizona State University where he will major in film production. Maurice is going to fit right in and I can get regular reports from Macky & Jeaninne like the overprotective mother hen I have become.

Du, (bottom right) is still in the process of applying to Ashesi University in Ghana and I know he won't let up until he finds a program where he can succeed.

The resilience of these kids never ceases to amaze me. There have been a lot of “No”s on this journey but they kept pushing and fighting and this determination has been rewarded with some pretty huge opportunities.  I can't want to see how they use these chances.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work

Happy Holidays! It’s hard to believe this is the 11th edition of my annual holiday letter. I hope this one finds you and your loved ones happy, healthy and at peace.

I spent almost all of 2014 in Washington, DC. (Alert: Wanderlust warning is high.) You know, when I moved to Rwanda for a year in 2013 I was ready for culture shock, and there certainly was a lot to learn, but the real culture shock has been coming home and living in DC. It is pretty amazing what we all take for granted every day and I have a lot less patience than I did before for people complaining that their latte order is not quite right or their steak is closer to medium than medium-rare. Deal, people!

I spent the the first four months of 2014 looking for a job and really did not enjoy that, which I’ve documented here with a few tips and suggestions (mainly to avoid the process at all costs if you can help it).

Chilling in my backyard in DC in February

That search ended with my accepting a position at GlobalGiving! GlobalGiving is the first and largest global crowdfunding community for nonprofits and I’m excited to bring my years of working on the internet to the nonprofit field. Working at a nonprofit is very different than I ever could have imagined and feels in some ways like an even bigger culture shock than working at a youth village in Rwanda. What I love most about my job is that my efforts go towards supporting amazing community based organizations around the world like APOPO’s Hero Rats finding landmines and diagnosing TB in Tanzania, XS Project working to improve the lives of the trashpicker community in Jakarta, or the Warrior Canine Connection training adorable puppies to be service dogs for our veterans in need. (I can’t fail to mention my favorite ever project, a certain youth village in Rwanda.) These organizations are doing important work, and if I help them at all, everything I do is worth it.

Not a sponsored endorsement (I promise!) but if you are still thinking about annual giving, please check out our site. With more than 3000 individual projects fundraising, you are bound to find one that aligns with your interests and is doing amazing work. (Added bonus about my job: I get to bike to work most days, which I really enjoy and my route takes me past the Supreme Court, the Capitol and the White House.)

I’m so excited to share the biggest development of the year: last year’s holiday letter had a bit of  a cliffhanger. I told you about our how I was supporting some students from the school where I had worked in their search for university scholarships and our efforts studying for the TOEFL and ‘application boot camp’. In early 2014, while I was looking for a job I was also still editing essays and checking with universities to see if required documents had been received. I am so thrilled to tell you that for four of those students that effort has really paid off! This spring we learned that these students were awarded full MasterCard Scholarships: Innocent to McGill, Libia to UBC in Vancouver and Immaculee & Jeannine to Arizona State University. (Three more students from that same class have received scholarships this November though their efforts at Bridge2Rwanda. Congrats to Claude, Peace Grace and Pacifique!) In November, I went to ASU to check on Immaculee & Jeaninne and they are really adapting well and enjoying school.

Me at ASU visiting Immaculee & Jeaninne

Oh and I had a relatively minor toe surgery in February which had me off ultimate and running for about 6 months which, if you talked to me at all this year, you know I more than made up for by whining and whining and whining about it. It is all fine now and I’m back to running but mostly retired from disc. I did play Sectionals and Regionals this year with a wonderful bunch of ladies from Philly, Breakfast Club, and we won (the party).

Epic Halloween with Sussman. I'm mummified on the right.

In March, I saw my nieces Kate and Lindy both dance at the Rainbow Dance Company annual modern dance concert in Raleigh, NC. They are both doing well in life and in school. Kate has her driver’s license now, so stay off the roads if you are in the Raleigh area.

Lindy and Kate, aren't they cute?

I did make a few quick trips to NYC throughout the year for job interviews, to volunteer at the annual Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village Gala Fundraiser and most recently to represent GlobalGiving and attend a panel at the UN on the psycho-social response to the Ebola epidemic. I really need to get up there more often.

Innocent and me at the ASYV Gala in NYC in May

In November, I spent #ThanksGambling14 with my extended family in Louisville, KY. In what has evolved into something of a tradition, my aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins all bundle up and head out to Churchill Downs and watch the races on Thanksgiving day. It was wonderful to see everyone. For Christmas, as usual, I’ll be in Raleigh to see my Mom, Sister, Brother-in-law and Kate & Lindy.

Looking forward to 2015, I’m planning to make some more college visits and hopefully get back to traveling internationally again. Please let me know if you pass through DC. (I’ve got a partial season ticket plan for the Wizards and I’m pretty excited about watching John Wall ball in the East this season.)

As always, I hope you enjoy my holiday letter and don't find it too obnoxious.  You can 'opt out' by sending an email asking to be removed from this distribution list. For those of you looking for more frequent updates, you can find me online at http://courtneyspondence.blogspot.com/ and @CourtneyMFK on Twitter.

Happy New Year!  May your 2015 be joyous and peaceful.

~Courtney

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Arizona in November

So, this is overdue, but as you've noticed I haven't been blogging much this year.

In November, I went to Phoenix, AZ with Keri Dorko to see two students from ASYV that received full MasterCard scholarships to Arizona State University and to hike in Sedona. It was great to see Immaculee and Jeaninne and they are fitting in well in school and seem fantastic. It was wonderful to see them.

Sedona is beautiful and like I always do (see previous posts on Wilson's Prom and Zanzibar) I mused on what it would take to stay there forever.

I'll just add a few photos and leave it at that. Working on the xmas letter now and this is old news anyway:

Immaculee in front of her dorm room

Me, another MC Scholar from Rwanda, Immaculee and Jeaninne on the ASU campus near the library

Me in on a 12 mile hike in Sedona where we stopped for lunch

Keri being sun safe on the hike

THE BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT OF MY ENTIRE LIFE: PART 2 - 4 Scholarships!!!

I have great news.
Maybe the best news of my life.
Okay, maybe not my achievement, but I was right there.  I am so excited. I am over the moon.

You remember Application Boot Camp.  20 of the top kids from ASYV in their final year spent an extra two weeks in the village working on university applications after the end of the year.  It was hard, and we had no way of knowing at the time if it would work out.  I have recently learned that 4 of those students will receive full MasterCard Scholarships!!! 

They are the ones who worked so hard, overcoming incredible backstories, getting impressive grades, studying for the TOEFL English exam and the National Exam. They are the ones who wrote the essays and filled out the applications. But I was right there, and I helped. I helped with getting the TOEFL test paid for and scheduled.  I helped with looking up all the forms, editing the applications, explaining terms like 'address' (no one has one in Rwanda), First Name, Family Name, Surname (they just do it different there) and about 1000 other application fields.  I helped to organize the camp and research the different processes for each school.  I've never been more proud of a work output in my life.

Here's the news:

• Libia Niyode will attend the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
• Innocent Nzayisenga will attend McGill University in Montreal.
• Jeaninne Ingabire will attend Arizona State University.
• Immaculee Mugwaneza will attend Arizona State University.

Deepest of thanks to the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program who is providing total scholarships including airfare, stipends, books and all expenses for these four great kids to the partner schools ASU, McGill and UBC. I may never use Visa again.

Here's a quick hall of heroes. Rwanda, rest of world, get to know your future leaders:

Libia is seated in the center, smiling

Libia Niyode studied History, Economics and Geography in high school.  He was the school valedictorian, with excellent grades all 4 years.  He scored a perfect 73 (yes the scale is out of 73) on the national exam! He is an extraordinarily dedicated kid, always studying. He loves to play and watch football (soccer) and I know he will love UBC. (Somehow I don't have a good photo of Libia. That is CRAZY.  I will have to take one when I go to visit him in Vancouver.)  Libia was also received a full scholarship to McGill University, but chose UBC. Libia wants to study economics at University.

Jeaninne wearing a cute bow at s fashion show in the dining hall with her buddy Julien.

Jeaninne Ingabire was third in her class by GPA, which is an amazing feat given that she studied the dreaded Math, Physics and Computers combination, and no one in the school is ever awarded good grades in Math. She was the point guard on the basketball team.  She is so independent and needed very little help with her applications.  (She was also accepted to MSU, but didn't get a scholarship there.  That is a miss for Sparty.)  She will be kicking ass at ASU.  Jeaninne may pursue Women's Studies at university.

Immaculee looking like herself...

...and here, a bit more dolled up.

You remember Immaculee Mugwaneza, who wrote the essay that was Part I in this series.  She is my inspiration.  In high school she studied Math, Chemistry and Biology.  She wants to study modern agricultural techniques to take back to Rwanda. Macky, as her friends call, her has overcome a lot and I am so proud of her.

The one and only Blameless, (Innocent Nzayisenga)

Innocent Nzayisenga studied English, French and Kinyarwanda for his combination and also had a great score on his national exam and 4 years of excellent grades.  Innocent is a singer, songwriter and a music producer.  He also got in to ASU, but chose McGill.  He wants to study journalism, but may have to put that on hold while he tours with his album. Do you know anyone who knows Pharrell? I am pretty sure Pharrell and Blameyface will be besties if I can just make the introduction.

 You remember when I blogged about my top 6 students:

6 scholarly young men

As it stands now, Innocent, in the top right, is headed to McGill.  Claude (top left) and Pacifique (bottom center) have been accepted into Bridge2Rwanda.  B2R is a one year prep program that helps promising students improve their TOEFL and SAT scores and apply to many universities.  They have a great placement ratio and I am really hopeful that those two will end up with scholarships as well, so three out of six with very exciting futures indeed.  My other three sons (Maurice, Serge and Jean Claude Du) will go to university in Rwanda.  They didn't quite achieve their dreams yet, and there has been some disappointment, but I hope that striving for these scholarships taught them some lessons and this was just one step on the way to their own success.

ABC: Application Boot Camp - Sleep Deprivation Training

I am so exhausted.  And drained.  And spent.  

Raissa, Esther, Poet, Du and Jeaninne working on Applications

Immaculee, Francine and Jean Bosco - yes there's an app for that

Tonto Eric visits to lend support and one zillion recommendation letters

There's no way these photos can display the complete chaos of the past few weeks.  After exams finished in the village twenty senior 6 (seniors) students were allowed to stay in the village for two weeks to work on university applications. They were selected based in their grades and a mid-year college essay writing exercise.  These are some of the top students in the village.  The thinking is that these are the students that will have the best chance of being accepted and receiving a scholarship to a university.

They had really not started working on college applications at all before their national leaving exam.  Everyone is laser focused on studying for this exam, basically all year, but especially third term and it's hard to get them to think about anything else.  Now, with exams finished, they're all supposed to go home, but the catch is home probably does not have electricity, let alone a computer, and in the age of online university applications this is a real barrier.

So we hosted this program where the students could stay after school and work on applications.  There were actually 21, 1 student from last year.  They were working on applications primarily for MasterCard Foundation Scholarships like UBC, McGill, University of Toronto, Arizona State University and Michigan State University and some other possible scholarship opportunities.

I had thought it would be a fun couple of weeks, answering few questions.  Reading a few essays.  It was fun, but it was insane.

I had 10 'counselees'.  So many of the form application questions make no sense if you're Rwandan.  Address? No one in Rwanda has an address (we use the school's).  First Name and Last Name (given name / family name) are even a big discussion.  Rwandan's (like Imaculee Mugwaneza) have two names, a western and a Rwandan, but neither follow from your family and they think of Mugwaneza as first.  Don't even get me started on 'What is the value of your home?"  The kids had never filled out any forms like these.

And the applications are complicated.  For just one, first you apply to the school, request an application fee waiver, send transcripts, letters of recommendation, letters of financial validation AND then you apply for the scholarship, with the same biographical data forms again, then tons of financial information and then lots and lots of essays. For just one student, and just one school it is a lengthy complicated process.

Add 20 students, all hoping to apply to many schools. Mix in regular power outages that caused kids to lose their work (Save! Save! Save frequently please!) Documents need to be completed, printed, signed by people all over the village, scanned, the PDF file size needs to be shrunk and then, then you can submit part of an application.

The students would be at my house asking questions at 6 AM.  Serge showed up while I was taking a shower.  "I'm in the shower, Serge!  Can I have a few minutes?"  He replied "No Problem" and started shouting his questions at me.  KIds stayed in the computer lab working until 2 or 3 AM.

I had real trouble setting limits.  "No I don't have time to answer this question that is simple for me but a complete unknown for you and blocks you from applying to follow your life dream." So there were ten baby birds, loudly chirping, and one very tired robin flying to get a worm, grab a cup of coffee on the way back, give the worm to one baby bird who is unsatisfied and see 9 others squawking their heads off.

Camp was scheduled to run from November 11 through the 22nd.  But on the 23rd none of them left.  "We're not finished.  We have more questions."  To be fair the power had been out for long stretches ever single day of ABC.  Finally, on Tuesday Nov 26, I left, as an escape plan and because I needed to start visiting the remainder of the girls from Eleanor Roosevelt (more on that soon). They are still calling and showing up in Kigali with questions.  My guess now is that this will 'end' when all the applications are due.

It's a very difficult process.  I'm not sure if any of them will succeed.  However, we will have tried.  I think maybe the practice of applying, and paying attention to every detail on the application will be good for everyone who made the effort.

I would like to go to sleep for a week, but I need to visit the rest of my girls from Eleanor Roosevelt and start getting ready to come home.

Breaking: I'll be back in the US in December.

6 Futures

Yesterday these 6 kids took the TOEFL test.  I have been working with them all year tutoring English.  These are the top English speakers in the village and it was a privilege to work with them.  Needless to say, I love them all to pieces and I wish the best for them.  

They wanted to take the TOEFL to use the scores to apply for American universities that offer the MasterCard Scholars program, Arizona State University and Michigan State University (but don't require the SAT).  The MasterCard program is an amazing soup-to-nuts scholarship that provides plane fare and a small living stipend and is one of the only realistic ways these students can study abroad.  Lots of universities offer tuition reduction, or even free but our kids cannot afford to get there in the first place, or pay for room and board, so they really need a complete scholarship if they are going to attend.

There were some shenanigans.  I, for one, should never be left in charge of 'a' child.  (Ask my beautiful, narrowly still surviving niece Kate what it is like to be under my 'care').  Now these kids are all over 18, and can pretty much take care of themselves, but have not been in places like supermarkets (where I took them to by breakfast food) and restaurants, where I took them to feed them dinner.  Being under my 'care' in the big city of Kigali is maybe not the most relaxing way to prepare for a big test.  I felt a lot of responsibility to make sure all of their needs were met. They were articulating needs 6 at a time at high volume, causing me some anxiety.  One particular lowlight was me forgetting to tell one of the kids, Innocent, that the bathroom door in the Kigali apartment is broken and cannot be shut all the way or can't be reopened.  Innocent pretty naturally closed the bathroom door to take a shower at 5 AM on test day and found himself trapped.  He was in there for a while as I mostly wrung my hands and said "everything is going to be fine" in increasingly shrill tones until one of the other boys freed him using a kitchen knife on the lock mechanism.  They their best tried to take good care of me, but it is a tough job.

I'm not sure how they did on the TOEFL.  The test is difficult and the day was stressful for them.  I tried to make them go to bed early the night before but they wanted to stay up and cram.  The day of the test was crazy.  They needed some passport photos that we didn't have and this caused some stress. (We got them later, see above.)The actual test seemed much harder to them than the practice tests we had been taking. They left the test feeling pretty down.

In turn, this made me feel pretty down.  Maybe I didn't prepare them well enough.  Maybe we shouldn't have gone down this path anyway if it is so difficult.  A planned 'celebration' lunch after the test was late (due to some transport issues) and glum.  They stared morosely at pizza they didn't like and asked to be taken home.  It was so hard for me to see these 6 feel so down.  They really are amazing kids and so talented in so many ways. I hate that I played a part in making them feel less confident, or question their abilities.

I came home and cried.  They went home and went straight to bed. For something I have been working on all year, it felt like a setback.  I don't know if any of them did well enough on the test to be admitted to ASU or MSU.

What I am sure about is no matter how this test went, they *will* be successful in the future.  These kids are so resilient and have already overcome so much.  When I see their work ethic and their commitment, I know they can't help but succeed. I look forward to seeing their progress as the years unfold.