Will you help?

A bit of Background

I am Canadian. I live in Calgary, Alberta. For the past ten years, I have been involved in two projects in Africa that involve Tailoring Schools – one in Uganda at St. Francis Family Helper Program, Nyamitanga, Mbarara district and one in Rwanda at CFJ Padri Vjeko School in the village of Kivumu near Gitarama. I have written and implemented the teaching programs for the two schools. I continue to assist both projects by supporting the teachers in their work, and by gathering resource materials to build up the school libraries. I have been doing this work as a volunteer since 1996, going to Africa as often as I can afford the time and cost. (click on thumbnail to see full size image and description)

The idea came to us in January of this year – why not try to get a teacher from CFJ Padri Vjeko School to travel to Canada and attend a Fashion College in Olds, Alberta!! The intention was to improve his teaching skills by having this teacher participate in classes and observe techniques used by the Canadian instructors. This new found knowledge and skills would then be delivered back to the other teachers in Kivumu and would benefit CFJ Padri Vjeko School. I approached the college in Canada and was met with an amazing amount of cooperation and interest by the Vice-President of Academics and by the Director of the Fashion program.

We selected Joseph Nzirorera, a young man who was teaching in our tailoring division of CFJ Padri Vjeko School as a likely candidate for the adventure.  In an incredibly short time frame we managed to get all the paperwork done and by the end of February he was on his way!

Let me tell you about Joseph Nzirorera

Joseph is a young man (29 years of age). His life story is one of great difficulty and tragedy.  Joseph contracted polio at a young age and walks with the aid of crutches. In 1982, when Joseph was three, his father, Athanas Ryimarande, died.  Nonetheless, he managed to get a primary school education with the help of a Franciscan priest, Fra Vjeko Curic, who took him in as a youngster along with a group of children with similar disabilities.

In 1993, after completing his primary education, Joseph returned to his village of Kagano Nyamasheke, in Cyangugu district in the south-west of Rwanda. In 1994 Joseph’s mother, Marie Mukangango who was a Tutsi, was massacred during the genocide. Joseph was only 15 years at the time.  After the genocide, Joseph returned to Kivumu to seek help once again from Fra Vjeko to get a pair of badly needed crutches.  He remained in the area and was informally adopted by Oswaldi, a man who is the cook at the Franciscan friary.

In 1998 Fra Vjeko Curic, the priest who had helped him so much, was murdered in Kigali.  Some time after, Joseph began attending sewing classes at a local secondary school built by the Franciscans to honour the priest who spent his life helping Rwandans.  But there was no formal course of education and the facilities were very basic, lacking good equipment and supplies.  He studied for two years and then tried to make a living as a tailor in the nearby town of Gitarama.  In 2004, another Franciscan, Fra Ivica Peric was sent from Uganda to take over the development of the school and he asked Joseph to become one of the teachers.  Joseph was sent to Uganda to the Tailoring school at St. Francis Family Helper Project to study for a year and it was there that I first encountered him.  I was doing some work at the Ugandan school and I was told about this young man who showed much promise and worked so hard at his studies.

In 2006, I later met Joseph again in Rwanda where I was working to develop the curriculum for the tailoring school.  I was most impressed with Joseph’s dedication and loyalty to the school as well as his strong work ethic. He put much effort into his teaching duties and was always enthusiastic when given any task.

(to be continued)