Children, call them pupils, wake up at 5am, take a shower, leave their homes and start the long journey to Mpanga  Primary School, situated at the apex of Mpanga Hill.

panga Hill is a steeply sided ridge, with a saddle-shaped curving, that give way to two flat tops at either of its ends. Located in Mukingo Sector of Nyanza District, Southern Province, the hill is Carpeted with leafy wooden thickets and hedge plants, with ineptly developed trails that whirl around, until they reach the top.

It is at this top that Mpanga Primary school is located. But there is another better developed path that reaches the top of the hill, home to the school and other 15 households.

Almost five kilometers from the foothill, students reach school in the morning, sweating, wheezing and gasping for breath—in one word, fatigued.

Fatigued in morning? Before even classes begin! Yes! What with most of them traveling over 10 kilometers to reach school! Okay, the years we and the children are experiencing this are prior to 2008.

First Forward. In 2008, ActionAid Rwanda realizes the burden that is weighing so heavily on the shoulders of the children, the teachers and the parents. So they come to their rescue. ActionAid advises teachers and parents to relocate the school from the apex of the ridge to the lower flats of the hill, a place that is more rolling and plainer, four kilometers lower.

Parents and teachers heed. So ActionAid provides the funds for the construction of six class rooms in two blocs,  16 toilet rooms,  three 5000 litre capacity plastic tanks, school desks and office chairs and two Friesian cows. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mpanga Primary School today is at the main peripheral road that feeds into the Butare-Kigali road as you branch off from Gatagara. It is accessible by car and its relocation has redefined the learning, teaching and management latticework of the school.

"Before relocating the school, we could call for a meeting, requiring all parents to attend, but only a few could afford the pains of climbing the hill for the meeting. So they could only say; ‘you can decide, we shall follow whatever resolution you come up with,’ and shun the meeting. Today, all parents attend the meetings,” says Israel Nsengiyumva, 42, the president of the Parents Committee.

The headmaster of the school, Gatabazi Zabuloni, concurs with him, but adds that the pupils’ and teachers’ fate was, too, far from encouraging. "Imagine students getting fatigued in the morning. They used to wake up very early to beat the time factor, then walk for very long distances, climb the hill and so in the first thirty minutes of class they could start dosing. Learning became difficult, teachers, who could as well be fatigued, could get discouraged and most of them could resign altogether,” remembers Gatabazi.

The headmaster adds that even the rate of absenteeism was so high as any slight ailment or excuse would translate into the child staying at home. "Of the total enrollment, you could find that at any given day, 30 per cent stayed at home due to different reason. This was impacting negatively on the overall performance of the learners, of course aggravated by the incessant fatigue of both teachers and pupils.”

What, then, is the situation today? "Oh, things have greatly changed for the better. Class attendance is almost 100% of the total enrollment. The teacher turnover has been brought to naught, and the enrollment and performance have all improved,” says Gatabazi.

This is attested by Valentine Uwumuremyi, in Primary Six. "I began my primary one in this school when it was still in the hills. It was difficult reaching the hilltop, learning and revising. Today I reach school on time, when not tired and I expect to perform well,” she says.

And Imaculee Mukarutabano, a fresh graduate from Bicumbi TTC in Rwamagana, teaching at Mpanga Primary says that she is happy being a teacher at the school. "Of course all the challenges cannot just be washed away, but so far so good. From there we shall then get to the next level,” she enthuses.   

The distance pupils had to walk has been reduced by almost a half. On average, today, in terms of radius, they walk 5 km from the villages of Kinyinya, Nyamazi, Karambi, Irembo, Mataba, Nyarutara and Gatagara. 

Parents too, are reaping from the act of relocating the school. Mukabadege Clare, 53, has tow children in Mpanga Primary school.

Her testimony is that of triumph and progress. "Children used to leave hoe as early as 5am, and come back as late as 6pm. Today they can fetch water before leaving for school, and can collect firewood when they come back in the evening,” she declares and tells me that a child who is spent to the last atom of his/her energy, cannot be useful either at home or at school. "We were incurring double losses. They (children) could not learn properly, and at home they were not productive. I have no words to thank ActionAid Rwanda for these great acts of generosity,” Mukabadege says.

Construction of the six classrooms cost ActionAid Rwanda RwF48,000,000, the toilets cost RwF14,500,000, water tanks RwF3,600,000, and the two Friesian cows were delivered at RwF1,450,000. In addition, ActionAid Rwanda bought all the 230 desks the 641 pupils use, and the 14 office chairs and tables used by the nine teachers in the school.

The Friesian cows are a source of pride and health to the formerly malnourished children. About 9 children that were suffering from kwashiorkor were put under the milk-feeding programme, where 4 pupils take milk in the morning and five in the evening. The rest of the milk, about ten liters, are sold out so that they can purchase the veterinary drugs and other requirements to ensure a healthy breed. The school garden, about an acre at the proximities of the school, is constantly supplied with fertilizers transformed from the cow dung. Now, that is what we call changing a people’s lives.

Ends