Mainstory: For a unique school the sun rises on a united future

In June 2007, Rwanda’s Parliament organized an international conference against the spreading of genocide ideologies. December the same year Parliament organized a national study tour that took them to 32 schools across the country. The legislators were shocked by their discoveries. The parliamentary commission on social affairs carried out a nationwide study which culminated in a report that exposed Rwanda’s junior education sector as instilling among students genocide ideologies. The same hate ideologies that have been conformed as the main cause of the 1994 Genocide. Next month will be 14 years since the Genocide, the country has since moved on. However, in many of the country’s minds lie what parliamentarians call “rotten ideas.” But what I came across at Sunrise School gave me cause for hope. Sunrise School is not only among the top five academic schools in the country, the school is winner of Musanze district basketball championship. The school has become known for another reason as well. Along with Saint Vincent’s Girls School, Sunrise is the only school in Musanze District that was found to be free of genocide ideologies. Sunrise School is a primary and secondary school situated just behind Musanze town. It was founded by Bishop John Rucyahana. Rucyahana is the head of the nearby Isyhira Anglican Dioceses, the biggest Anglican diocese in Rwanda. Rucyahana started Sunrise School after he was overwhelmed by the number of Genocide orphans coming to the church. From a simple primary school which essentially cared for orphans, Sunrise has grown even beyond the managerial capacity of the bishop; he has hired a team of professional administrators to help run the school as he concentrates on his clerical duties. Joy Ruberwa as manager is the head of the team. Aunt Joy, as she is fondly referred to by both staff and students, is a jolly lady, in her early thirties she has a loving husband and three healthy children, the last born just months old. The school only opened in 2001 has gone on to become a leading academic performer that today many private students have joined, the current population stand over 900 students. Musanze District executive secretary Oswald Habiyaremye the school has helped encourage good fortune to the district. He says the area has the highest concentration of youths in the country but was lacking in “very good schools.” “Sunrise school offers the best facilities that could not be in schools found bigger cities than ours, its one of the proud symbols of our district.” John Rutayisire, executive secretary of Rwanda National Examinations council who preferred to speak in his individual capacity, said the spreading of genocide ideology is a result of coordination of schools’ administrations. “The school is a nucleus around which students, parents, staff and surrounding communities interact,” Rutayisire said. “The school administration must be aware of the interactions of all these forces and control them. Where the school fails to manage these interactions is the point that allows genocide ideologies to infiltrate the minds of students.” It seems a school’s impact reaches beyond the school gates. And indeed local citizens nearby the school have been vocal in their appreciation of Sunrise School. Peter Uwayesu who is employed at the school as a mason says the locals have been blessed by the location of the school. Their gratitude is such that local residents “each give the school one day’s worth of free labour per month as a token of appreciation for what the school has done our community.” The newly opened youth centre outside the school gates is proof of what the school is giving back to the community. The centre is fully installed with conference facilities and a library, the centre’s main hall is also currently a popular venue for weddings and other major community programs. Such a close knit community says Aunt Joy is the reason her school has not been consumed by hate ideas in other schools in the district. “Our good academic performance and good relations amongst ourselves is not just luck. Our community has benefited more from situations of love and understanding than hate.” To prevent hate ideas spreading among students of the school Aunt Joy says that the administration has ensured that students are handled as individuals. “We talk to our students as individuals who belong to our school not as individuals that belong to one district, village or tribe.” There was a worry that students going on to other schools after primary or secondary levels would find difficulties adapting to systems in other institutions. As a result Sunrise has risen from a humble dilapidated building which flooded during rainy seasons to a semi town circling almost two hills. “We started with a primary school in 2001, when the graduates of our primary school could not go to other schools, we started a secondary school to serve that need. Now as the need for a university arises Bishop John Rucyahana has got government license to open a university that will teach entrepreneurship. It will be based here in Musanze,” Aunt Joy explains. The school actively fosters a tight knit community. “Most of our students join as infants. We do not admit students in middle classes; even at secondary level we admit only 10 per cent from other schools,” says Joy. It is this that has enabled the school to keep out genocide thinking, Joy believes. Constantine, the sports prefect, says the school has a programme that has helped the students unite. “We stay in the same environment everyday through primary school to secondary, we already have a bond that cannot be broken.” Brod Agaba, a leadership course teacher at the school, explains that because Sunrise was founded by Christians, “the investors set up a good trend, in changing the mindset of children. Right from primary, we instill a sense of unity and love.” Contact: donmwninda@yahoo.com