Theogenie

Theogenie, Theo for short, was one of my students in English Level 1. She showed herself accomplished in English from the first. I questioned why she was in a beginner’s class, but that is the system here. There is no testing out of a class. So she, along with four international students who were also capable in English, became “teacher’s aides,” so to speak. When we divided the large classe in to small groups, these five led the work of the small groups. I got to know each of the aides a bit more the other 50 students because we conferred on the group work ahead of time. 

 

Theo was distinguished in a number of ways. She is tall for a Rwandan woman, and poised, in addition to being good in English. The other students gravitated to her and deferred to her in more than just English. They sought her out before and after class. I learned that she was a primary school teacher, at PIASS to earn her degree in education. Here in Rwanda, as is many other African countries, one can teach primary school with high grades from secondary school and an intensive training course, but not a degree. The goal of most primary teachers is to have the opportunity to go to college to get a degree. That is Theo’s goal.Theo is the seventh of eight children in the family of four girls and 4 boys. Only she and her younger brother have had the opportunity to study, and that is because of the support of their older brothers and sisters. She lives with and cares for her widowed mother, as the youngest girl in the family and the only unmarried girl. I knew that she also coached youth in Rwandan football (American soccer) on Saturdays, but it was only when she wrote her final paragraph for class that I understood her poise and appeal to her fellow students. She is a Rwandan celebrity, but a humble one, as her paragraph indicates. Read it and judge for yourself.

Football,

by Theogenie Mukamusoiyera

Football is very important in my life. In 2004, I played football on the school’s girls’ team and in the football club. That time I was a player in school championships, at the same time on a women’s National team. Because of football, the school fees were free for me. In 2008 and 2009, I was selected for the women’s National team. We went to Germany to play with Germany’s women’s teams; we prepared to play a women’s World Cup in 2011. As a Rwandan girl, I was very envied for playing on the National team. In 2011, I went back to Germany to study coaching. I got an international certificate of coaching from there and it was a splendid moment for me. Another important thing I got from football was many friends, from coaching and playing. Now I have many friends and I get much knowledge from them because of football. I will always like football, because I got many important things from it.