What did you do?

For my independent project, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the women who worked at AVEH through a conversation with them. I wanted to learn about their relationships with the many kids that flow through AVEH each year, as well as their opinion on the functionality of AVEH and how the facilities and staff could be improved. Though I did consider it as an interview at first, it turned into just a conversation as the talking progressed. I wanted to interview Clarice and Jackie specifically because their hardwork and dedication that I witnessed truly inspired me. Every day that we went to AVEH, whatever time of day it was, Jackie was surrounded by at least five children, spitting at her and dancing around her but she would still persist with a smile on her face.

How did you do it?

With the help of our young translator and friend Devine, I was able to find two of the workers at AVEH, Clarice and Jackie, and have a conversation with them. I sat down with them wherever they were with Devine and began our conversation. I started the conversation with simpler questions about their job, then asked questions about how they feel about the reputation and stigma behind children and people with disabilities in Rwanda.

What did you learn?

Throughout my conversations with Clarice and Jackie, I wanted to learn about what their relationships are like with the kids, what their feelings were about the facilities and staff at AVEH and lastly, a small section of their opinions on disability in Rwanda. My first question was if they were having a good day and if they enjoyed their job. Both Clarice and Jackie were having a great day and they said they loved their job. They also both said that they would not be themselves without their job. One of the main reasons I added a section of questions to ask about disability in Rwanda was because I know that the reputation used to be so awful they would push the children with adults off of a cliff because of their disabilities. I wanted to see how the reputation has progressed. Clarice changed my question about the negative social component behind children with disabilities. Clarice said, though the stigma has advanced in a very positive way, there is nothing Rwanda can do at this point to make it any better. Jackie said that people should be more comfortable with disabled children and that their job at AVEH should be given a more positive reputation because it is “a work for god and god will repay you” job. Even though they were happy with their jobs, Clarice and Jackie both think that they definitely need better, more advanced facilities at AVEH and a bunch more staff members to help and control the children.