Lunch And Learn Goes To Rwanda
Dr. Ann Fields speaks with a group gathered at the Oskaloosa Public Library at Wednesday's Lunch and Learn
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Main Street Business Improvement Committee hosted a lunch and learn Wednesday starting at noon in the main conference room on the second floor of the Oskaloosa Public Library.
The guest speaker was Dr. Ann Fields, President of William Penn University. Fields shared about her most recent trip to the African nation of Rwanda.
Rwanda is a county that is about a quarter of the size of Iowa with 11 million people. That leads to having 380 people per square mile.
“Most of the time when we think of Africa, we think of the savannahs. We think of the waving grasses and the Giraffes and the Lions and Tigers. That’s not Rwanda. Rwanda is a mountainous county,” Fields said of what the African nation looks like. She likens it to images of China with the terracing and the mountains.
The temperature in Rwanda is between 65 and 85 degrees year round. “Perfect weather,” Dr. Fields said. “So 365 days a year, they don’t have any heat. They don’t have any air conditioning. You can go out back of your house and pick bananas and pineapples, carrots, and potatoes 365 days of the year.” Fields explained that even with the abundance of food, they still suffer from nutrition problems from a lack of protein in their diet.
Fields explained that many of the homes in Rwanda don’t have electricity because they don’t need heating, air conditioning, or even refrigeration to store food. Because of their abundance with food, Fields explained they really have no reason for food storage. “So what has been a sustenance economy, hand to mouth economy, they never had to have cash. They don’t have cars. They don’t have electricity. Water’s provided by the government. You don’t have heat. You don’t have air conditioning. You can grow most of your own food, so for centuries and centuries, it’s been a hand to mouth society.”
Fields explained that the county is attempting to come into the 21st century. Less than 50% of the homes have electricity, but 95% of the people have cell phones. “So if you have a cell phone, you take it to town and there’s a technology store, and you walk in and there’s just rows and rows and rows of little boxes with plug-ins. You plug it in, you charge it, and you pick it up a half an hour later and off you go.” Fields explained they do this every day, because the people go to the market every day.
While on her most recent trip to Rwanda, Dr. Fields collaborated with a small university, presenting classes in strategic planning, grant writing, and social research.
The Institut d’Agriculture de Technologie et d’Education de Kibungo (INATEK) is the school that Dr. Fields visited while there. INATEK was started by the Rwandan Ambassador to the United States, James Kimonyo. The school has nearly 3500 students. Dr. Fields explained that about 3,000 of those students are adult students that attend the school on Friday night, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings. This would be the same principle as the College for Working Adults at William Penn.
Dr. Fields was at the school for three weeks. “While I was there, I worked every day,” Fields said of her time at the school. Her schedule for those days was from 9 to noon. “I was responsible for presenting some lessons,” Fields said. Her other time was spent doing strategic planning, grant writing and social research.
On her first day, they went to have lunch at the café near the school. At this café, they have visitor rooms, because most everyone goes home between 1 and 3 to take a nap. School children do the same thing as there is no hot lunch at school.
Dr. Fields expressed how the country is moving from their old way and economy, towards a new economy and technology to enhance their lives.
William Penn University has several students from Rwanda and has generated interest in the county with different events in the community and the Oskaloosa Schools.
