Bill Whipple, from TEACHRWANDA.org, spoke to the Emmaus Rotary on Thursday, January 16, 2020, about the needs of the children of Rwanda and TeachRwanda's efforts to help by offering professional development for teachers in early childhood education. To do this, TeachRwanda operates the Bright School as a model preschool and the students there are also offered nutritious meals of porridge. The mentoring for teachers includes both offering an alternative to asking all students to sit quietly and memorize lessons and upholding the country's recent ban against the use of corporal punishment of children. TeachRwanda partners in a second school which is housed in a public library and is active at the area's teachers' college.
     Whipple said TeachRwanda seeks to feed the hearts, minds, and bellies of the children. Research shows that 40% of children in Rwanda are stunted in growth and suffer extreme poverty with hunger. The enriched school porridge is high in protein, high in vitamins and high in calories and it may be the only food eaten that day. It costs $2 per child to offer school porridge for a month. Asked after the meeting, Whipple said he eats the porridge daily when he is in Rwanda, but his wife doesn't care for the thick texture.
     Rotarians were moved by Whipple's presentation and the Board will be considering how Emmaus Rotary might support TeachRwanda.