A Welcome Bend in the Road- MGS Alumnae Updates
In December 2021 the Maranyundo Girls School brought back recent graduates for an Alumnae weekend at their campus. Check out this clip to see how it went!
This past summer during a cross country road trip, long-time Board member Daphne Petri made a stop at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to meet up with some Maranyundo Girls School Alumnae and see what they are up to!
Lincoln, Nebraska 8/2/2021
On August 2, after days of driving from Colorado, I visited with Edith Ikuze, Marthe Niyingenera, and Joy Ishimwe at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Edith and Marthe were in the first graduating high school class from the Maranyundo Girls School in Rwanda and Joy was in the second in 2018. They are all attending the University of Nebraska as part of the CUSP Scholarship program that has enrolled over 200 Rwandan students “in a Bachelor of Science degree in Integrated Science that is focused on conservation agriculture, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The academic program is aligned with the areas of need as identified by the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.”
These three students from Maranyundo were able to take advantage of this generous four-year full scholarship program designed to educate some of the best students from Rwanda in a variety of fields in agriculture. Each is pursuing very different paths but all are grateful for their education and all are anxious to do graduate study in the years ahead and be able to bring their learning back to Rwanda.
Edith greeted me on the East Campus which is where they all spend most of their time. It is where the school of Agriculture and Entomology has all of its labs and classes.
Edith told me she loves it on this campus because it is quiet, people are all studying agriculture and they are there to study and to make a difference in their fields.
Edith didn't start out Freshman year knowing what she wanted to study about agriculture, but soon she told me that, “...early on I found I was really interested in bugs!”. She is now working on an experiment to determine which type of soybean plant is the least susceptible to damage from aphids, which threatens soy crops in Rwanda.
As we toured the campus she asked, “I have to plant some new seeds today, want to help?” Of course I did, and we went to her lab in the extensive academic greenhouses. She showed me her experiment from beginning to end and we planted the two types of seeds she is comparing.
After that, I followed her down long corridors in the slightly steamy greenhouses and we came to a growing cabinet where she is breeding the aphids and then one where plants can be given a controlled environment for optimal growth. It is there that aphids will be introduced to her newly started plants and she will monitor the effect that they have on the two different kinds of seeds. Perhaps controlling the type of seeds used could help deter the aphids and maintain the soy harvest. She hopes to further study this and other related issues in graduate study in the coming years.
Marthe and Joy met Paul and me for lunch when Edith had an appointment with her advisor to discuss graduate school options and her current experiment.
Over lunch from an outside food cart, they described their journeys and plans. Marthe began studying Agri-Business and her interest in this area has not changed and she will apply for Business Schools for the coming years. Joy has become a double major in Agriculture and Communications. She has spent some time working with the State Park system of Nebraska to design their communications materials and processes in order to best promote and preserve their natural landscape. She too would like to go on to graduate study.
Each of the girls would like to find ways to use their work to improve the state of agriculture and the natural landscape in Rwanda but recognize that they might deviate from that direct work as they find work and study in the years ahead. And they were quick to say that they will still give back to Rwanda. And each of these girls seemed to embody the strengths that they gained at Maranyundo and in Rwanda, as they have made their way through this huge University.
We talked some about the effort to begin to craft an Alumnae Network that is specific to MGS. The ideas of mentoring and support to each other and for the girls back on campus, seems appealing as they want to stay useful and connected to each other and to the school. Edith and Marthe have had the support of our Inshuti Network, and in particular, the connection with and advice from Nancy Newman who has been in contact with them through these past three years and especially during the challenges of covid. They seem to be thriving. It was a welcome and exciting bend in the otherwise pretty straight road in my drive across the country.
