IPRC West School Tour

After the Closing Ceremony, IPRC West Principal MUTANGANA Frederic, invited our students on a tour of the schools vocational campus. In addition to the computer labs we had occupied all week, the school has extensive on-site training facilities for mechanics, electronics, and hospitality.

The students were eager to see the spaces they could one day learn in if they continue to study and achieve well in science and technology courses.

Our tour began with a series of labs used for electrical engineering. Many of the ideas about wiring and circuitry that the girls had learned throughout the week were put to use and explained by current IPRC West secondary and vocational students. The best moment came when one of the tour guides clapped his hands and a single lightbulb instantly lit the room. The girls went crazy! They had used Elenco Kits to explore sound activated circuitry but here it was becoming a reality. Needless to say, the rest of the electrical engineer's speech was drowned out by incessant clapping as the lightbulb was repeatedly flashed on and off.

The students visited a metal working studio next on the tour. Heavy machinery used for metal work, carpentry, and welding were explained. The girls were able to view the various items made by IPRC West students, including doors, bed frames, and even a miniature helicopter frame! Another machine was turned on to demonstrate its use in carpentry as it rapidly widdled a block of wood into one of the traditional wooden staffs given at dowry ceremonies around the country.

The coup de grace of the tour was IPRC Wests brand new Hospitality Management Center. Built to teach every aspect of hotel operation, the building looks just like a fancy hotel. The girls pretended to check each other in at the massive front desk and were impressed by the VIP suite with two separate bathrooms. They had a LOT of questions about the industrial-sized laundry room, complete with steamer and a washer that several people could easily fit inside. The stainless steal kitchen was last on the tour - a far cry from the smoke-filled outdoor kitchens used at most Rwandan homes.

The IPRC West tour sparked a great deal of curiosity among the girls. Many of them became determined that they would one day study at IPRC West. The glimpse they had of the technical and vocational facilities not only directly complimented many of our lessons from throughout the week, but it gave the girls realistic school and career options to aspire towards, providing an excellent finale to the TechKobwa program.