Prints and Perils

Prints and Perils: The Great Quiz Mix-Up

“Blessings and Blunders: A Journey of Learning in Rwanda” – Part 2

Some blessings come disguised as blunders. And this week, our printer made sure we got a double dose of both.

Printing was our Achilles' heel. Clinton practically became best friends with the printer staff, making daily runs to secure handouts. On quiz day, everything seemed smooth—until I noticed something odd. The students were locked in, intensely focused, taking far longer than they did with last week's much longer test. Something didn’t feel right.

Eventually, one brave student raised her hand and flagged down Esther. That’s when we learned the truth: the printer had removed every space from the Kinyarwanda translation. Every sentence had become one looooong, unintelligible word.

There were no complaints. No protests. No requests for replacements.

Instead, the students got to work. With quiet determination, they began reconstructing each sentence from the mess, inserting breaks where they seemed logical and trying to decipher the meaning piece by piece. It was like watching 50 codebreakers tackle a linguistic puzzle.

This unintended mix-up became one of the most powerful object lessons we’ve shared—an empathetic peek into what it feels like to struggle with understanding speech or written language. Suddenly, our lesson on communication disorders had a new, visceral meaning.

For us, the takeaway was practical: always ask for a proof before printing 50 copies. For them, it was profound: a taste of what many of their future students will face.

And all of it—every confused glance, stifled giggle, and moment of shared perseverance—became part of the fabric of our experience here.

Stay tuned for Post 3: “Income Inequality and a $7 Lifeline”, where a small honorarium brings joy and a powerful perspective.