Carol Falke an American national has so far been to Rwanda twice and is planning a third trip to help the people through art and education.
On February 3, 2013 she helped organize a fundraiser and children’s art show to raise local awareness for helping Rwanda.
The fundraising event themed “Hearts for Rwanda” included children balancing lidded baskets, known as an igiseke, on their head at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in State College.
Falke worked in conjunction with State College Area High School senior Haley Justice to hold the show, which featured artwork by Rwandan and local children as well as authentic dancing performed by two Rwandan women, who live in State College.
“The biggest thing is bringing children together to learn about other cultures,” she said.
About 70 people were in and out of the third floor of the St. Paul’s Methodist Church Christian Education Center on Sunday, taking in the artwork and learning about Rwandan culture.
Justice got involved as part of her senior project, working with Falke to organize the event and she said it ran smoothly. Justice has always been interested in art, so when she found out she could work with the artwork and help people she jumped at the chance.
“It was just a project, but it turned out to be a nice adventure,” she said.
The pair brought in Penn State graduates and Rwandan natives Grace Hakizimana and Janviere Ndayishimiye to perform a dance that is usually performed at weddings and other ceremonies.
Hakizimana said she was excited to attend the event because she loves to dance and relishes any chance to perform the steps that she learned as a third-grader. She has been practicing the dances ever since.
The dances involved rhythmic tapping of the feet and hand motions that represented imagery such as that of a cow. Cows are important to Rwandan culture. The dances are usually performed in larger groups with men taking on the imagery of warriors holding long, pointed objects.
“It’s always fun for us when we get to dance,” Hakizimana said about her and her cousin, Ndayishimiye.
Falke plans to return to Rwanda in March with three waves of service projects focusing on art and education, agriculture and livestock and English as a second language.
She said an interesting aspect of both cultures is that when the children were asked to make small paintings, the Rwandan paintings and the State College paintings were largely the same. She wants to show that the cultures really aren’t that different.
She has previously organized other charitable events collecting books and shoes for the children. Sunday school students have also raised funds to purchase goats and a pig for residents of Urukundo Village, which is about an hour outside the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
Falke will continue working through fundraisers and events to continue to help the residents of Rwanda and encourages anyone who wants to get involved to contact her at falkes@verizon.net.