Living Together in Community
Senior 4 · English (Languages)
Living Together in Community
Lesson 2 of 5
35 min
Let's begin
Across East Africa, groups of neighbours meet every week, put a small sum of money into a common box and lend it to one another. In Kinyarwanda such a group is often called an ikimina; elsewhere you may hear chama, susu or stokvel. No bank is involved, and there is no written contract with an outsider: the group works because its members trust one another and keep their promises. In this lesson you listen to a radio feature about one such group, then turn a scene from "The First Calf" into a short play and perform it.
Definition
Words you will hear
Important
Listening script: for a teacher or classmate to read aloud
Only the reader opens the script; two readers can share the parts. About three and a half minutes. The presenter, the group and its members are imagined; the figures are illustrative.
Presenter (Umutoni): This is Our Neighbourhood. Every Thursday afternoon, under an avocado tree in a village in Gakenke District, ten people sit down on a bench and open a green metal box. The box has three padlocks, and three different members hold the keys. I asked the group's chairwoman, Mrs Nyiraneza, why.
Mrs Nyiraneza: Because no single person should be able to open it! When we started, four years ago, some people said, "Money between neighbours always ends in a quarrel." So we made rules before we collected a single franc. The box needs three keys. Every contribution is written in each member's own book and in the group's book. And at every meeting, the money is counted aloud, in front of everybody.
Presenter: How much does each member pay?
Mrs Nyiraneza: Two thousand francs a week. So, with ten of us, the box receives twenty thousand every Thursday. Members can borrow from it for three months and pay back a little extra, which goes back into the box. At the end of the year we share everything out, and everyone receives more than they put in.
Presenter: And the small red tin beside the box?
Mrs Nyiraneza: That is our social fund. Everyone adds two hundred francs a week. It is not a loan; it is help. Last year, Habimana's daughter fell ill in the night and had to go to the hospital in Ruli. We met the next morning, opened the tin and gave him what he needed. He did not have to ask twice.
Presenter: Mr Habimana, you're one of the members. What difference has the group made to you?
Mr Habimana: Before, if my family had an emergency, I sold a goat, often for less than it was worth, because I had to sell quickly. Now I borrow from the group, and I keep my goats. With my first loan I bought a second-hand sewing machine for my wife. She repairs school uniforms now, and that money has paid back the loan twice over.
Presenter: Has anyone ever failed to pay back?
Mrs Nyiraneza: Once. A member stopped coming. We did not shout at her or go to her house in a crowd. Two of us visited her quietly. Her husband had lost his job, and she was ashamed. We agreed that she would pay back in smaller amounts, and she did, every franc. A group like ours does not run on money, you see. It runs on trust, and trust has to be looked after like a cow.
Presenter: Ten neighbours, three keys, one box, and a great deal of trust. This has been Our Neighbourhood.
Which sentence sums up the feature best? (a) Savings groups are risky because money causes quarrels. (b) A savings group succeeds through clear rules and mutual trust. (c) Banks should lend more money to people in villages.
Copy and complete the notes.
| Topic | Notes |
|---|---|
| When and where the group meets | … |
| Three rules that protect the money | 1 … 2 … 3 … |
| Weekly contribution and weekly total | … |
| What the social fund is for; one example | … |
| How the group changed Mr Habimana's life | … |
| How the group dealt with a member who did not repay | … |
First listening: (b). The chairwoman stresses the rules (three keys, written records, counting aloud) and trust. (a) is the fear they overcame; (c) is never mentioned.
Notes: Thursday afternoons, under an avocado tree in a village in Gakenke District. Rules: the box has three padlocks with keys held by three members; every contribution is written in the member's book and the group's book; the money is counted aloud at every meeting. 2,000 Frw each; 10 × 2,000 = 20,000 Frw a week. Social fund: 200 Frw each a week, for emergencies, not loans; it paid for Habimana's daughter's hospital visit in Ruli. Habimana: borrows instead of selling goats cheaply; bought a sewing machine for his wife, whose uniform repairs paid back the loan twice over. Non-payment: two members visited quietly, learned her husband had lost his job, agreed smaller repayments; she repaid every franc.
Interpretation: 1. He had to sell quickly in an emergency, so he could not wait for a good price. 2. Trust is valuable and needs regular care, just as a cow needs feeding and attention; if it is neglected, it is lost. 3. To avoid shaming her in public and to find out the reason privately; a crowd would have damaged the relationship. 4. 50 × 2,000 = 100,000 Frw.
A role-play turns a narrative into speech and action. Here is paragraphs 3 to 5 of "The First Calf" written as a script. Study how the narrator's sentences have become stage directions and speech.
Scene: the family's house, evening. The family sits around a low table. Gatete eats in silence.
KEZA: (carefully) Perhaps the committee could choose again. My aunt in Huye has no cow either. The calf would still go to a family that needs her.
(The mother looks at Gatete. Gatete looks at his plate. Grandmother puts down her cup.)
GRANDMOTHER: When I was a girl, nobody gave a cow to a stranger. A cow given was a friendship tied. (turning to Gatete) Gatete, you have been angry for a year about beans. Beans grow back in three months.
(Silence.)
BYIRINGIRO: (eagerly) Mutesi's roof fell in during the rains. Her children sleep at their uncle's.
(Keza lowers her eyes.)
| Script convention | Example |
|---|---|
| A scene heading: place and time | Scene: the family's house, evening. |
| Speaker's name in capitals, then a colon; no quotation marks | KEZA: Perhaps the committee… |
| Stage directions in brackets and italics, in the present tense | (Gatete looks at his plate.) |
| Adverbs in directions tell the actor how to speak | (carefully), (eagerly) |
| Silences and pauses are written in, because they act too | (Silence.) |
Worked example
Turning narration into a stage direction
Narration: Keza had seen the broken kitchen wall herself and had walked past it without thinking. She felt her face grow hot.
Tip
Stay in role by listening. In a role-play, the most common mistake is waiting for your next line instead of hearing your partner's. React to what is said: a nod, a frown, a pause before you answer. Silence in which a character is clearly thinking is often the strongest moment of the scene.
Warning
Don't narrate on stage. Avoid lines such as KEZA: I am feeling very guilty now because I walked past the wall. Real people rarely announce their feelings. Show them through action, tone and short, natural speech.
| Checklist | Yes / Not yet |
|---|---|
| The script follows the conventions (heading, names, directions in brackets). | |
| Actors spoke clearly and loudly enough for the back of the room. | |
| Feelings were shown by action and tone, not announced. | |
| Actors reacted to one another and stayed in role. | |
| The scene made the reconciliation believable. |
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Why does the group's box have three padlocks?
