Our Culture and Our Story

Lessons

Primary 3 · Social and Religious Studies

Our Culture and Our Story

3 lessons

Lesson 2 of 3

Long Ago and Today

13 min

Let's begin

Gatete's grandmother is very old. One evening he asked her, "Nyogokuru, did you watch football on TV when you were eight?"

She laughed for a long time. "My child," she said, "when I was eight there was no TV in my village. There was no electricity at all!"

Gatete could not believe it. Today you will find out how life used to be, what has changed, and what has stayed the same.

One day, two lives

Let's follow Grandmother's morning long ago, and Gatete's morning today. Read across, line by line. This is our worked example.

Grandmother, long ago	Gatete, today
She woke when the cock crowed. There was no clock.	He wakes when his father's phone alarm rings.
She walked far down the hill to a stream and carried water home in a clay pot.	He fills a jerrycan at the tap near the road.
Her house had mud walls and a roof of dry grass.	His house has brick walls and an iron-sheet roof.
Food cooked on three stones over a wood fire.	Food cooks on a stove, and there is a solar lamp for the evening.
She helped her mother in the field and learned by watching her.	He walks to school with his book bag.
News from far away came with a traveller on foot.	News comes in one minute on the phone.

Look at the table again. Grandmother was not lazy and Gatete is not clever — they simply live in different times.

That is the big idea: life changes. Tools change, houses change, clothes change, and the way we travel changes.

But not everything changes

Now look at what is the SAME in both columns:

Both of them speak Kinyarwanda.
Both eat beans, potatoes and isombe.
Both greet their neighbours and respect their elders.
Both know the agaseke basket and the sound of the ingoma drum.
Both go out to help the village on umuganda day.

So some things change (the roof, the lamp, the bus) and some things stay (the language, the food, the dances, helping each other). The things that stay are our traditions.

Putting events on a timeline

A timeline is a line where we put events in the order they happened. The earliest event goes first, and we move along the line towards today.

Worked example

Here are four things from Uwase's life, all jumbled up:

Uwase started P1.
Uwase was born.
Uwase is now in P3.
Uwase learned to walk.

Step 1 — ask: which one happened first of all? She had to be born before anything else could happen. So "Uwase was born" goes first.

Step 2 — what came next? A baby learns to walk long before school. So "Uwase learned to walk" is second.

Step 3 — next? You do P1 before P3. So "Uwase started P1" is third.

Step 4 — what is left? "Uwase is now in P3" — that is today, the end of the line.

Now the timeline reads properly:

Uwase was born → Uwase learned to walk → Uwase started P1 → Uwase is now in P3

A timeline is just a story told in the right order: beginning first, today last.

A simple timeline of Rwanda

Our country has a long story too. Here are three big stops on the line:

Long ago — Rwanda was a kingdom. It was ruled by kings, called abami. People kept long-horned cows, grew crops on the hills, and told stories around the fire at night.
1962 — On 1 July 1962, Rwanda became independent. That means Rwanda began to rule itself, choosing its own leaders and making its own laws.
Today — Rwanda has schools, hospitals, tarmac roads and clean streets, and children like you learning on a screen.

Long ago, then 1962, then today. Earliest first!

Tip

How to never get a timeline wrong. Ask one question: "Which of these could not have happened without the other one first?"

You cannot start P1 before you are born. You cannot cook before you light the fire. Put the one that HAD to come first at the front, then keep going. Earliest first, today last.

✦

Try it yourself

Try first, then tap Show answer to check.

Long ago or today? "People carried water from the stream in a clay pot."

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Long ago. Today most people use a jerrycan and a tap or borehole.

Long ago or today? "You send your uncle a message and he reads it the same minute."

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Today. Long ago a message travelled with a person walking, and could take days.

Put these in timeline order: Mutesi starts P1 • Mutesi is born • Mutesi becomes a teacher • Mutesi finishes P6.

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Mutesi is born → Mutesi starts P1 → Mutesi finishes P6 → Mutesi becomes a teacher. Ask each time: which one had to happen first?

Put these in timeline order: Rwanda became independent in 1962 • Rwanda was ruled by kings • Children learn with tablets and phones.

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Rwanda was ruled by kings → Rwanda became independent in 1962 → Children learn with tablets and phones.

Name TWO things Rwandans did long ago that we still do today.

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Many good answers, for example: we still speak Kinyarwanda, still eat isombe and beans, still weave agaseke baskets, still beat the ingoma, still help our neighbours.

Quick check

Put Mugisha's timeline in order, earliest first.

Tap the cards in the right order.

What you learned today

Long ago there was no electricity, no tap, no bus and no phone. Houses had grass roofs and food cooked on three stones.
Many things have changed — but our language, our food, our dances and our habit of helping each other have stayed. Those are our traditions.
A timeline puts events in order, earliest first. Ask: "Which one had to happen first?"
Rwanda's story: kings long ago → independence in 1962 → the Rwanda you live in today.

1One day, two lives

2But not everything changes

3Putting events on a timeline

4A simple timeline of Rwanda

Try it yourself

One day, two lives

But not everything changes

Putting events on a timeline

A simple timeline of Rwanda