Our District
Primary 4 · English
Our District
Lesson 1 of 4
40 min
A new pupil joins Primary 4. The teacher asks her, “Where do you live?” She answers, “In Huye.” But Huye is big! The teacher smiles. “Which sector? Which village?”
Today you will learn how Rwanda is divided into provinces, districts, sectors, cells and villages, and how to describe the place where you live.
The facts in this text come from the Wikipedia article Districts of Rwanda. Read it and find the Kinyarwanda words.
Rwanda has four provinces and the City of Kigali. Together, they make five parts: the Northern Province, the Southern Province, the Eastern Province, the Western Province and the City of Kigali.
The provinces are divided into 30 districts. In Kinyarwanda, a district is called akarere. Huye, Musanze, Rubavu, Nyagatare and Gasabo are some of the districts.
Each district is divided into sectors (imirenge). Each sector is divided into cells (utugari). And each cell is divided into villages (imidugudu). One village is an umudugudu.
My name is Niyonzima. I live in a village on a green hill in Huye District, in the Southern Province. There are about one hundred families in our village. Our house is near a small river, and it is far from the main road.
My village is quiet. In the morning you can hear cows and birds. Most people are farmers. They grow beans, maize and bananas in the valley.
Huye town is about five kilometres from our village. It is busier than our village. It has a big market, a hospital, banks and a university. My favourite place in Huye town is the museum, where you can see how people lived long ago.
I love my village because the people help each other.
How many districts does Rwanda have?
30 districts.
What is the Kinyarwanda word for a village?
Umudugudu (imidugudu for many villages).
Which province is Niyonzima's district in?
The Southern Province.
Is Niyonzima's village busy or quiet? Give one clue from the text.
Quiet. In the morning you can hear cows and birds.
province → district → sector → cell → village
So a full address goes from small to big: I live in X village, Y cell, Z sector, Huye District, the Southern Province.
Teacher: Where do you live?
Keza: I live in Rubavu District, in the Western Province.
Teacher: Is your home near Lake Kivu?
Keza: Yes, it is. It is near the lake, but it is far from the market.
Teacher: What is your village like?
Keza: It is busy and beautiful.
quiet, busy, big, small, green, hilly, clean, beautiful, crowded
My village is small and quiet. Kigali is big and busy.
Write a short text called Where I live, like Niyonzima's. Give your district and province, say what your village or town is like, and name one thing that is near your home and one thing that is far from it.
Speak: Interview a friend. Ask: “Where do you live? What is it like? What is near your home?”
Tip
Big to small, like a family: the province is the grandparent, the district is the parent, and the sector, cell and village are the children and grandchildren.
Say in for places (in Huye) and on for hills and roads (on a hill).
Write your answers in your exercise book, then check.
Complete: Niyonzima lives ___ Huye District.
Answer: in
Put in order from biggest to smallest: cell, province, village, district, sector.
Answer: province, district, sector, cell, village
What is the Kinyarwanda word for a district?
Answer: akarere
Complete: Our house is ___ from the main road. (It is a long way away.)
Answer: far
Answer in a full sentence: What is your village or town like?
Answer: Example: My village is green and quiet, and it is near a big forest.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
A full address goes from small to big. Put these in order, smallest first.
Tap the cards in the right order.
