Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Home to roughly 12.5 million people, Rwanda is a country in Central Africa that is known as the “land of a thousand hills” due to its rolling, lush landscape. What do you know about the country of Rwanda? What do you know about Central Africa? Share with the class your knowledge about this fascinating country and region.

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to consider the history, culture, and geography of the country of Rwanda. For example, students may have heard of the groups Hutus and Tutsis and know that they were once at war. Students may have heard of the movies “Hotel Rwanda,” “Our Lady of the Nile,” or “Gorillas in the Mist.” Introducing additional information may help to contextualize the book; for example, Rwanda’s varied geography features the peaked Virunga mountains in the western part of the country and flat savanna in the east. In addition to growing and exporting coffee and tea, one of the most important sources of revenue for Rwanda is tourism, since Rwanda is just one of two countries (with Uganda being the other) where Virunga mountain gorillas can be visited by casual observers touring the country.