Social and Religious Studies

Key unit competence: Recognise the importance of public places and assets in the District and how to preserve them.

                                                                       Learning objectives

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

•  Identify important places in our district. 
• Mention the problems facing important places in our district. 
• Identify main public assets in our district.

Skills

•  Describe important places in our district.
•   Find out ways of preserving important places.
•  Explain the importance of these places. 
•  Differentiate public assets from private assets.
•  Explain the importance of public assets. 
•  Describe different ways of preserving public assets.

Attitudes and values 

•  Show concern on how important places must be preserved. 
•  Acknowledge the importance of public assets.
•  Show concern on preserving public assets.

Introductory activity

Look at the picture before you talk about the answers to the questions.

1. What is a tourist?

2. Have you ever seen a tourist? Where?

3. Why is it good when tourists visit Rwanda?

4. What places in Rwanda do tourists want to see?

5. Where do you think this bus will take the tourists?

6. Think about being a tourist in Rwanda. What places would you like to see?

Tourists from all over the world come to Rwanda.

6.1 Important places in our district

If something is important, it has value. We need it. An important place is a place we should visit. We should care for and look after it. This means we preserve or protect it.

Exercise 6.1

Discuss these questions.

1. What is an important place?

2. Have you ever been to an important place? Describe it.

3. Would you like to see an important place? Why?

6.2 Important places

Museums are important places. These are our museums:

•  Ethnographic Museum in Huye
• National Art Gallery in Nyanza-Rwesero
•  King’s Palace Museum in Nyanza-Rukari
•  Presidential Palace Museum in Kigali-Kanombe
•  Natural History Museum (Kandt House) in Kigali-Nyarugenge
•  Environmental Museum at Karongi
•  National Liberation Park Museum known as  ‘Umurindi w’intwari’.

National parks are important places. This is where our animals, birds, fish, trees

and plants are protected. Our parks are:

•  Akagera National Park
•  Nyungwe National Park
•  Volcanoes National Park

Zebras in Akagera National Park            There are many primates in Nyungwe National Park.

Huye Musium                                                                       The Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre  

Some of the important places in the different districts in Rwanda.

Activity

 Look at the map.

   1. Which important places are in your district?

   2. Why are these places important?

   3. Discuss the important places in your district.

   4. What are the problems in some important places?

   5. How can we preserve our important places?

   6. Make a drawing of an important place in your district. 

   7. Present what you discussed to the class. 

     Show your drawing to the class. 

     Be prepared to ask and answer questions.

6.3 Public assets

A public asset is something that belongs to all Rwandans. The opposite of public is private. 

Then it only belongs to a few people. If something is public, it means we can all go there. We can all use it.

An asset is something valuable. An asset has worth/value. It is something we do not want to lose. It helps us.

It is a useful facility that all of us can use.

Examples of public assets include:

• water sources

• market places

• courts

• schools.

Lake Kivu is both an important place and a public asset. This water body gives us fish

and water. It is a place where we can go to enjoy ourselves. It is also a place that tourists

visit.

Exercise

Answer these questions.

1. What is a public asset?

2. What is the difference between a public and private asset?

3. What are the main public assets in your district?

4. Why are each of these assets important?

5. Think about how your district would be if there were no public assets.

Would you like to live in such a place? Give reasons for your answers.

Lake Kivu is both an important place and a public asset. This water body gives us fish

and water. It is a place where we can go to enjoy ourselves. It is also a place that tourists visit.

Exercise

Answer these questions.

   1. What is a public asset?

   2. What is the difference between a public and private asset?

   3. What are the main public assets in your district?

   4. Why are each of these assets important?

   5. Think about how your district would be if there were no public assets.

         Would you like to live in such a place? Give reasons for your answers.

6.4 Preserve and protect public assets

We all have to care for and look after our public assets. We must respect our public assets. We should look after them just like we look after our own homes. 

We harm public assets if we waste water so that we do not have enough to use. We need to protect the surrounding of our police stations. If we do not, the police will not be able to do their work and protect us from criminals. We must care for our hospitals. If we do not, we will have nowhere to go for treatment when we are sick. We have to protect our market places. If we do not, we will have no place to sell and buy goods. Also the area will not look nice and people will not want to go there. We can preserve our public assets if we keep them clean and not litter; never break or harm things; don’t write on trees or walls and mend things if they are broken.

Activity

1. Make a drawing to show how you would look after a public asset.

2. Explain your drawing to the class.

         Learners cleaning up a market place

Write four sentences to explain why it is important to preserve our public assets.

6.5 Visits and outings

You will go on two class visits. Carefully read what you need to do.

Visit 1

• Go to a nearby important place.
•  See what you can learn from this place.
•  Divide into small groups once you are there. Each group must clean a different area at the important place.
•  Help to preserve the place by cleaning the area.

When you are back in class:

   1. Explain why the place you visited is important.

   2. Make a list of things you learnt about the place.

   3. Explain what you did to clean the area.

   4. Say why we must preserve important places.

Visit 2

• Go on an outing to the public assets near your school.

• Look carefully at what you see.

This class is going on a visit to a public asset

When you are back in class:

1. Make a summary of what you saw.

2. Then answer these questions: 

              a) Were there any problems?

             b) What were the problems?

            c) Why are these assets important?

            d) How can we look after the assets?

Self-assessment

Make sure that you are able to do the following.

1. Make a list of the important places in your district.

2. Make a list of the public assets in your district.

3. Explain why you say these are important places. 

4. Explain why you say these are public assets.

5. Describe how you can preserve and protect our important places and public assets.