By Jennie Norman | Board Chair
With the COVID pandemic continuing throughout the world and new variants appearing, Rwanda continues to struggle along with so many other countries, lesser developed countries being hit especially hard. Our dyers are still unable to dye as we are unable to get fabric to them; our taxi entrepreneur and law clerk are unable to work due to ongoing pandemic related lockdowns.
There are a couple of bright spots in the gloom, however. All the children whose schooling we support are now back in school, and we have paid all their fees. Unfortunately, the schools all raised the fees due to Covid issues, we understand increases are for cleaning and safety supplies. Without your generous support our families would be unable to cover the increased fees and the kids would be out of school.
The other good news is that we have provided a modest loan for one of our families to begin building their own home after ongoing challenges associated with their rental home. They are excited, and we are, too.
Our founder, Nancy, is still hoping for an opportunity to visit Rwanda this spring after having last year's visit cancelled due to the pandemic. If it is safe for her to travel, she would be able to bring the needed fabric to the dyers so they can produce more wraps and scarves for us to sell on their behalf, restoring desperately need income. Of course, with the slow rollout of vaccines and uncertainty about border restrictions, it is unknown whether her trip will be possible.
Because of the ongoing challenges our families continue to face, we are continuing to increase our project goal over time. We started this effort on GlobalGiving in September of 2018, so our cumulative monies raised have covered nearly 2 1/2 years of support for education, entrepreneurship and skills building so that our families can have a fighting chance of becoming self-reliant. We are committed, with your ongoing support, to continue our efforts to provide not a hand-out, but a hand up, to these humble yet proud people who have suffered so much.
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