Staff & equip an Early Childhood Development (ECD) Center serving 250 of the most vulnerable children in rural Gashora, Rwanda. We recently constructed a new ECD Center and now need to equip & staff it. We also plan to provide two meals per day to our students who suffer from severe future shortages. The Center will focus on child cognitive development and on reducing the high rates of child malnutrition, abuse and stunted growth in the community, creating infinite possibilities for children.
Many children in Rwanda became orphans, homeless and traumatized as the result of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people. The effects of this genocide are still experienced today with 28% of households led by widowed mothers. Poverty and extreme poverty rates are high in Rwanda (45% and 24%, respectively). The poverty rates in Gashora Village are even higher. Only 6% of Gashora children attend early childhood development schools. As a result, there is a high level of child violence.
Today, Journey House Actions Rwanda impacts directly more than 345 children and women and more than 1,240 indirectly through our education, health, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and feeding programs. We serve more than 120 children in our existing Early Childhood Development Center in Gashora. With the help of our donors, we plan to construct another Early Childhood Development Center that will provide a safe, fun and productive space to educate and serve 250 children.
Children are the key to the future success of Rwanda. According to UNICEF, it is important for children to develop and learn in a healthy and normal environment. The programs we offer through our Early Childhood Development centers and our other programs will help our children, their mothers and the care givers employed at our centers to meet these basic and developmental needs resulting in the opportunity for our children and their families to live self-reliant, sustainable and full lives.
