Helping Rwandan Children out of Poverty

On November the 7th 2014, a team of three volunteers will return with me for a few weeks to Muko School in Bugarama. Once again we will be working with local people, doing painting, plastering, and laying cement floors.

One major aim this year is to install windows and doors to the oldest block of classrooms. At the moment these only have small holes in the walls for ventilation, and this (along with their tin roofs) makes these rooms not a very nice environment for children to study.

Rainwater catchment tanks that were purchased last year are still to be installed - it's such a shame to see all the water going to waste! These tanks will provide water for washing hands after using the long-drop toilets (more toilets and better hygiene are also priorities!).  

Teaching English vocabulary and grammar is much in demand and therefore high on our agenda this year. At least one (maybe two) of the team will be conducting classes for both teachers and students on a daily basis.  

Each volunteer has raised enough money to pay all their own expenses, but we do still need help in the way of donations to pay local labourers who work alongside us and also to purchase necessary building materials.

Donated monies are all accounted for very carefully on this very worthwhile project. If you have already donated in the past I thank you, but more is always welcomed and appreciated.

Please do help if you can!

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It doesn’t seem that long since we returned from Rwanda, but it is seven months since our last visit so it is time to start thinking about our return this year, probably at the end of October.

I have recently received news that for those children that are in secondary classes, and whose parents can afford the £10 per term, they are receiving a daily lunch which has got to be a huge boost for the School and students alike.

On this next visit, it is once again intended to take a small group of volunteers and along with the help of the usual very enthusiastic local labour force, we will continue with plastering and laying of cement floors in the old classrooms, we will also be painting in some of the newer ones that have good walls. There are still two very old rooms that need windows and doors to make them more inhabitable. Toilets are still of great importance, but it does seem to be very difficult to get this part of the project “off the ground”.

There are still not enough water storage tanks; it is very disappointing to see the rain water that goes to waste daily, even during our short visit.

Teaching English vocabulary is high on the agenda this year and it hoped that at least one of our volunteers will be trained in this skill.

All of the above costs money and although we try and encourage volunteers to pay (or earn) their own expenses we still need donations to help pay for the local labour and materials to carry on with this work

All the monies that are donated are accounted for on this very worthwhile cause. If you have already donated to this project in the past I thank you, but more is always welcomed and much appreciated.