Helping Rwandan Children out of Poverty

We were delighted to be able to host the children’s Christmas party, suitably socially distanced, after the absence last year. A great time was had by all, and we are grateful to Wellars for organising everything for us.

We had hoped to be able to visit our projects in Bugarama again at long last at the end of November. However, although travel was possible again, the number of PCR tests required on arrival and departure made us reconsider.

Nevertheless, our two projects for 2021 at Nyakagoma and Mihabura have been completed and thanks goes to Djuma, our local project manager, for successfully guiding both projects.

At Nyakagoma a block of three new classrooms a new toilet have been built. This classroom block is phase one of the project and is ready to take a second floor. Economy of space is important in Rwanda which is a heavily populated country and good fields are precious. The school continues to expand. Five years ago, there was just a small nursery based in a decrepit old barn. There is now a fully functioning primary school and they are about to start taking secondary pupils once phase 2 is complete.

Our second project was at Mihabura primary school where we have helped the school to complete a security wall around the whole school.

Our next steps are to commission an independent impact assessment of the work we have carried out over the past three years. This is at the request of Jersey Overseas Aid who have been our generous sponsors, granting us £278,000 over the period. We are confident that we have a great story to tell and our partnership with the schools in Rusizi District continues to flourish.