Rwanda Radio Project for Orphans

Meet 18-year-old Jonathan, who has been the head of his household since his parents passed away when he was 11.  Since then Jonathan has had to shoulder responsibilities that no child should have to bear. He looks after four younger siblings, who are all now in school.  He has been known to Lifeline Energy since 2004 when he first received one of our radios.  Since the previous one had worn out and he's demonstrated community and family leadership, we wanted to provide him with a Prime. Jonathan has always been generous about inviting neighbours to listen.  There are about 20 neighbour children, mostly orphans, who are in his listening 'club'.  They especially enjoy two radio dramas, Urunana - which deals with health issues - and Musekeweya - which is themed around peace and reconciliation. In addition, they like to discuss news and current events.

Jonathan will be graduating from secondary school next year and wants to become a doctor.  He says: "So many people have helped me and I want to be able to help others. The light in my new radio will help me stay up late to study for exams."

Lifeline Energy has distributed more than 16,000 Prime and earlier model solar and wind-up radios in Rwanda. We have reached an estimated 300,000 listeners living in child and widow-headed households.