Helping Rwandan Children out of Poverty

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.

It is wonderful to be able to report that through the support of HATW's Chris Halsey Tribute Fund we have now been able to provide Sylvestre in Rwanda with a leg prosthesis. This young man works as a shoe repairer, and it has long been his dream to wear a pair of shoes of his own!

Reports from the School are that the children are delighted with the new windows and doors in the "old" classrooms as they are a lot lighter and cooler making reading books and writing a lot easier for them. Plans are being made to complete the remaining classrooms this year, including laying some concrete floors.

The nursery is running smoothly now, with around 27 infants receiving porridge and lunch (mainly beans and rice). The aim is to get this project self supporting.

The long drop toilets (or rather the lack of them) are becoming an ever increasing problem. There are only eight operational for the 1400 children, obviously totally inadequate to say the least. There are others that are unusable due to the soak away pit being full and no means of emptying them. Lack of funds makes it very hard to improve this situation. This is also the case with fresh water tanks; although some were purchased last year they have not been connected to the guttering to catch rain water that goes to waste.

On our next visit later this year we very much hope to take along a TEFL teacher or two, to help with spoken English language. This proved to be a great success previously and we are constantly being asked when they (teachers) will return. A library is also being set up to give the children some reading books; they have none at the moment.

It has been four years now since this project started and we have seen vast inprovement at the school. Sometimes it's slow and there are disapointments along the way, but we do get appreciated by the children and the local people who work with us when we visit.

All the volunteers continue to pay ther own expences, but funds are still needed for materials and to employ the local labourer who are so willing to help.

If you have in the past made any donation to this project we thank you! Your continued support is always needed and much appreciated...