Pathway to success: scholarships to needy students

During the last three months, we were able to provide eight full-ride high school scholarships to children from impoverished families in the Musha community. These students had participated in our Saturday tutoring program, where teachers conduct review sessions for ninth graders to prepare for national exams. In Rwanda, passing the national exam is a critical milestone in the educational journey since it determines the school you go to for grades 10 to 12. If students score high enough, they are allowed to enroll in boarding schools, which provide better learning conditions and more opportunities for tertiary education and employment.

The scholarship package includes year-long tutoring, full tuition, transportation to and from school, school supplies, and spending money. Below are sample short bios of our scholarship students:

1. Alice is a 16-year-old girl. She lives with her parents and three siblings in their two-roomed, unfinished house. Her parents work on the neighbors’ farms to feed the family. Alice’s young brother dropped out in sixth grade because the parents failed to pay for him. Alice passed the grade nine national examinations with a good score high enough to enable her to enroll at a school of excellence, but her family couldn't afford it. Thanks to a scholarship from REAP, she is majoring in language education at a teacher training college, which is a school of excellence.

2. Marie Ange is a 17-year-old girl. She lives with her two parents and four siblings. Her father is mentally disabled. Her mother takes care of the family alone. Her old brother dropped out in grade 10, while her old sister dropped out in grade 11, because the mother failed to pay for their school needs. Thanks to a scholarship from REAP, she is now in grade ten, studying building construction at a school of excellence.

3. Celestin is 15 years old. He lost both of his parents and lives alone in his house, which was built by the government as support after his older siblings left him to find employment in the capital city. He could eat only one meal per day at school. The teachers and the students contributed to buying him some school materials. Despite all the struggles, he studied hard enough to be the top student in his class. Thanks to a scholarship from REAP, he is now in grade 10, majoring in automobile technology at a school of excellence.

4. Claudine is an 18-year- old girl. She is living with her stepsister, one step niece and one step nephew. Her mother married a man who had another daughter from another marriage. After birth, Claudine lived with her mother, stepfather, and stepsister. Later, the stepfather died, leaving Cladine with her mother and the stepsister. Later, Claudine’s mother left the house, after she had conflicts with her stepsister who had already had two children in the same house as a single mother. That is how Claudine found herself living with her stepsister and her two children in very difficult conditions. She hardly got food to eat, teachers and neighbors contributed to give her some school materials. Despite the difficult conditions, Claudine managed to continue her studies, passed the grade nine national examination, and enrolled at a school of excellence thanks to a REAP scholarship. She is now in grade ten doing Food and Beverage operations.