Support a school for 450 students in Burundi!

Dear all,

Thank you for your generous support and contributions to the International School project in Ruyugi, Burundi. This project, launched in 2009 by Maison Shalom, aims to provide disadvantaged children the opportunity to attend school and receive a better education in the province of Ruyugi, where the educational system suffers due to a lack of facilities. 

Recently, the donations Friends of Humanity has received has faciliated the International School in the development and outfitting of 9 new classrooms, equipped with adquate learning tools such as bench desks, books and computers. These materials are essential to accomodate the new students the school has received in 2013 as enrollment has reached 241 from the 185 initial students! This is a major step towards its goal of educating 450 students by 2016. 

Your kind donations have also contributed to the construction of recreation facilities, including a playground, a basketball court and a voleyball court. With your support, the International School has been able to improve and expand its functions, while providing an affordable primary education that aims to lead the region to sustainable development.

Thank you again, and we look forward to your continued support!

Friends of Humanity

Education system in Burundi

Despite the fact that Burundi ratified the UN Convention on the Right of the Child in 1990, the education system is still chaotic. Since 2005, primary school is free but the conditions are still inadequate for the students. Nowadays, only 56% of the children finish primary school and less than 10% finish secondary school (source: UNESCO).

In Burundi the relevant issues in the education system are :

• Small income for teachers that discourage them
• Unsuitable and insufficient didactical material more precisely in rural areas
• Overcrowded class rooms (up to 200 hundreds students per class-rooms with only 50 desks)
• Lack of recreations facilities for more than 50% of the school.

In the province of Ruyigi, the situation is even worse. In the city of Ruyigi, there is only one pre-school with 100 children per class-rooms. Consequently, the success rate is very low in national exams. Moreover, qualified persons are difficult to find in that region, which does not contribute to a better situation for development. Some parents prefer to work for a lower income in urban areas so that their children can access to a better education.

In that bad education and development context, the International School project born.

Project description

In 2005, as part of its commitment to socio-educational development, the Maison Shalom founded a community day care centre for orphans and children of Ruyigi ages 1 to 5. A majority of orphans were reintegrated into their communities of origins, which left the day care centre almost empty.

Inspired by Maggy and the Maison Shalom, and concerned about the quality of education in post-conflict Ruyigi, a group of parents proposed the launch of an international school on the premises of the day care centre to provide more children with the opportunity to attend school. With the support of the Maison Shalom, the school opened its doors in 2009. The International School places social justice at the heart of its teachings.

The School project aims at giving better conditions in terms of pedagogic material, IT, recreations facilities development. The idea is to provide better intellectual and recreations conditions for the students.

The objective of the project is to accept 450 students in 2016.

Project progress

In November 2013, according to our local partner Maison Shalom, 241 students are attending the school which represent 107 students in primary school and 134 students in pre-school. This means that since the beginning of 2013, 53 new students have joined the school.

With regards to the school staff there are now 9 teachers, 2 administrative workers, 1 pedagogical supervisor, 3 lookout men and 1 driver for the school bus. They all work to offer the children a better environment.

So that to allow other 209 children to have a better education (in order to reach the objective of 450 children attending the school by 2016), please feel free to support us through donations!

We thank you for all your contributions for the supported education projects in Burundi and in India with the Alice project (click here to find out more).

Friends of Humanity Team