Since the 1994 genocide which tore it apart, tiny landlocked Rwanda has been working to rebuild itself socially and economically. It has earned a reputation as a good place to try out international development initiatives. But though its densely-packed capital city, Kigali, is modernizing, the rest of Rwanda changes much more slowly.
83% of Rwandans live in rural areas, from the northern hills to the eastern savannah.
Most are still subsistence farmers, cultivating plots of an acre or less. Many still struggle with issues of sanitation, clean water, and nutrition— problems which covid, global inflation, and climate change have exacerbated.
Rwanda’s GNI (gross national income) was $930 USD yearly as of 2022 (according to the World Bank). It still ranks among the 20 least developed countries in the world.
With the rest of the developing world, Rwanda needs many things, and as its government insists, excellent education is at the top of the list. Half of its citizens are under 20 years old— a youthful population teeming with intellectual promise, athleticism, artistic talent, technological savvy, and ingenuity. So many of them work continually to help themselves and their country move forward, and our mission is to support those efforts. Thus we collaborate with educators, students, and community leaders to address school and personnel needs they consider very difficult or impossible to meet without outside support. We also work to strengthen the wider communities around each school, funding projects such as more accessible health care and small family businesses.
