Meet Jeanne d’Arc
In 2016 Jeanne d’Arc was teaching 9th-grade English at GS Gitabage, a remote school high in the hills of the Rulindo district. She had completed 12th grade and had government clearance to teach, but no post-secondary education. At Gitabage she earned $55/month, shared a rented room near the campus because it was too far to commute home every day, and visited her young family only on weekends. But she longed to complete a formal teacher education program, and in 2018 was awarded REE’s first “professional development” grant. That initial grant was followed by REE funding for three years, as she persevered through covid lockdowns, glitchy online classes, and having to switch colleges when her first one went out of business. In the fall of 2021 she triumphantly earned a B.A. from Kibogora Polytechnic, and by March 2022 had a new job teaching high school French and English in Kigali for $160/month— enough to put her own son into a much better school and start a new life for her family. .
Others dream of teaching degrees too…
JeanPaul is another young educator working in Rulindo. Since 2022 REE has funded his sports/music job at GS Rukingu, a large inclusive school which includes a boarding school for students with intellectual and physical disabilities. Paul teaches PE classes, traditional dance and choir, sitball, drumming, and yoga to students of all ages. He also coaches their high school basketball, soccer, and volleyball teams, and runs summer sports camps for village children. A REE grant has further enabled him to enroll in a bachelor’s degree program, which he began attending during 2024 summer and school holiday breaks. Thus he can keep teaching while he earns his B.A., and when he finishes will be qualified as a full-fledged primary/secondary language arts teacher.
Olivier also earns a monthly salary from REE, directing/accompanying ES Gasiza’s ever-expanding choir, teaching theory and ukulele classes, giving keyboard lessons, and basically assisting wherever needed on campus. He too is enrolled in a BA program funded by generous REE donors, and attends college classes during school breaks.
