Rwanda Aid - helping to meet spiritual, physical and intellectual needs of people in East Africa

Rebuild Rwanda

Rwanda Aid has been focussing on one of the poorest and most neglected provinces of the country, Cyangugu. Along with other charities, Rwanda Aid works with the Anglican Diocese to help the people here to rebuild their future. Projects aim to encourage community co-operation and be self-sustaining in the long term.

Projects Include:

Direct help to those who are especially disadvantaged, including AIDS patients, widows and orphans. A sewing machine can give a person the wherewithal to make a living, and the gift of a pig or goat also offers long-term and worthwhile help. Providing medication and building new houses has a huge impact on the lives of individuals.

Education

• Four primary schools have been built. One in the town of Kamembe and three in more remote villages. The Diocese plans to build a further six village primary schools in the next three years.

See Project News for details of progress towards this aim.

• A secondary school has also been built in Kamembe. This trains young girls, many of them orphans from the genocide, in accountancy and secretarial skills.

Read the Daily Telegraph article about Jill Barham Secondary School in Kamembe..

• A number of the schools incorporate sponsorship schemes to enable some of the poorest children to receive an education.

A demonstration farm has been established at Murangi, near Kamembe Town, to promote sustainable organic practice in livestock care, soil improvement, crop production and care of the environment. There are plans to create a training centre at the farm in 2007 so that young people can spend time there and take the skills learned back to their villages. This project is working in partnership with the charity 'Send a Cow', to enable the trained farmers to receive livestock for their farms.

A Medical Dispensary has been built in Kamembe. This offers sensitive care to those suffering from cholera, malaria and typhoid. This is also the centre for the Diocesan AIDS project, which reaches out to five villages. There are plans to expand the clinic, to provide the only dental and ophthalmic care in the region, as well as to extend the AIDS programme.

The Peace Guest House has been constructed in Kamembe, with stunning views over Lake Kivu. The Guest House provides substantial local employment, encourages tourists to the area, provides accommodation for business, government and NGO visitors and generates sustained income for the Diocese and its work. See www.peaceguesthouse.org and then make a visit!