Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As most of my close friends and family know, I currently work for a UK International Non-Governmental Organisation called 'Chance for Childhood' (CfC). CfC is an award-winning charity working in Africa to support the most vulnerable children, such as street children, children with disabilities, children affected by conflict and kids behind bars. Our vision is of a world where no child is forgotten! 

Over the last two years, I have been working and living full-time in Rwanda establishing our regional office, developing and managing our inclusive education programmes, as well as managing the construction of a new deaf school in north western Rwanda in a district called Nyabihu. (For the curious, there are 30 districts in Rwanda)

In 2016, we took on the project to construct a new school for deaf children studying at the Nyabihu Deaf School. The Government of Rwanda had plans to widen one of the main roads where the old school was situated. In a rented and dilapidated building, the school was destined to be demolished and children were at risk of leaving school with no other deaf schools to go to. There are only 7 deaf schools in Rwanda to begin with!

The Director of the Deaf School donated his land towards this project and with the generous support from donors across the UK, Team Abana, Think Money Group, as well as the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission and Stephen Waldron Architects we successfully constructed a new deaf school a few blocks from the old one.

A total of 140 deaf children will be enrolled in 2019 and they will be taught by 12 Sign Language Teachers. The majority of deaf children from Primary 3 (aka, grade 3) and beyond are studying in nearby mainstream schools where the teachers have been trained by our project on using inclusive teaching methodologies and some teachers have even been trained in Rwandan Sign Language! The rest of the children attend Primary 1 and 2 classes at the Deaf School, where they learn basic Rwandan Sign Language and catch up in their school work in order to also join their peers in mainstream schools. The Nyabihu Deaf School is a residential school as there are only 7 deaf schools across Rwanda so many children must come from districts and villages that are quite far.

A new building is a good start and foundation for the level of impact we anticipate in the coming years. There are still many unmet needs at the school. I am therefore seeking donations to support the running of the school. There is currently a funding gap of approximately 40,000 CAD.

Your generous donations will support things such as:

• Food for children and staff
• Teaching and learning materials
• Repair of school furniture
• Utilities at the school (i.e. water, electricity, internet)
• Engagement with parents (i.e. PTA meetings, sign language training for parents so they can also communicate with their children during school holidays, child protection training)
• School businesses so the school can generate an income to support future running costs

I have personally witnessed the importance of education for children, especially deaf children. Education not only enables them to advance through life but also promotes their inclusion in the society, and builds their character and confidence.

I will provide monthly updates on this page so you can also track the impact you are creating.

Thank you so much for visiting my JustGiving page and making it all the way to the bottom of this lengthy section! Any amount will be incredibly beneficial to the school and the children. Murakoze (thank you)!