Education in the service of peace and reconciliation
Since 2001, Project Rwanda has been active in Kibaya School, located a hundred kilometers from the capital Kigali in the eastern district of Kibungo. When the Association started its projects in Kibaya, the school was in complete disrepair: it did not shelter children from the rain, students during classes sat on the ground or on stones, there were no blackboards or adequate teaching materials. School dropout rates were very high, and most school-age children stayed at home doing what they could to put together a meal.
Over time, major upgrades have been made to the school facility that have helped make the school one of the busiest in the area. In particular, 12 classrooms have been built, desks, chairs, blackboards and educational materials purchased for all the children.
Since 2009, the Association has activated a school canteen service by building a dining hall and a kitchen equipped for meal preparation. Every day professional cooks prepare for the approximately 1,400 children in kindergarten and elementary and secondary schools a meal based mainly on the products that the land offers: corn, bananas, beans, and potatoes. The canteen offers concrete help to families, alleviates the domestic work of individual mothers and encourages them to send their children to school, thus combating school dropout and making a direct contribution to the fight against illiteracy still widespread in rural areas – malnutrition and undernourishment.
A meal for each child costs €3.50 per month.