Muraho! (Hello!) Amakuru? (How are you?)
HUMAN IN LOVE Rwanda Branch is very busy this year. Late last year, the branch was registered as INGO, International Non-Governmental Organization, and since then we have many programs that are on its way.
First, I would like to introduce our scholarship program.
HUMAN IN LOVE offers scholarship program in various countries to support students who need financial support. Also, the scholarship program is the first project for the Rwanda branch.
To effective identify scholarship recipients, the branch collaborated with the local public officials of education department and others to revise application and recommendation letter format of HUMAN IN LOVE.
As a result, the application had additional questions about the applicant’s family condition (status, parentless, single parent, returnees and etc.), Ubudehe (the income class of Rwandan Government), health condition (status/disabilities) and more.
[ Regional leaders and principals of schools discussing about the selection of scholarship program ]
Also, we had discussions about which school students will be eligible to apply for the scholarship, and who will be eligible to recommend students selected by regional leaders and principals of schools. We excluded students from private school since they are relatively well off.
The revised applications were distributed to schools and one month later, about 120 applicants submitted their application to us. Among the applicants, Sector identified 60 applicants and we visited their home.
[ Travel to MAZANE by boat ]
I remember the island called MAZANE Cell the most.
We traveled by a small boat to the island. Yellow flowers were full bloom but the people’s lives were devastating.
[ MAZANE Cell Village ]
Among total population of 950, whopping 83% fell into Ubudehe Class 1 and 2 (Closer to 1 means poorer) and the people had no access to clean water and electricity. They had to use dirty river water for their daily lives.
[ The Branch staff, NSABIMANA Alphonse (Left), is filling out the survey form at the applicant’s house. ]
Rwanda’s school system has 3 semesters per year. Students have to pay tuition every semester but the amount of tuition varies from school to school. We’ve collected tuition bills of the recipients and will wire the money to school account on April 28th which is the first day of school for second semester. Some of the recipients were unable to attend school during first semester since they could not afford the tuition. Currently, we are finding ways to give additional support to these students. In addition, we are looking for ways to support school supplies, uniforms and etc.
The final 30 students will receive scholarship for one year.
After visiting all 60 applicants’ homes, we organized all the data and had 2-step identification process and selected those who have strong desire for achievements, kept good grades and need financial help the most. Lastly, we had discussions with leaders of the region and principals of schools to identify the recipients.
Also, I want to tell you about our new staff on the field.
[ NSABIMANA Alphonse joined HUMAN IN LOVE as a staff of Rwanda branch. ]
It’s been 1 year since I returned to Rwanda. Until now, I had to bear a lot of work load all by myself which made me tired but at the same time very proud. Now, I have someone to work with and I am glad that we are moving forward. We will work harder and enjoy what we are doing.
NSABIMANA Alphonse graduated from National University of Rwanda which is one of the best university of Rwanda. After three months of training period, NSABIMANA is on the field visiting applicants’ homes and collecting data. He is doing a fantastic job. He worked for Rwandan Government in the past as a staff in Monitoring and Evaluation. We are sure he will contribute a lot to HUMAN IN LOVE.
