[ The road to Rweru ]
If you drive 1 hour and 30 minutes eastward from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, you arrive at Rweru, where HUMAN IN LOVE is carrying out a scholarship program. Rweru, one of the poorest regions in Rwanda, adjoins the Republic of Burundi and is also close to Tanzania.
It is also home to many returnees who came back after crossing borders to evade Rwandan genocide. Most of the returnees are currently living in houses provided by UN or NGOs. In many cases, the parents have returned to Burundi or Tanzania to make a living, while the children remain in Rwanda with guiders (godfather/godmother).
HUMAN IN LOVE Scholarship Program in Rweru, Rwanda
[ Scholarship award ceremony on April 3, 2014 ]
Since the decision to carry out a scholarship program for students who could not continue their studies due to financial difficulties, HUMAN IN LOVE has selected scholarship students in March and began delivering scholarship since April. (Refer to the previous issues for more.)
HUMAN IN LOVE provides scholarship as well as school supplies to the selected students until they graduate high school, so that they may continue their studies in a stable environment, achieve their goals, and contribute to the development of local communities through strengthened capabilities.
Meeting with the Students & Delivering School Supplies for the New Semester
[ On August 8, HUMAN IN LOVE met the scholarship students to deliver school supplies. ]
In Rwanda, contrary to Korea, the academic year is divided in 3 semesters. On April, the scholarship for the first and second semester was presented, and in August, the scholarship for the third semester was delivered. With a new semester ahead, I had an opportunity to meet the scholarship students, give them school supplies, and discuss how they were doing. Although it was not the first time, everyone seemed quite shy and awkward to see me. I am planning to have as much conversations with them as possible in the future, so we can become more familiar with each other. (This is actually what I do best!)
Some students told me about how studying was not easy because of poor eye sight. Due to insufficient power supply, many students in Rweru were suffering from poor eye sight. The vision of the student I talked to that day, in fact, was around +0.1~0.2.
Meanwhile, there is one thing unique about schools in Rwanda compared to schools in Korea.
In Rwandan schools, it is not hard to find elder students. People often have to halt studies because they cannot afford the tuition, so there are many people who return to middle school, for example, at the age of 20. The eldest student I saw was 42 years old.
[ With Samson, the eldest scholarship student ]
The eldest scholarship recipient in Rwanda is Samson, who turned 28 this year and is studying in the 5th grade of middle school. Samson, who is an orphan, is currently living with the guider (godfather)’s family. In the guider’s family are a total of 17 people including guider. Unfortunately, they have been going through financial difficulties since the guider was put in jail.
School would have been out of reach for him, but thanks to his passion for studying, he was selected as one of the students of the scholarship and became able to continue his studies. Of course, he still has to work to make ends meet after class or during vacations.
Enthusiastic Students
[ HUMAN IN LOVE scholarship students with the school supplies ]
The students seemed very enthusiastic, probably because now they can continue studies that thought they had to forgo. Some students hoped to have supplementary lessons or some time to make up for what they lack at school during the 2 month vacation at the end of the year.
It was not something I could decide immediately, so I promised to see what would be the best, and the meeting was concluded.
