Greetings to HUMAN IN LOVE family! I’m Seong, Hae-shin who is working in Burundi and Rwanda. It is winter in Korea, but Burundi and Rwanda are in the middle of summer. A lot of events happened for the past one month. In particular, we visited a primary school in Mazane Island which is located in Rweru Sector of Bugesera District this month to deliver school uniforms.
[ The dock for boats heading to Mazane Island ]
It takes an hour from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda and another 40 minutes from Nyamata, Bugesera’s main city, to head to Mazane Island. After driving down an unpaved road for 40 minutes, we reach Rweru Sector which is our project area. Another 20 minutes is needed to reach a small lake at the end of Rweru Sector. There, we have to take a boat for about 30 minutes to finally reach Mazane Island.
[ Scenary of Mazane Island ]
Three villages are located in Mazane Island, and some 280 students attend the primary school in the island. The primary school is the only school in the Island, so most of the students go to inland boarding schools to move on to middle and high schools.
[ Children we met in a village of the island ]
Therefore, upper school students come back to their home in the island only in December when they have a long break once a year. Residents of the island say that it is uneasy for the students to come home like other students not only because they have to come a long way by bus and boat but also because of financial reasons.
[ Mazane Primary School ]
There are only two boats that come in and out of Mazane Island in a day, so students have to book the tickets in advance and be on time to get on the boats. As an island, Mazane Island is very different from inland Rwanda. No matter how rural they are, only few areas of inland Rwanda cannot enjoy the benefits of electricity and water supply – even though the well-prepared utility poles and water facilities of most of the areas do not work for about 10 hours a day – but Mazane Island is faced with poor supply of water including drinking water, let alone electricity, causing great inconvenience to the residents.
[ Meeting with Mazane Primary School students ]
We checked the size and number of necessary school uniforms and met the students who did not have school uniforms. Many of them wore clothes with similar colors to the uniforms. The children and their parents were so happy when they heard that HUMAN IN LOVE is planning to provide school uniforms for them.
In fact, much more support is needed for Mazane Primary School. Students have to study in darkness after school since there is no electricity, and their eye sight and health may be threatened since they have to use and drink the contaminated lake water. We hope infrastructure for electricity and water supply can be established on the Island as soon as possible so that students of Mazane Island can live and study in a better environment.
[ Mazane Island residents saying goodbye ]
On Jan. 2016, we are planning to visit the island to deliver the school uniforms we prepared on the opening day of school year. We will deliver the delighted faces of the students once again.
Dear HUMAN IN LOVE family! Thank you always!
