Virungas and Visions

Plan Canada donors enjoy traditional Rwandan dance from a children's group near Ruhengeri at the foothills of the Virunga Mtns. These mountains are where the rebel army (under current President Paul Kagame's leadership) gathered and prepared for their charge to power, which drew an end to the genocide. As we drove northwest to this magical, misty range, we learned about the country's ambitious plan for development - Vision 2020. President Kagame is a visionary leader, inspiring so many with feelings of hope and progress. Exciting times in Rwanda!

We visit the school

The community of Murambi welcomed a group of Plan donors today. Children sang and danced in celebration of the new school (Groupe Scolaire Murambi) the donors collectively funded. Murambi's Mayor told the group, "Your gift of education to these children will be repaid. In Rwanda we have a tradition that when you give a gift of a cow, you receive a gift of its first offspring back in return. If education were cattle, these children would one day fly many planes filled with cows to you in Canada. Because cows don't fly, instead these students will repay your kindness with hard work and progress. You are looking at the future of Rwanda, and they will make good things happen around the world bc of this opportunity. Thank you."

One of the donors said that the few hours we spent visiting the school they helped make possible, and meeting the children who will benefit, made the 2-day journey over here entirely worth it.

A fantastic day, which I'll write about soon. We're off to the west of Rwanda today, driving to the Virunga Mountains.

The school gets underway!

Exciting news from Rwanda...ground has been broken and the school construction has begun! Some photographs, taken mid-summer, are below.

A classroom block with just the foundation laid, walls are next.

The school will be built in three 4-classroom blocks, here is one block underway.














This is where the school latrines will be built.














Another view of the mid-construction classroom block.














Children's input is always encouraged and incorporated into Plan's work. Here some children map out how they envision their new school.

Plan Rwanda - an overview

Plan has been operating in Rwanda since January 2007, helping children to access their full rights to health, quality education and a sustainable future.

Rwanda’s children face great challenges as a result of poverty and historical circumstances such as the 1994 genocide, HIV and AIDS. Many children die from treatable and preventable diseases.

Plan currently works with 2,500 sponsored children, their families and communities in the Gatsibo district. We aim to open 4 more programme units within the next 5 years.

Plan’s core areas of activity include:
-girls’ education
-early childhood care and development
-youth empowerment

Background - what's this trip all about?

Hosted by Plan Canada, a select group of Canadian donors will visit a school construction project in Rwanda this September. Donors received a special invitation to join this exclusive trip when they made a significant contribution to help fund the education project.

This blog will chronicle our group's philanthropic journey halfway around the world: where they will meet with the local Plan staff who put their donation to excellent use; speak with the students who will benefit from the school they helped to build; and see, first-hand, how their support to Plan will positively change lives for generations to come.

We’ll visit with Plan communities to celebrate partnership, promise and hope, and meet with people who are leading lasting change for a better future. In addition to better understanding what it takes to build a school and improve education, we'll also learn how Plan Rwanda implements health, livelihood/micro-finance and child rights programs.

Along the way, the group will participate in one of the world’s best wildlife adventures – a private viewing of Rwanda’s mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. With only two populations (about 800 individuals) left in the world, a face to face meeting with these magical and majestic creatures is something very few people will experience and will no doubt be a personal highlight.

Stay tuned - we hope you will follow our adventure!

P.S. Big thanks to Uniglobe Geo Travel for all their work! Uniglobe has been a key partner of Plan's for more than 10 years, and in addition to sponsoring many children and funding education projects in West Africa, Uniglobe has generously comped Plan's land costs for this exciting trip. Thanks, Uniglobe!