Rwanda Action Visit Update

King’s House has proudly supported the charity Rwanda Action since 2008. The charity was set up to support education and training, provide enterprise and farming opportunities and support the care and inclusion of children with disabilities in their home, school, community and workplace. Their work is focused on the western province of Rwanda on the border of the DRC, and works closely with local communities and authorities.

For many years, small teams of staff have visited to see the projects, get involved and support them. They have worked with teacher training programmes, painted walls, and enjoyed sports and games with many children! King’s House families have raised funds over the years to build classrooms, connect electricity and provide a hard surfaced playground at our namesake school, King’s House Cyato. We are looking forward to organising more fundraising events in 2025.

Mrs O’Brien is now a Trustee, and over the October half-term visited many of the projects and supported safeguarding training with the Rwanda Action Managers and staff out there, and said:

“It was wonderful to be back and incredibly exciting to see the progress that had been made since my last visit. As we continue to support the charity, I just wanted to share a quick update with you as so many of you have been asking how the trip went.”

Read more about her trip below, and we are looking forward to fundraising for the charity in 2025!

Education Projects

Rwanda Action has, from the very beginning, supported education; over 90% of children in Rwanda are registered in nine basic years of schooling, but there is a high dropout rate, especially as the children get older. The charity supports a school-based mentor programme, whereby lead teachers support teachers’ development, introducing child-centred learning, differentiation and assessment.

The most incredible development is the inclusion of children with disabilities into schools, with each cell having its own SNECO. It was wonderful to see the children learning life skills, such as washing their shoes alongside the more formal subjects.

Mrs O’Brien visited a school that had transformed their bookstore into a space where children could come and work with hands on learning toys; she was told “disability is not an inability” and it was heartwarming to see the great strides that have been made in inclusion.

A King's House t-shirt being worn at Saturday Club, which runs for children the charity supports to enable them to attend school.

'The King's House' dormitory at The Alivera Centre for children with disabilities

Enterprise Projects

The Alivera Centre provides accommodation for young people with disabilities and the opportunity for work experience. Up and running was an IT services shop, hairdressers, café, shoe making, café, and sewing and knitting workshops.

In the more remote villages, Rwanda Action supports enterprise projects, building communities and Lead Teachers in schools. For example, a sewing cooperative had grown and purchased another second-hand sewing machine, enabling more young mothers to earn a small income. If a family is given a goat, they are trained in goat husbandry and Mrs O’Brien saw plenty of healthy goats and kids, providing families with a small income and milk!

She also had the opportunity to visit a tree nursery; these have proved invaluable not only for the environment, preventing erosion and enriching the soil, but to provide fruit, timber, firewood and fodder. Rwanda Action have supported 140 tree nurseries and given over 3 million tree seedlings to more than 24,000 beneficiaries.