Rwanda Children of Hope Project
**Help us build a new house for the boys**
Quest4Change works with Ubaka U Rwanda to turn around the lives of Rwandan children and young people who are living on the streets.
The newest addition to the projects Quest4Change supports, we are working with Ubaka U Rwanda to provide a home for children in Kigali, Rwanda who have been orphaned or neglected. Together we are striving to help them build up a brighter future away from the street.
What's the problem?
In 1994 an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered in the space of a hundred days. What befell the country over 16 years ago virtually impossible to comprehend, and though the weapons have been laid down and victims laid to rest, the impact of the Genocide is sadly still evident.
Rwanda lost approximately a tenth of its population in the Genocide, resulting in many children being orphaned. A large number of children have also been born in prison or abandoned as unwanted offspring of a rape: they have been left to fend for themselves and have no one. In 2003, an ex-street child named Evode Usabyamahoro started an initiative to help boys living on the street. Through local donations he was able to rent a small house in Kigali, where the 30 boys now live.
How Quest4Change helps
Quest4Change works with Ubaka U Rwanda to fulfill a number of Millennium Development Goal targets, in particular:
1c "to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015",
2a "to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling".
4a "reduce the under-five mortality rate"
7c "to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation"
We are working with Ubaka U Rwanda to help the 30 boys who live at the home, as well as helping them to provide education and medical care for about 20 more youths whose parents are unable to support them.
Currently we are working to support the home financially, but are planning to also send volunteers over from 2012 onwards, who will work on some construction of the home, as well as spending precious time with the boys. Find out more about volunteering here.
The latest situation:
4 small rooms with inadequate toilet facilities and crowded living conditions are better than no home at all but the boys deserve much more, and providing this is our focus for Ubaka at the moment. In particular, we are raising the funds to purchase a plot of land to allow for the building of an adequately sized new home, as well as land to be farmed in order to produce food and income for the home, ultimately making it self-sustaining.
To purchase the land and build the new house, we are fundraising £20,000 - please help us reach this target!
How you can help
- Volunteer on our Summer Construction Project in Rwanda
- Be a Secret Millionaire for this project, don't worry; you don't have to be an actual millionaire to help out!
Just £25 a month will sponsor a young man through intensive night school and enable him to finish his primary education.
You will receive a personalised gift card thanking you for your support and regular e-mails throughout the year letting you know what is being achieved with your help. If it's a gift for someone then this can be personalised and sent directly to the recipient.
OR CHECK OUT THESE OTHER WAYS TO HELP...
