Local volunteers and children
As of the month of July 2016 to date, Grace Rwanda/Ineza Foundation (GR/IF) has some news from Rwanda.
We hosted a Reading Camp from July 25 and 26th serving 100 children ranging from 3 years to 14years. We thank all international and local volunteers who made this event a success.
Thanks to Developing World Connections (Canada) for joining GR/IF team in Kigali from the 12th to 26th August. The DWC Team of 14 people from Canada and the USA spent 10 days designing and building a wire fence around a lot in the Gisozi area in Kigali, where GR/IF plans a Social Enterprise Project for its sustainable development platform. They also toured the Country of thousand Hills exploring Akagera, Gorillas and Nyungwe Parks, and other historical sites.
The DWC Team also visited the Tuzamurane Cooperative Carpentry Shop in Nyamirambo as part of GR/IF initiative to advocate for the Tuzamurane Cooperative members, who were rehabilitated from street lifestyle within the City of Kigali, and now are role model in their communities. These connections led to a fruitful ten days of training, knowledge transfer, and development outputs between the DWC, GRIF and Tuzamurane.
Within Rwanda, it is all about SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT #GOAL 17: “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”
Keep looking to our website for additional news about our Street Book Carnival events throughout the country in Rwanda during the month of September in collaboration with local government entities, and other partners such as Esperance Network, Save the Children, Publishers association, and others promoting a reading culture for children and youth.
DWC team and local volunteers
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Members of Coperative Tuzamurane with Grace Rwanda’s president Paul Johnson at the Bugesera library build.
With our recent move to Rwanda, we’re now making huge strides in fulfilling our goal of setting up community libraries in each of the country’s 21 major sectors. And we’re doing it in partnership with youth who need employment.
Last month we completed the installation of the Kimisagara community youth library. It’s stocked with books are we’re excited to formally launch it with a community and school celebration in partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Information and Communications Technology. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting event!
This month, we’ve been working on setting up our next library in Bugesera. We’ve completed the painting and are now working with youth who have graduated from the Iwawa Youth Rehabilitation Centre (a facility for former street youth where they learned trade skills) to build the shelves, tables and desks to furnish the new library.
These youth, who have formed a 35-member carpentry co-op called Coperative Tuzamurane with the help of a government grant, are doing incredible work, turning their lives around and becoming leaders in their community while earning a living. Some of these young men were former orphans, drug users or involved in petty crime. They are now fathers, peer mentors and entrepreneurs.
“Hearing their stories is very encouraging,” says Grace Rwanda co-founder Elizabeth Johnson. “They are now helping those who are still on the street encouraging them to join the cooperative and change for a better and bright future.”
To help support them, we hope to include their work in our next youth centre library in Iwawa and perhaps all of our upcoming libraries. In the meantime, we helped the young men in this coop celebrate their first anniversary of their business with a party and some cake. We donated some soccer balls and jerseys to the group in thanks.
It’s been a rewarding and inspiring few months in Rwanda, with lots to show for our efforts. Thank you again for all your support which is making our mission of literacy possible.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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Elizabeth Johnson shows some of the books donated to Rwandan librarians recently trained in Kigali.
Just a few months after arriving in Rwanda to focus more on local operations, Grace Rwanda’s leaders are already in the news.
Elizabeth Johnson was celebrated for her literacy promotion work with Grace Rwanda in a feature story in Rwanda’s The New Times newspaper the other day. The paper is the leading English-language daily in the country.
The piece, titled, “Empowering community-based librarians to serve,” focused on a recent workshop to train librarians held at Kigali Public Library. The librarians, brought in from all over the country, were trained in library management, cataloguing, book recording, and filing to improve their skills. The Rwandan government has made increasing literacy in the country a priority.
Grace Rwanda believes that educating librarians is a great step to empowering Rwandans to foster greater literacy among youth. To that end, our organization donated 150 dictionaries to the librarians to support their literacy efforts, and our efforts were noted in the article.
Here’s an excerpt of what else the news story had to say about us:
Elizabeth Mujawamariya-Johnson attended the workshop in her capacity as a member of the Rwandan diaspora working in international development. She recently returned with her husband from Canada for permanent stay in Rwanda.
While still in Canada, she had initiated an organization called Grace Rwanda Society based in Langley, British Columbia in Canada.
In 2014, she decided to create a sister organization that would act as a local NGO, hence the birth of Ineza Foundation.
“In January I moved to Rwanda full-time with my husband to kind of increase our capacity so we can open the office and be able to assemble an operational team here for Ineza Foundation so they can be the ones to implement all the projects for Grace Rwanda Society,” Mujawamariya-Johnson explained.
The foundation recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Youth and ICT to equip 21 community libraries across the country under their respective district youth centers.
The first two beneficiaries were; Muhanga Youth Center in Muhanga district, Southern Province, and Kayonza Youth Center in Kayonza district, Eastern Province, which were equipped with books, computers and e-readers.
Read more of the article on The New Times web site. And check back for more updates from the field as we continue to ramp up our youth literacy work in Rwanda.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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L to R: Paul Johnson, Vanathy Ravindran, K. R. “Ravi” Ravindran, Florianne Nibakure and Elizabeth Johnson.
Grace Rwanda has long been supported by the selfless volunteer work and the generous donations from local B.C. Rotary Clubs including the Rotary Club of Langley Sunrise and District 5050.
That’s why we were thrilled to meet with Rotary International leadership in March at an event in Rwanda.
Elizabeth and Paul met Rotary International President K. R. “Ravi” Ravindran and his wife Vanathy during one of their visits to the African nation. The couple were joined by representatives from the 10 central African countries of District 9150.
The Johnsons also met with the president of the Minneapolis University Rotary Club, Florianne Nibakure. She is also working in Rwanda, as the founder and executive director of the Nibakure Children’s Village in Rwanda.
Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeanette Kagame as well as Rwanda’s Minister of Education and Minister of Health also attended the celebration.
It was a very special moment and we were able to express our thanks for all the assistance that Rotarians have provided us over the years.
As part of the visit, the president toured a library funded by Rotary five years ago. It is the last one they have built on their own.
Grace Rwanda is proud to be taking up the cause in building our own youth centre libraries, with the next one in Kimisagara set to open this spring. Our libraries were made possible in part through the thousands of dollars donations and thousands of dictionaries supplied by our own dedicated Rotary partners in B.C. We extend you a heartfelt thank you.
We are happy to be joining so many other Rotarians in bringing literacy to Rwanda. Stay tuned for more updates on our work.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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We’re here! Grace Rwanda’s co-founder Elizabeth Johnson and President Paul Johnson arrived in Rwanda earlier this year to begin to set up our in-country headquarters for our growing charity.
It’s an exciting time for the organization. After some challenges, Grace Rwanda has secured our shipping container full of books and library supplies and we’re gearing up to open our next youth centre library in Kimisagara at the end of March.
Grace Rwanda is also setting up a brand new office near the capital, on the site of what will hopefully become the home of sister organization the social enterprise Ineza Foundation in future. Already, the team has been liaising with local governments, community organizations and Canadian government representatives on the ground, strengthening Grace Rwanda’s network and sharing our vision of literacy for Rwanda.
Have a read of our latest newsletter, Grace News, for all the latest from the field.
Once again, we’d like to thank all of our Canadian and international volunteers and supporters for helping us to achieve this next step for our organization. We’re proud of how far we’ve come and can’t wait to see all we can accomplish together in future.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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If one of your New Year’s resolutions was giving back and making a difference in the world, we can help.
Grace Rwanda is days away from an important move to establish an in-country office in Rwanda. We hope to be even more effective with our literacy and reading programming when we are on the ground and can create deep partnerships with locals and government.
We are on track to create two new youth centre libraries in Rwanda in 2016: first in Kimisagara, then Nyanza. With luck, we may be able to create a third library later in the year.
Of course, more programming takes more funding. So if you are looking at making a meaningful contribution to the world in 2016, visit our new Canada Helps charity page, and see how far your donations can go to provide new libraries for Rwanda this year.
No donation is too small. Remember, just $25 buys 10 primary school-level books, while $50 buys 10 secondary school-level books. Larger donations of $100 will provide 25 children with books, $200 will help 50 children and $400 will allow us to supply reading materials to 100 children and youth.
As always, your donations over $25 are fully tax-deductible. And 100 per cent of your donations go directly to our programs, as our organization is volunteer-run.
Visit Canada Helps to have a look at the good you can do, and help Rwandan youth have a very happy new year.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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Dear Grace Rwanda supporter,
Grace Rwanda wishes you a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2016!
Noheli Nziza & Umwaka Mushya Muhire 2016!
We would like to thank you for your personal involvement, your generosity and your support which you have shown in so many ways this past year.
Thanks to your help with our most recent initiative, a 40-foot container for Grace Rwanda was shipped from B.C. on November 27th and is currently on the way to Rwanda. It is packed with more than 16,000 books, 3,000 dictionaries, 600 hygienic recyclable pads for girls, 30 sewing machines, numerous fabrics, over 100 teams soccer jerseys, and other supplies for our projects within Rwanda.
Our sincerest thanks to everyone who helped make this shipment possible. We’d like to acknoweldge all of our individual donors, and our partner organizations, which include Rotary International, District 5050, Rotary World Help Network, Rotary Club of Langley Sunrise, RR Plett Trucking, Lantrax Logistics, Canada Soccer, Days for Girls International, Riverside Sewing Bee Team, Power to Change, Focus on the Family, Mennonite Central Committee, plus many other private and public Schools and universities.
We appreciate your continuous support. Every donation you make will continue to help eradicate illiteracy in Rwanda. Join us in this life-changing initiative.
Please consider visiting our projects in the future to witness what we can accomplish together for the children of Rwanda.
Happy holidays from Grace Rwanda!
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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The Grace Rwanda team has been busy this week loading up our shipping container with generous donations from our local community.
The container is getting stocked with books and other supplies and will arrive in Rwanda this winter, ready to stock two more YEGO Youth Centre Libraries in needy communities. With these books, and with the generous donation of a matching grant from our Rotary partners and donations toward shipping costs, we are well on our way to establishing our next two libraries. These are planned for the communities of Kimisagara near the capital and Nyanza in the southern province.
Our dedicated volunteers — many from local Rotary clubs — have been helping load the container at the Rotary Help Warehouse at Riverview in Coquitlam. The container is nearly two-thirds full. We’re almost there!
Our next packing session is being held this coming Saturday Nov. 14. We’d love to see you come out and pitch in!
Among the goods we are shipping to students in need are thousands of books donated by local Rotary clubs and Langley and Abbotsford Schools, including 3,000 dictionaries. We have several computers donated by the Rotary World Help Network that will go to provide internet and computer access in our libraries.
In addition, there are more than 100 team soccer jerseys and sports equipment for youth in our YEGO youth library communities, donated by the Canadian National Women’s Soccer Team. A number of sewing machines and fabrics were donated by the Mennonite Central Committee to help Rwandans earn a living. Also included are some 800 hygienic sanitary pads made by the Riverside Calvary Chapel Sewing Bees group. And some office supplies to help establish our new Grace Rwanda office in Kigali.
All this precious cargo is scheduled to leave Vancouver on Nov. 21 and arrive 60 to 75 days later in Rwanda.
A heartfelt thanks to all our Rotary partners: from Rotary International to Rotary District 5050 and the Rotary Club of Langley Sunrise. Many thanks to individual Rotary volunteers and members of the Riverside Calvary Church who have come out to help us back the container.
Come be a part of loading up for literacy! To learn more about volunteering on Nov. 14 email elizabeth@gracerwanda.org.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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Youth join literacy activities in Kayonza on Sept. 29.
We’re happy to report a great turnout for our Rwanda Reads event at our Kayonza YEGO Youth Centre Library on Sept. 29.
Grace Rwanda sponsored a literacy event in the town and supplied book bags as prizes to encourage young student readers as they participated in literacy activities.
We’re happy to be a part of building literacy capacity in Rwanda and creating a culture of reading!
In other news, two students here at home at UBC have joined Grace Rwanda as interns.
Silvana Romero and Aiman Ragab are motivating their fellow university students to donate books to Grace Rwanda’s upcoming shipment of books to Rwanda, with the goal of stocking two new youth libraries in the country.
The shipment is set to go out later this fall. Romero and Ragab are leading book drives on campus and fundraising for our latest project. We appreciate their enthusiasm and effort! Check out their campaign on Toonies4Change.org in the coming month.
Co-founder Elizabeth Johnson and President Paul Johnson were also in Kelowna recently speaking at the Calvary Chapel. They were met with heartfelt support for their mission and goal of setting up a Grace Rwanda office in Kigali this fall and stocking the new libraries with books.
The deadline is looming, so if you have books to donate or can pledge financial assistance to make this shipment a reality, please contact us at info@gracerwanda.org.
You can get regular updates on our work by following @GraceRwanda, liking us on Facebook, adding us in your Google+ circle, and watching our videos on YouTube.
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