Saturday tutoring boosts enrolment to schools of excellence

In Rwanda, students take a national exam in grade nine. The score in the national exam determines the student’s major and the quality of school they move to for the rest of high school. In addition, a higher test score enables students to go to boarding schools (schools of excellence) which open more opportunities for further education and/or employment.

REAP started the Tutoring Program in 2014 to provide extra time on Saturdays for students to understand and review curriculum content as well as to practice and learn test taking strategies under guidance of the best teachers from the local schools.

This past year, the outcome was outstanding whereby all 140 students who participated in the program passed the national exam, 72 of whom went to boarding school. This is Duha school’s highest number of students going to boarding schools in its history.  

Celebrating the International Day of Girl at REAP

On the occasion of the International Day of Girl, girls in the GLOW Club celebrated girls' achievements and addressed ways to lessen challenges facing girls and women in the Musha community. In line with this year's theme "Digital Generation," girls brainstormed how they can benefit from the current available technological opportunities in the community to promote equity between men and women in accesing technology. Ideas included making use of the free tech hub at the local government office and encouraging their parents to borrow children's laptops from school to extend learning at home.

REAP elected to co-chair a working group under Rwanda Education NGOs Coordination Platform

Vedaste from Wellspring Foundation, one of the NGO members engages with REAP Community Board members

With over 150 national and international NGO members, the Rwanda Education NGOs Coordination Platform is the largest NGO union in the country. This NGO platform liaises with the ministry of education around various education policy matters. The union also serves as a platform for NGOs to connect, collaborate and share experience and resources.

Following the opening of our Community Learning Center and Library in 2018, we hosted a learning trip for various NGO members. As a result of our leadership, and innovative programming, REAP was voted to serve as a co-chair for the community development committee for the next two years.

For REAP, chairing this working group opens more visibility and partnership opportunities. We will be actively participating in policy-level meetings with the central government, other partners in the education sector as well as international NGOs.

REAP represents Rwamagana District in a countrywide Early Childhood Conference

On May 12, 2021, Rwanda Education Board (an executive agency of the Ministry of Education) and UNICEF Rwanda called for a consultative conference on Rwanda's Early Childhood Development and Education. Only ten organizations (one of whom was REAP) from different parts of the country were selected to participate in this conference. Selection was determined by criterria that identified the highest quality early childhood programs in the country. The conference's purpose was to assess the implementation of the early childhood curriculum and propose any necessary changes for improvement. REAP's INEZA Academy represented Rwamagana District. Elisaphane Bikorimana, REAP's Early Childhood Specialist, represented REAP in the two-day conference.

REAP starts the Saturday Tutoring to help improve national exam scores

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, public schools were closed for 8 months across Rwanda. This caused an instructional and learning gap which has left children unprepared for the upcoming national exams in July 2021. In the Rwandan Education System, national exams are important and critical in determining a child's future. Scoring with distinction on national exams allows students to go to schools of excellence which opens more opportunities for tertiary education and/or jobs.

To address the instructional gap, REAP started a Saturday Tutoring program for 120 ninth graders in Musha Sector. Every Saturday for 4 hours, students in small classes of 20, are tutored by the best teachers selected from Musha and neighboring Sectors. Tutoring is focused on the six most challenging subjects, math, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, and English.

A joyous celebration of children’s work!



Grace, one of our teachers hands a school report file to moria, one of our studentS

In the Rwandan education system, students receive end-of-semester school reports every three months. This marks the time parents learn about their children’s academic progress. Usually, parents gather at school and anxiously wait for their children to be called up front to receive their school reports before going home

At REAP’s INEZA Academy last Friday, we created a new learning ritual by showcasing children’s skills and as well as demonstrating home-based storytelling between parents and their children. One parent volunteered to tell a story to all children as a model for promoting literacy at home

 Parents sat in classrooms watching their children recite poems,  sing Kinyarwanda songs,  demonstrate spelling, and practice counting real-life objects. 

 Through our partnership with Teach Rwanda, our end-of-semester evaluation covers six research-based early childhood learning areas: Language and Literacy, Discovery of the World, Numeracy, Creative Arts and Culture, Physical and Health Development, and Social and Emotional development.

PARENTS POSE OUTSIDE THE LEARNING CENTER WITH THEIR CHILDREN

grace umuziranenge poses with her children in the classroom

REAP joins the Musha Community in the commemoration of 1994 Genocide against Tutsi

Every year from April 7 to 13, Rwanda commemorates the 1994 tragedy that cost lives of over 1,000,000 Rwandans. The trauma of the Genocide still haunts the lives of survivors and their families. In line with this year's theme "Kwibuka Twiyubaka" which literally translates "Reconstructive Remembrance", REAP visited and supported a family of three who survived the genocide. The family, recommended by the local government, received food supplies, beddings, school materials for the children and hygiene supplies to help prevent the coronavirus. REAP is also looking to enroll these children in our enrichment program at the Learning Center in order to help build their future.

Girls Leading Our World (GLOW CLUB) resumes

Last year just before the pandemic, REAP entered an agreement with Ready for Reading and Global G.L.O.W (Girls Leading Our World) to launch a a GLOW Club at REAP's Community Learning Center and Library in Musha Club. The club comprises 30 girls from two rural schools in Musha, Eastern Rwanda. As per the agreement, Global Glow provides all needed supplies and hires a staff to mentor the girls for a year in order to help them build their self-advocacy skills, strenghten their academic engagement, and enhance their social emotional competencies to prepare for a promising future. Upon completion of their yearlong mentorship program in 2022, another cohort of 30 girls will be enrolled.

REAP's CLCL selected as the only community gathering venue in Musha community

The local government leadership has recently approved our Community Learning Center and Library as the only up-to code venue to host community self-help groups in the Musha community. Everyday, a separate self-help group meets for a different goal. The group leader and a REAP designated staff ensure the compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures. REAP's CLCL now hosts a total of 7 groups with 255 members. The groups have various goals including savings, cow farming, health insurance, household utensils and addressing family-based violence. REAP's Community Learning Center and Library has truly became the hub of community life during a time of disconnection.

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Calendar Distribution

Our Kalendari Ineza project culminated in the distribution of calendars to 2050 families in

our Musha Community. On December 17, an inaugural ceremony was held at REAP’s Community

Learning Center and Library where 50 selected families received their calendars. The event was attended

by local government leaders, REAP staff and members of our Community Board.

In compliance with Covid-19 prevention guidelines, the remaining 2,000 families have been

collecting their calendars one at a time at the CLCL.

Our Community Organizers will be visiting the 100 most at-risk families to dissect the

public health messages on the calendars and discuss ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Kinyarwanda Literacy Project

Research by the UNESCO encourages use of the pupil’s first language to teach beginning reading and writing skills and bolster future academic success.

(Source: The Importance of Mother Tongue Based Schooling for Educational Quality, Carole Benson 2004).

Last year, Rwanda’s Ministry of Education announced the mandatory use of English as a language of instruction for grades 1-12, beginning in 2021.

Our Kinyarwanda Literacy Project seeks to equip students in grades 1-3 with strong literacy skills in their mother tongue, which will lay a foundation for future English language literacy. The project unofficially started in December 2019 with a professional development training in the Soma Umenye curriculum and teaching methodologies. The Soma Umenye method was developed by USAID in partnership with Rwanda Education Board. Starting in December 2020, we will pilot the project with three classes of 20 children.

Community Learning Center and Library reopens after COVID-19 closure

As one of the measures to alleviate the spread of COVID-19, the government of Rwanda ordered closure of public venues such as schools, libraries and community centers. Our Center had also been closed for seven months until recently approved to reopen. We did so on November 30.

To fulfill requirements for reopening, we put in place a range of prevention measures including:

• A COVID-19 task force composed of three employees trained on COVID-19 during our Kalendari INEZA project. The task force ensures we are in compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures on a daily basis.

• An isolation room equipped with a bed and emergency supplies in the event that a COVID-19 case is detected.

• Banners with COVID-19 information placed at all doors, tables, on the front facade of the main building and on the community bulletin board.

• A hand washing station installed at the entrance of the main building. Every person visiting the center washes their hands before entering.

• COVID-19 prevention kit with an infrared thermometer, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks and other supplies were purchased.

• Maximum class-size. All seats are marked in all classrooms and the maximum capacity in every classroom is 15 persons.

The Awakening Creativity Children's Drawing Event

One of the main objectives of the Kalendari Ineza grant is to produce calendars with public messages created by the local community in an effort to mobilize the participation of all levels of the community. Since 72.9% of the population have never attended school, we wanted to ensure a multisensory approach to literacy by using children's drawings to illustrate the public health messages. Forty children attended our Awakening Creativity Day at our center, learned public health messages, and then drew pictures to enhance these messages for each calendar month.

REAP implements a grant to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Under the leadership of Isabel Taswell, a REAP volunteer and a teacher at Bank Street School for Children, and Jean Paulin Mutatsineza, REAP’s country director, REAP has been designated the grant implementer for our project, Kalendari Ineza.  

The grant is from the US Department’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund Rapid Response program and features a public health campaign to raise the community’s awareness of COVID-19, curb its spread, and fortify community resiliency in the face of extreme poverty. 

The grant officially opened on October 7, 2020 with a COVID-19 training to 56 representatives of the Musha Community in all areas (government officials, teachers from the local public school, business leaders, self-help group leaders, health center nurses, girl leaders, and community board members).

As an outcome of the training, community members will produce calendars with public health messages illustrated  by community children. Calendars will then be distributed to homes and public venues in Musha. 

Afterwards, Girl Scouts will perform monthly sketches in the community and at the Duha Complex School about COVID-19 prevention. Concurrently, designated self-help groups will conduct home visits to 100 of the most at-risk families to practice the calendar messages. Under the guidance of trained self-help group leaders and government leaders, families will then demonstrate the practice of the messages at weekly community meetings to consolidate sustainability.

BRAVE, THE HEAD OF MUSHA HEALTH CENTER LEADING A TRAINING ON COVID-19

MEDIATRICE, A NURSE AT MUSHA HEALTH CENTER DEMONSTRATING PROPER HAND WASHING

A COMMUNITY MEMBER ASKING A QUESTION DURING THE TRAINING

A COMMUNITY MEMBER WRITING DOWN A CALENDAR MESSAGE

SMALL GROUPS BRAINSTORMING CALENDAR MESSAGES

Providing health insurance for needy families is our priority as we face the aftermath of COVID-19

As the world suffers the consequences of the novel coronavirus, impoverished communities such as Musha are the most at-risk with food and health services at the top of the long list of needs. 

In addition to providing food supplies from our community farm to starving families, REAP’s Community Learning Center and Library has been selected by the local government to serve as a meeting space for community savings groups that primarily aim to collect health insurance for families.

Every Thursday and Friday, our Community organizer leads groups of around 50 people for two hours to address issues in households such as health, nutrition and hygiene. Thanks to the savings groups, this year, 178 families were able to provide yearlong health insurance, beddings and kitchen utensils for their families.

Coping with the COVID-19: supporting our staff and our community

Amidst the novel coronavirus outbreak that is shaking the world, people all over the world are standing in solidarity with their neighbors and exploring new ways of being.
However, the outbreak is having a disproportionately devastating effect on middle and low-income populations—especially in countries such as Rwanda— where the unemployment rate is already 18.8% and 49.2% of the labor force are engaged in casual occupations (those that pay hourly or per diem at best).
We don’t need to reiterate the fact that the closure of all non-essential businesses and organizations, with the aim of slowing the spread of the virus, has had many unintended economic consequences.

As an organization, we value our human resources above all else and commitment to our community is at
the core of our operations. In order to support our staff during this lockdown, REAP has committed to continue paying our team members their full salaries, even those who cannot work from home. We have also mobilized to donate the produce from our farm to families with the greatest need in Musha. Last Monday, 16 families from Musha received vegetables from our farm and we hope to donate to at least 20 more with the next harvest.

In the pictures:

Our Community Organizers, Briget and Jerome, and Emmanuel Karemera (President of our Community Board) collect the food supplies and deliver them to Musha Sector Office.

US Ambassador to Rwanda Visits the Community Library and Learning Center

The opening of INEZA Academy has been full of excitement and, most recently, REAP had the honor of hosting Ambassador Peter Vrooman, the US Ambassador to Rwanda, on his second visit to our Community
Library and Learning Center in Musha, Rwanda.
He read with second graders in our student literacy club and spent some time interacting with our nursery students. In addition, the ambassador donated children’s books and soccer balls to the CLCL. The ambassador and his delegation were impressed by the our literacy programming and the other services offered at the CLCL. We look forward to future collaboration with this passionate team!

INEZA Academy Opens!

Joyful smiles are seen on the faces of parents as they walk to drop their toddlers to the new, and only,
early childhood program in the Akabare community. Conveniently located, (near the Duha School, the Akabare Cell office and the vibrant Akabare neighborhood), the INEZA Academy is easily accessible.
In addition to the modern classroom and supplies, parents were drawn to the program because of the
English speaking teachers, consideration of nutrition, and the parent development
component (hosted by REAP and implemented through a partnership between Save the Children and the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda).
“To me and my husband, INEZA Academy is more than just a nursery school, it’s like a
second home to my 3-year-old son who will fetch literacy skills, a wholesome meal and all of that in
safe hands.” said Leonille Mukanyandwi, parent of an INEZA pupil.
As an organization, starting INEZA Academy has strengthened our relationship with the
community because it is a community-initiated program.

Recipient of US State Department Grant for INEZA Academy Programming

Lat year, our Country Director, Jean Paulin Mutatsineza, visited Washington DC to participate in the Mandela
Washington Fellowship Summit. After learning about the Mandela Washington Fellowship’s Reciprocal Exchange program Jean Paulin began collaborating on a grant application with Isabel Taswell, a graduate student at Bankstreet’s School of Education, to support the establishment of INEZA Academy, a model early childhood development program at REAP’s Community Learning Center and Library in
Musha, Rwanda. We were selected as recipients at the end of 2019.
The grant allowed Isabel to travel to Rwanda and conduct professional development training for REAP staff. Expanding our programming meant that we needed to expand our skillset!
The training covered classroom organization, socio-emotional development, literacy and play-based learning. Additionally, monthly follow-up Skype sessions will allow INEZA Academy staff to share their practical feedback with Isabel as they apply the theory.

Isabel Taswell and jean paulin mutatsineza, Country director

Country Director, Mutatsineza, attends Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit

Founded by President Obama in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship
(MWF) is a flagship program of US Government’s Young African Leaders
Initiative (YALI). The MWF brings between 500 and 1000 African leaders to the US every year for a six-week program that focuses on developing leadership for those who show promise in business, entrepreneurship, public management and civic engagement. 

Fellows are paired with partner universities for six weeks and the seventh week of the program features a summit in Washington, D.C. allowing fellows an opportunity to network with one another and meet top US government officials. Upon return to their communities, fellows are expected to apply their
training. REAP’s Country Director, Jean Paulin Mutatsineza, is one of the six Rwandans fellows, selected in 2015. In 2016, he was awarded a grant through the same program to renovate the Girls’ Room (in day schools in Rwanda these are rooms where menstruating girls can rest and access sanitary supplies and pain medication) at the Duha Complex School. The US ambassador to Rwanda, Erica Barks Ruggles, inaugurated the Girls’ Room at the Duha School. Jean Paulin’s active involvement in the transformation of the
school community through MWF earned him the trust of other fellows and he was voted President of Rwanda’s YALI Alumni Association.
Alongside the other Alumni leaders, Jean Paulin was invited by USAID to represent the Alumni at the MWF Summit in August 2019 to meet potential funders and partners on behalf of the association and REAP.
During his three-week stay in the US, Jean Paulin was able to meet with potential partner organizations, REAP board and staff among many others. The trip allowed Jean Paulin to connect physically and intellectually with collaborators of the present and future.