Centre Ubuntu Funding & Projects

How we're financed

We rely on the generosity of private donors.

Partners

Association Kokopelli donated a new type of organic protein-rich seeds, which are being tested in six different goups in Bwira, to see how they adapt to the soi.

See July 2011 Update.

What we do

The project “Ubuntu” set up a program of sponsoring children to increase their chances of going to and remaining at school. We are still on the look out for more people ready to sponsor a child. We also sent clothes and books.

We work closely with the women from Abihuje. We believe that empowering women benefits the whole community. We encourage them in their craft activities that we buy at a fair price (see their work here). We also introduced a system of exchange base on the local trading schemes that already exist in Western countries (exchanging services and products without handling money but by attributing a social value to the exchanged commodity). This works very well and the elders of the community have even phoned me in France to get advice!

Other projects

Finding a solution to rain water, to stop it from damaging crops and to collect it and store it for the dry season

Building the Centre “Ubuntu”, to house creative workshops and activities and provide a space for social meetings. This centre will also be a place where volunteers and visitors will be able to stay

Bringing electricity to Bwira and promoting sustainable development

Helping to reclaim traditional values and knowledge.
We started a program of social tourism with the French organisation Echanges Solidaires et Equitables (“fair and reciprocal exchange”) who is already experienced in organising such programs in Romania, Liban and Burkina Faso.
This will give opportunities to people from the West to discover different facets of life in Rwanda, especially by spending a certain amount of time with the community of Bwira. We hope that this will foster strong relationships and maybe a desire to get more involved.

The school of Gitarama (in Bwira) is now twinned with a school in France (Cherveux in the Deux-Sèvres Department). We are expecting that this will help the education of children and improve technical skills. It is worth noting that for the past 7 years, no child in Bwira went beyond primary school.