Educate and Empower Women and Girls
Educating women and girls lifts households, communities and nations out of poverty.
However, in Rwanda, when a family has limited funds to pay school fees, the boys go to school and the girls stay home.
Since 2018, Hands of Mothers has been implementing two high impact education initiatives to address the increasing lack of access to education among vulnerable women and children, especially girls:
- A school fees program to enable children to attend school. School in Rwanda is not free and when forced to choose, boys are generally selected to attend rather than girls. We are currently funding 165 children in pre-k through high school and are assisting 2 university students that are graduates of our program.
- A women's literacy/numeracy education program. This is a necessary first step in our entrepreneurship training and cooperative development programs. There are currently 10 women enrolled in literacy/numeracy training, all of whom are trying to escape from sex work and find safe, legal and sustainable forms of income generation.
In August, 2022, Hands of Mothers launched our first innovative one-month English Language Summer School to support our primary and secondary school students struggling in school as all classes - starting in 1st grade - are now taught in English. In January, 2023, we opened the doors to our English Language Library and our successful mobile library.
Launched in July 2024, our Summer Computer Academy equips students with essential basic and advanced digital skills to help them succeed in school and thrive in Kigali’s increasingly competitive and connected job market.
The continuation of these initiatives depends upon your generosity - especially in light of the loss of US government support! Please consider a donation on behalf of a Rwandan mother struggling to support her family or to a child dreaming of a better future.
Thank you!