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ASSOCIATION BAMPOREZE, Kigali
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
Association Bamporeze enhances the income and emotional wellbeing
of households headed by women and children devastated by war,
HIV/AIDS, or natural disasters. Working in rural Kigali, Bamporeze
used previous grant funds to train 75 child heads-of-households
in animal husbandry, providing each trainee with two goats.
Additionally, Bamporeze paired each youth and his/her family
with an adult guardian who visited each family weekly to share
material and emotional support. With this regrant Bamporeze
is establishing a carpentry workshop to train 70 child heads-of-household,
who collectively care for 179 younger siblings. This two-year
grant also provides these young people with startup carpentry
materials and a year of follow-up assistance. Funds support
ongoing guardian relationships, pay a social worker’s
salary, and cover program monitoring and evaluation costs.
2003 – $ 8,000
Bamporeze’s main purpose is to create income-generating
programs, thus offering support to households headed by women
and children as a result of the genocide, war, and HIV/AIDS.
Two of their most successful livelihood projects are in woodworking
and soap production. This grant helps them initiate a “twinning
program” to pair 75 child-headed households with neighboring
adults. The adults will act as mentors or godparents to the
children, serving as counselors, educators, and friends. Bamporeze
is also using grant funding to educate the adults and youth
about HIV/AIDS, to start an animal husbandry project, and
to create 14 anti-AIDS clubs for the youth.
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ASSOCIATION D’APPUI AUX GROUPEMENTS DANS LE DOMAINE
SOCIO-ÉCONOMIQUE (AGS), Gikongoro
2004 – $ 25,000
(Two-year grant)
Since 2000, AGS has networked with other local service providers
in Gikongoro, Western Rwanda, to support people living with
HIV/AIDS, their children, and their caregivers. Firelight’s
previous grant to AGS helped 150 disadvantaged children with
education fees and supplies, and follow-up services to help
them succeed in school. This two-year grant enables AGS to
develop a goat-raising income-generating project for orphans
and caregivers and to extend educational support to 150 students.
2002 – $ 10,000
Entirely volunteer-driven, AGS helps people living with AIDS
to live positively, with a special focus on providing educational
and economic opportunities. Grant funds underwrite the cost
of HIV/AIDS education workshops and meetings that reach 350
caregivers, orphans, and children. Additional funds are being
applied towards educational expenses for children affected
by AIDS.
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ASSOCIATION DES FEMMES CHEFS DE FAMILLES: GIRIBANGA (AFCF-Giribanga),
Kigali
2005 – $ 10,000
Formed following the 1994 genocide, AFCF-Giribanga runs support
groups for widows living with HIV/AIDS and provides home-based
care, vocational and life-skills training for vulnerable youth,
and educational and legal assistance. Firelight has funded AFCF
since 2000. With the initial funding, AFCF started a bakery
that employs vulnerable youth and generates income for AFCF
activities. Firelight funds also paid ongoing bakery operating
expenses and enabled AFCF to purchase land and build a small
office. With this regrant AFCF is promoting vulnerable households’
economic self-sufficiency by forming income-generation groups.
Thirty-four caregivers and 20 youth are learning small-business
management skills, forming business groups, and accessing startup
capital. This regrant also pays for school materials for 40
children and supports recreational activities – including
learning field trips – for vulnerable youth.
2003 – $ 15,000
AFCF-Giribanga was founded by a group of widowed survivors
of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, who came together for mutual
support and to create livelihood opportunities for themselves
and their children. Giribanga means “to keep our secret,”
a word chosen because many of these women were raped during
the genocide, which resulted in their HIV infection. With
Firelight’s initial grant of $13,400, AFCF-Giribanga
established a small bakery and trained 15 youth as bakers.
This grant enables AFCF-Giribanga to expand its successful
bakery, covering the costs of a new oven and related equipment,
supplies, and bicycles for bread delivery. Profits enhance
the livelihoods of their growing membership, now numbering
78 widows and 140 children.
2002 – $ 4,000
Funding covers the costs of hiring a technical consultant
to develop a marketing and training proposal for expanding
their youth-run bakery.
2001 – $ 13,400
In response to the growing number of child-headed households,
AFCF-Giribanga’s membership of 34 widows and 106 children
are establishing a bakery with this Firelight grant. Firelight
funding covers the costs of equipment, personnel, and raw
materials to start the bakery. The master baker is training
15 youth in bread production. Profit from bread sales provides
the youth trainees with their first regular income. Funds
also cover a 5-day training program for 100 children in income-generating
activities and legal rights.
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ASSOCIATION DE SOUTIENS AUX RESCAPÉS DU GÉNOCIDE
(ASRG-MPORE), Mirenge
2004 – $ 15,200
ASRG-MPORE assists child-headed households resulting from the
1994 genocide and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. With previous support
from Firelight, they have trained and set up 50 adolescent heads-of-households
in pineapple production and goat raising to generate income
for these youth and their 75 siblings. This year, ASRG-MPORE
will train these same 50 young people in composting, provide
free access to a tutoring center, offer a rotating credit program,
and enroll children in the national health insurance program.
They will also provide an additional 50 children with education
fees.
2003 – $ 1,500
Founded in 1995 to alleviate the suffering of genocide survivors
by reducing poverty and fostering tolerance, ASRG-MPORE’s
work with child-headed households has been celebrated by the
First Lady of Rwanda. Its poverty-reducing programs have focused
on creating livelihood opportunities for child-headed households
and equipping them with the facts about HIV/AIDS and ways to
avoid infection. Firelight funds support the salary and transportation
expenses of a community development worker assisting 50 child-headed
households with animal husbandry and small-scale agriculture
activities in rural Mirenge in Eastern Rwanda.
2002 – $ 18,500
ASRG-MPORE has identified over 450 child-headed households in
the Mirenge District resulting from the 1994 genocide and AIDS-related
mortality. This grant enables ASRG-MPORE to improve the livelihoods
of 50 children heading households and their 75 younger siblings
by training the youth in agriculture and life skills, including
reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and conflict resolution. After
training, the youth will be organized into groups of 10 child-headed
households and equipped with hoes, seeds, part-time labor, and
livestock, which will increase their food production and income.
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ASSOCIATION POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT AGRO-PASTORAL (ADAP), Kigali
2004 – $ 4,500
ADAP was created in 1994 to assist genocide survivors. This
grant helps community leaders provide books and pays the salaries
of two teachers who will instruct 60 primary school students.
It also is used to train 90 vulnerable youth in sewing and tailoring.
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BENISHYAKA ASSOCIATION, Kigali/Countrywide
2004 – $ 34,800 (Three-year grant)
The Benishyaka Association was established to ensure access
to educational and livelihood opportunities for orphans, widows,
and families affected by the 1994 Rwandan genocide. More recently,
Benishyaka has worked to address the needs of orphans and
families challenged by HIV/AIDS. They provide educational
assistance and income-generating activities to more than 3,000
beneficiaries, including 1,000 orphans. Previous Firelight
grants to Benishyaka have provided scholarships to 150 secondary
school students. This regrant continues educational assistance
for this group of students, enabling them to complete their
secondary school education.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 15,000
Benishyaka means “courage” in Kinyarwanda, the mother
tongue of most Rwandese. Benishyaka Association operates nationwide
to assist children in difficult circumstances by providing
school scholarships and training caregivers on the basics
of small business start-up and management. Through a careful
selection process, they ensure that disadvantaged youth can
continue their studies through secondary school. Benishyaka
reaches 3,000 children and adults with their programs. This
grant provides scholarship support for 131 secondary school
students for another year of their education.
2002
– $ 40,000
This second year of funding provides one year of school fees
and related expenses for 150 children who were supported last
year. Twenty of the these youth participate in a Firelight-funded
pen pal exchange with a high school in California, sharing
the issues of daily life among youth dealing with the effects
of war and HIV/AIDS.
2001 – $ 40,000
The grant pays for one year of school fees and related expenses
for 150 secondary school-aged children.
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CENTRE POUR L’AMOUR DES JEUNES (CEPAJ), Kicukiro
2004 – $ 5,000
CEPAJ conducts outreach to children who have taken to the
street in an effort to escape violence, abuse, or severe poverty.
CEPAJ provides short-term stability for these children in
the form of counseling, vocational training, and housing.
Staff then work to reunite children with their families or
with other caregivers. The organization also offers HIV/AIDS
counseling and prevention activities and works to raise community
awareness of the needs of vulnerable children, especially
those living on the street. With Firelight’s grant, CEPAJ
is facilitating two income-generating activities for youth:
clay tile production and sale, and goat raising. CEPAJ is
also creating five anti-AIDS clubs in schools and holding
an HIV/AIDS prevention workshop for 20 street children.
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DIOCÈSE CATHOLIQUE DE CYANGUGU/AMAJYAMBERE-IWACU
ASSOCIATION, Cyangugu
2005 – $ 10,000
Initiated by a Catholic priest who challenged his congregation
to respond to the marginalization of the Batwa people, the
Amajyambere-Iwacu Association works in 10 parishes in western
Rwanda to promote the wellbeing and development of the Batwa.
The Batwa, an indigenous, previously forest-dwelling, nomadic
tribe, also known as the pygmies, suffer discrimination due
to lack of access to land, jobs, education, and health care.
Firelight’s previous funding enabled the Association
to enroll more than 800 Batwa children in primary and secondary
schools and provide them with uniforms and shoes, school supplies,
and medical care. This regrant provides ongoing support for
the Association’s program of educational assistance by
purchasing school supplies, uniforms, and shoes for Batwa
children. Funding also enables the group to address the medical
needs of ill children and covers administrative and transportation
costs.
2003 – $ 3,800
Funds are supporting the efforts of the Catholic Diocese to
meet the educational expenses (uniforms, shoes, notebooks,
etc.) of 250 Batwa children in Cyangugu. It also pays for
the health care needs of 693 Batwa children. The Batwa are
an indigenous pygmy group in Rwanda who have been forced from
their forest homelands.
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EJO NZAMERA NTE ASSOCIATION, Gatsibe District
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year
grant)
Ejo Nzamera Nte Association (How Shall I Be Tomorrow) assists
child-headed households and vulnerable youth with vocational
training and startup capital for income-generating activities,
while also educating youth about HIV prevention. Previously
Ejo used Firelight funding to train 40 vulnerable youth, 75
percent of them young women, in carpentry, masonry, and tailoring
skills. The organization supported the youth with HIV-prevention
information and technical assistance. Two years of regrant
funding enables Ejo to build upon this training program, providing
the 40 previously trained youth with tools, startup funds,
and ongoing advice. These youth will, in turn, offer vocational
skills training to 138 peers as well as provide HIV/AIDS and
reproductive health education. With Firelight Foundation support,
Ejo is also purchasing health insurance for 178 families and
distributing a goat to each of 120 vulnerable households to
be used to generate income.
2004 – $ 9,800
The Ejo Nzamera Nte Association, which translates as “How
shall I be tomorrow?”, assists youth in meeting their
material and emotional needs and provides them with job opportunities.
They offer vocational training, loans, and reproductive health
education. This grant will enable Ejo to extend this support
to 178 youth-headed households in Murambi District, Umutara
Province, a district bordering Uganda with one of the country’s
highest rates of HIV infection.
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HOPE AFTER RAPE (HAR), Kigali
2005 – $ 5,000
Founded to give care and moral support to genocide and rape
survivors and children affected by HIV/AIDS, Hope After Rape
promotes the psychosocial wellbeing and human rights of these
vulnerable groups. Working in five provinces, the organization
offers counseling, microfinance and vocational training, educational
assistance, and anti-violence advocacy campaigns. This grant
covers vocational training fees and related expenses for 50
young people affected by HIV/AIDS.
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IHORERE MUNYARWANDA, Kigali
2005 – $ 8,000
Ihorere Munywarwanda (Hope for Rwandese People) provides HIV/AIDS
prevention and care programs and educational or vocational
training to some of the most stigmatized individuals affected
by HIV: women who have resorted to prostitution and their
children. With previous Firelight funds, Ihorere provided
school fees and HIV/AIDS-awareness training to 91 vulnerable
children. With this regrant Ihorere Munyarwanda continues
its educational support to this group of 80 primary and 11
secondary school students. These children will also benefit
from further training in HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.
2004 – $ 8,000
Ihorere Munyarwanda, Kinyarwandan for “Hope for Rwandese
People,” is a largely volunteer-run group that helps
more than 600 people living with HIV/AIDS and their children
through an integrated community empowerment and advocacy program.
In particular, they target their programs to women and girls
who have resorted to commercial sex to meet their basic economic
needs. This grant funds educational and vocational support
for 46 children and a program that sensitizes community members
about the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS.
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LES ENFANTS DE DIEU, Kigali
2005 – $ 8,000
Les Enfants de Dieu (God’s Children) provides short-term
shelter for more than 100 street boys, equipping them with literacy
and vocational skills while working to identify biological or
foster families. With Firelight funding Les Enfants de Dieu
is purchasing school materials for 104 boys, paying the salaries
of four teachers, and covering the fees, supplies, and uniform
expenses of 60 street children now studying at government schools.
Les Enfants de Dieu’s school teaches the boys literacy
and mathematical skills, enabling them to reenter government
schools, to join vocational training, or to secure jobs.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
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PROJET EER/SNEP, Kigali/Countrywide
2005 – $ 15,000
Projet EER/SNEP (Project EER/SNEP) is a cooperative effort
of the Teacher Teams of Rwanda and the National Union of Primary
School Teachers. The organization has trained 10,000 teachers
in HIV-prevention strategies and facilitation of school-based
anti-AIDS clubs. A component of Projet EER/SNEP’s initiative
is to educate primary and secondary school teachers about
how HIV/AIDS relates to Rwandan culture. By educating and
empowering teachers, Projet EER/SNEP addresses the threat
of HIV infection and the stigma of AIDS among school-going
youth in Rwanda. Firelight’s first grant supported the
group’s training of 1,000 secondary school teachers.
With renewed funding Projet EER/SNEP is training 424 teachers
in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support strategies using
participatory learning techniques. These teachers, drawn from
the 106 districts of the country, also learn how to facilitate
youth anti-AIDS clubs and are committed to training other
teachers.
2005– $ 4,000
With this grant Projet EER/SNEP is producing and distributing
a comic book entitled Kibondo (Nice Kid) to 2,500 school-going
youth in 90 schools throughout Kigali. Kibondo describes the
facts about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods in a youth-friendly
format.
2003 – $ 10,000
Project EER/SNEP works to educate youth in health matters
and to advance HIV/AIDS prevention efforts within schools.
Recognizing the extensive impact that teachers have on the
attitudes and beliefs of children and youth, Project EER/SNEP
has initiated a national effort to educate secondary school
teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention and sexuality and how these
issues intersect with Rwandan culture. This grant pays for
the training of 1,000 secondary school teachers.
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REMERA CATHOLIC CONTRE LE SIDA (RECASIDA), Kigali
2003 – $ 5,600
Started by school teachers to address the needs of vulnerable
children in their classrooms, this volunteer organization provides
children with legal advice, moral guidance, psychosocial counseling,
and material assistance. Firelight funding is enabling RECASIDA
to work with 10 adolescent girls to open a hair and beauty salon
as an income-generating activity. These young women will participate
in a mentoring program and also complete job-related training
that is supplemented with information on HIV/AIDS and life skills.
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RWANDA WOMEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (RWN), Kigali
2005– $ 15,000
RWN supports sexual-violence survivors, widows, and their children
with three core programs: health care and psychosocial support,
human and legal rights education, and socioeconomic empowerment.
Firelight’s initial grant allowed RWN to train 94 people
(in adult-youth pairs) to care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
Additionally, 27 vulnerable youth learned skills in weaving,
knitting, and banana leaf card production and business management
to promote their livelihoods. With regrant funding RWN is building
a community hall for youth activities. The hall will be a gathering
place for anti-AIDS clubs, training activities, and community
events. Concurrently, RWN is mobilizing greater youth participation
in its anti-AIDS clubs, which now involve 100 participants.
2003 – $ 8,000
This organization developed out of post-genocide relief efforts.
One of their programs, the Polyclinic of Hope, was set up to
meet the needs of HIV-positive women and their children. Medical
staff noticed that their clients’ needs extended beyond
medical care to all aspects of rebuilding their lives. They
began to offer counseling, daycare, and vocational training.
Firelight grant funding allows RWN to train 47 pairs of women
and children on HIV/AIDS awareness and home-based care as a
step toward empowering them to meet their physical, psychological,
and emotional needs. They are also educating 27 women on the
basics of small business activities and are providing them with
start-up loans.
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SOLIDARITE FEMMES 3x3 (SOLF 3X3), Cyangugu
2005 – $ 14,000 (Two-year grant)
Women in an isolated, rural area of western Rwanda founded
SOLF 3x3, believing that by working together to visit vulnerable
households in groups of three, they could restore dignity
to women traumatized by the country’s genocide and its
aftermath, including the spread of HIV/AIDS. Among their highest
priorities, SOLF’s members identified support for child
heads-of-households. Firelight funding previously enabled
the group to initiate a livestock (pig and rabbit) breeding
program as an income-generating activity for 60 child heads-of-households.
Youth also learned the facts about HIV/AIDS and prevention
strategies, and as a result 25 percent chose to be tested
for HIV. With this two-year grant, SOLF is assisting 96 vulnerable
households to grow organic vegetables for consumption and
sale. Funds cover the cost of training workshops, seeds, fertilizer,
farming tools, and a crop production expert’s salary.
2004 – $ 6,000
SOLF 3X3 provides psychosocial support to youth-headed families
affected by the genocide and HIV/AIDS. By offering love and
familial warmth to orphans, they help children regain self-esteem
and achieve improved mental and physical wellbeing. Using
Firelight funds, SOLF 3X3 is expanding their program to include
income-generating activities. They will create 6 associations
comprised of 10 youth each, who will be trained in pig and
rabbit rearing. The youth will also receive management training
coupled with HIV/AIDS prevention education.
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SOUTIEN AUX INITIATIVES DE LUTTE CONTRE LE SIDA EN FAVEUR
DES ENFANTS ECONOMIQUEMENT ET SOCIALEMENT DEFAVORISES (SIDECO),
Kigali
2004 – $ 4,000
Focusing on street children and children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS,
SIDECO provides education and vocational training to marginalized
youth in Bugesera, a region that has suffered greatly under
the dual burdens of the 1994 genocide and HIV/AIDS. Firelight
funding supports HIV-prevention activities and psychosocial
support. Programs include HIV/AIDS prevention training for
99 children, literacy and vocational training for 32 street
children, the creation of 3 anti-AIDS clubs, and educational
assistance for 43 orphaned children. SIDECO is also creating
a small fund to assist child victims of sexual violence.
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TRUST AND CARE, Kicukiro
2005 – $ 24,000 (Two-year grant)
Five Rwandan staff members of the departing organization Refugee
Trust International founded Trust and Care with the mission
of giving “hope, protection, and support to vulnerable
groups in Rwanda.” Trust and Care provides primary health
care training, conducts needs assessments of vulnerable households,
and works with communities to create employment opportunities.
With their first Firelight grant, Trust and Care established
15 associations for 150 child heads-of-households to manage
beekeeping and goat raising projects. They trained participants
in business management, bookkeeping, and the facts about HIV/AIDS.
This two-year regrant enables Trust and Care to extend similar
opportunities to 170 caregivers and vulnerable youth. Twenty
children are pursuing tailoring training and 150 households
are raising goats and rabbits for income generation.
2004 – $ 9,600
Trust and Care’s goals are to improve access to education
and health care, provide food security, and offer HIV/AIDS education
to vulnerable groups. Trust and Care addresses the needs within
vulnerable communities by providing primary health care training
to community volunteers, facilitating community-based needs
assessments of children, and assisting households to secure
shelter. With Firelight’s support, Trust and Care is establishing
income-generating activities for 150 child-headed households
and is providing them with both business management and HIV/AIDS
prevention training.
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