Context

With a population of 24,389 and 32% living in extreme poverty, Ndego urgently needs interventions to address these critical challenges and support sustainable development, particularly for its predominantly young population.

Goals

The goal of this project is to enhance access to quality education and promote economic empowerment for vulnerable children and women in Ndego, Rwanda. By addressing barriers to basic and technical/TVET education, improving health, ensuring food security, and empowering women, the project aims to lift people out of severe poverty in rural communities.

Hope Preschool and Primary was established in 2016 to serve vulnerable communities in Ndego, a rural area with limited early education resources and high poverty. The school offers free education to children who cannot afford tuition.

Activities

The activities funded by this project will focus on the following:

• Providing early childhood education, ensuring food security by offering two meals per day to every child, and addressing malnutrition and stunting.
• Offering IT and language skills training to both students and community members to enhance educational opportunities.
• Promoting physical health through sports activities like basketball, football, and volleyball for the community.
• Fostering a love of reading and supporting educational development with books suitable for various ages and educational levels.
• Offering short-term TVET programs in welding, plumbing, and coding, focusing on new technologies, and addressing the skills gap, particularly for youth and women.
• Providing maternal and child health services to reduce pre-term deliveries, neonatal infections, and stunting, and increasing access to family planning services for women in the community.

Key Performance Indicators to be Reached (KPIs)

1. Enroll 300+ students, engage 500+ community members in computer and language labs, and provide sports activities to 1000+ youth.
2. Provide health services to 19,000+ women and children, aiming for a 20% reduction in stunting and a 15% improvement in maternal health outcomes.
3. Enroll 500+ students in TVET programs, with 80% of graduates securing employment or further training, and create 1000+ direct and indirect jobs.

Myriad Canada is working with Hope Assistance Foundation on this project, a nonprofit focused on providing Biblical counseling and education to vulnerable communities. Since its founding, the organization has established a preschool, achieved government accreditation for its school, and supported over 1,000 individuals through literacy, vocational training, and health programs. Currently, 276 vulnerable children are receiving support, and the foundation has created 28 direct jobs in the community. Hope Assistance Foundation believes that every child, regardless of their economic background, has the right to quality education. A significant number of children are out of school due to the lack of essential supplies, uniforms, and the inability to pay the minimal 975 RWF (0.8$) per quarter fee for school meals. Many households also struggle to afford the 3,000 RWF (2.5$) per person required for health insurance.