Rwanda

Volunteer Opportunities

In Rwanda there are two schools that are in need of teachers: one in the village of Birambo, near Kibuye in the West of the country and the other in Rwaza, near Ruhengeri, which is nearer to the capital, Kigali.

Both schools are High Schools although the classes that volunteers will be expected to teach are mixed ages and abilities (with students ranging from 11 to well over 16 years old). English teachers are particularly welcome as Rwanda wishes to become tri-lingual (with French and Kinyarwanda).

Around the two villages there are a number of other projects that volunteers can become involved in including an orphanage and a dispensary.

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers must be adaptable and able to live with simple conditions. Rwanda is a French speaking country and volunteers must have a good understanding of this.

Rwanda's recent tragic history is well known and everyone, adults and children, are marked by what has happened. Volunteers need sensitivity, even-handedness, patience, and self-possession.

To teach in the classroom a teaching qualification is essential (TEFL or BA). Those with creative English and group skills can take groups of young people for theatre, clubs and creative arts through the schools. Computer skills are also needed.

It is essential that volunteers have a passion for the young and for experiencing different cultures.

Birambo village with schools

Volunteer’s First Impression (Matt Harris)

“I am currently living in Rwaza, a village in the Northwest of Rwanda situated at about 5000 ft. The temperature is generally that of a pleasant summer's day back home, and it tends to rain, with varying degrees of severity, every afternoon.

The strong military presence on the main roads and towns is the only immediate sign of Rwanda’s recent, troubled history. Soldiers can often be seen holding hands in the streets (as a sign of friendship), which is strangely reassuring.

Rwanda itself has an enormously dense population. It is quite amazing for an entirely agricultural country, and it is a big problem. A lot of households are lead by the mother of the elder sister, who will spend the days tilling the fields. Children under six (the starting age for primary school) are left to wander the country side on their own or left with the care of even younger children, during the day. All children's clothes seem to come in a mottled brown colour, matching the deep brown soil and suggesting that they have been worn by most members of the family at one time or another.

Hills are very big in Rwanda. The whole country is a series of ups and downs. Because of the lack of space, every possible inch of cultivatable land is farmed or terraced and this turns the country's landscape into a bumpy patchwork of red and green that is strikingly beautiful to walk or drive through. The community looks out the West over six volcanoes that form a rough border with the Congo. These make the surrounding soil amazingly fertile and rather sticky.

We are both teaching around 24 hours of English every week in a school of around 500 girls. Lessons are going well. I'm sure their English has improved already, and hopefully we shall be able to send them into their exams next July with a bit of confidence. I have branched out into sports coaching, and we have already taken on the mantle of resident guru in both Football and Basketball. We apparently have the best girls' volleyball team in Rwanda at this school as well, so that should be fun to get involved with!”