Project 1: Construction of Karuzi secondary school Why Karuzi
ACTS has been sponsoring children’s education for the past 15 years in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya. For greater impact, we are now building a secondary school for the children of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have been living in camps since 1993 and for the children of refugees returning to the region in large numbers.
The province of Karuzi has endured the most turbulent past. This part of the country, North East of Burundi, has been selected because of large numbers of children in camps without access to secondary education.
Aims
Educate and prepare children for adulthood by giving them skills required to be self sufficient. Provide an environment for young people to learn about God and how to live together. Become a centre for galvanising learning, mutual understanding and respect.
Project Outline
The project has been divided into three phases.
† Phase I: Minimum building required for the school to start.
Eleven classrooms, an administrative block, a dining hall and teachers’ accommodation. † Phase II: provision of suitable playing and washing facilities. † Phase III: Building of two vocational sections, computing and catering. Progress so far
With
phase 1 nearly completed, we opened the school on 13th September for the first
cohort of sixty pupils. The ceremony was attended by many guests and a group of
volunteers from U. K. Among the guests was His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza,
the President of Burundi. In his inaugural speech, he thanked God for
sustaining the work that brought about the existence of the school. He exhorted
students to work hard and to recognise that: ”The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of all wisdom”. He then requested prayers for true peace in Burundian
hearts, for reconciliation and for unity.
We thank
you so much for your support, the sacrifices you have made for this vital work
are an immense blessing. We have brilliant teachers to help us with the vision,
four full time and two part time. Two auxiliary staff are in charge of making
sure that these students do not go hungry by giving them a decent lunch. The
appeal to sponsor orphans attending the school has received two offers. Please
consider sponsoring a child’s education Next steps
One of the
aims of the school is to provide long-term support for deprived children by
giving them practical skills. This will happen at the phase 3 stage when the
pupils have gained adequate education and have been prepared to take on new
responsibilities. Before then, we urgently need funds:
- to finance the forthcoming year, more teachers and
another sixty pupils,
- to build a dormitory and a recreational area and
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to purchase a vehicle for the school.
| Project 2: Children Sponsorship.  Through our Sponsor-a-child scheme project, most of the orphans we help are directly sponsored by friends who have made a commitment to give ten to twenty pounds a month to meet the needs of the most vulnerable orphans.
This project spans four countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya. The money is used to encourage fostering and for education. Project 3: Homes for widows.
 After the 1993 genocide in Burundi and 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a lot of NGOs and Western governments were moved to act. The Rwandan capital Kigali has been re-built to its former glory. However, in villages survivors of the genocide had no homes to go back to. When they did, it was abysmal. We have built nine homes for widows and orphans in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. The houses are built in line with the tradition and just to meet basic needs.
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