The History of a country striving for a new Tomorrow
The history of Kurera cannot be told without first addressing the history of Rwanda. Unfortunately the repurcussions of the tragic events most commonly associated with Rwanda still ripple through society. The genocide of 1994 resulted in the death of between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Rwandans over the course of 100 days. Beside the human toll, the loss of productivity and psychological damage ravaged the economy as well as the national psyche. The guilt of the international community resulted in the influx of aid and today Rwanda is a beacon of development for all countries in the region.
However, while the GDP has tripled since 1994 that only translates to a per capita income of $250 per year. No wonder, then, that only about 10% of children attend secondary school, where the yearly fees are $240. Furthermore, students who were orphaned by the genocide have their fees paid by the government but those whose parents were left handicapped, either mentally or physically, are not assisted. Also, justice is still slowly being served through the Gacaca court system fifteen years later. This means that family breadwinners are still being sent to prison for genocide crimes and rightly so, but we believe that it should not be for their children to suffer the consequences. Many poor subsistence farmers also send their students to school knowing they cannot afford the fees but hope that somehow the student will acquire sponsorship or the school bursar will take pity on them. This is where Kurera comes in. In Kinyarwandan, Kurera means "to educate" and we aim to do just that. At Kurera we believe education is the most sustainable form of aid to give.
Students study hard at
École des Sciences.
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