On September 2nd, we will launch our Back-to-School campaign to raise $12,000 in support of our Leadership Academy: a ground-breaking initiative – beginning this fall – that will provide advanced business training to some of our talented, entrepreneurial, and inspirational artisan partners.
Yet as we prepare to take our education programs to the next level, we want to fill you in on what we’ve been up to for the past seven years. Here’s what you need to know:
The Program
- Since 2007, we have been providing our artisan partners with training programs in business management & entrepreneurship, computer skills, English, and Kinywarwanda literacy.
- These courses were designed and written by our organization’s founders – father and son duo extraordinaire, Matt and Tom Mitro, along with a team of expert volunteers. They compiled the course materials themselves in order to create a cohesive curriculum uniquely tailored to meet our artisan partners’ specific learning needs.
- In addition to our standard training programs, we also provide workshops for our artisan partners in Sexual Health and Wellness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Occupational Health and Wellness, Savings and Loans, and Domestic Violence.
The Teachers
- All of our training programs are taught by top Rwandan university students through a partnership with Generation Rwanda (GR) – an incredible NGO that gives merit-based scholarships to orphans and socially vulnerable youth in Rwanda.
- Each GR trainer has a specialty and teaches his or her course of choice at each participating cooperative once a week.
- These talented trainers are also given the opportunity to participate in professional development programs with our Country Director, Rosine Urujeni, so they can graduate ready to enter the workforce.
The Impact
- Despite the fact that many of our artisan partners had their educations interrupted by the 1994 genocide (and some never went to school at all), they are excelling in our courses.
- In fact, we are deeply pleased to report that some of our artisan partners have mastered and surpassed the current level of our programming. They are eager to take their educations to the next level and have asked us to help them make their dreams a reality.
That’s why, this fall, we are going “back-to-school.”
This October, we are launching a Leadership Academy in Kigali to provide talented female entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed as independent businesswomen, confident leaders, and effective change-makers – catalyzing social and economic progress across Rwanda.
But we need your help! Stay tuned for more updates on how YOU can help our artisan partners reach their full potential.