2020 COVID UPDATE

Aug 13, 2020

Somehow our students managed to get through the summer and stay up on their studies after being forced out of their boarding schools in March due to COVID-19.  Our team in Rwanda placed the orphaned students with volunteer families and the other students were places with any living relatives we could find. Thanks to some generous WAL supporters we were able to provide enough computers and wireless internet ccess along with some private tutors to keep them focused and supported through the months of “distance learning.”  On top of this we had to overcome the largest flood in 50 years in one of the villages impacting the housing for a handful of our children once again. The last two months our leader on the ground in Rwanda (and surrogate mother), Angel, has been in and out of hospital dealing with her asthma. It’s a minor miracle we have weathered this storm but we are still here and more importantly all of our students are caught up on their studies and physically healthy for the most part.

Heading into the school year is always a busy time for as we need to raise the necessary funds for school fees, books, clothing, sanitary supplies, and prepare our students for the upcoming year.  This year of course is even crazier. The Rwandan and Ugandan governments still have not decided whether the schools will reopen for boarding and in-class learning or if we will be forced to have our children study remotely again. Obviously we hope for the former but, as in America, everything is pretty fluid right now so we need to be able to prepare ourselves for whatever comes our way.

8 years in and our children have made huge strides, not just in their education but also in terms of their confidence and overall health.