Dear Friends, As usual, our newsletter rightly showcases the wonderful achievements of our work in Rwanda, including highlights of the academic year at Umubano Academy, peace day celebrations, the installation of superb new classroom technology and news of the school's bumper banana harvest. But this end-of-year newsletter also highlights the unsung heroes who enable the work to happen. Fundraising is relentless and time-consuming, so we want to thank, acknowledge and celebrate the tireless efforts and goodwill of many people who this year have changed the lives of hundreds of children in Rwanda. You can read about cycling superheroes, musical maestros, fabulous floral fundraisers and school children who are really flying the flag for APIE. There's news of how APIE will be bringing light to Umubano Academy with new solar panels for the school hall and a round-up of all the grants we've received this year and how we're spending this money to improve education across Rwanda. As Rwanda's first 'Lead School for Peace', Umubano Academy epitomises this season of peace and goodwill. Donations to APIE's Winter Appeal will enable us to continue to offer the possibility of an excellent education to the poorest children in Kigali and support Rwandan educators to provide high quality education and promote peace building in one of the poorest counties in the world. We hope you will consider making a donation over the festive season. Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas. Angie Kotler, APIE Chief Executive |
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A donation to APIE will help us offer school places to some of the poorest children in Kigali. Donations also enable us to train teachers to improve the quality of their teaching and gain skills that will ensure they deliver an excellent education to Rwanda's future workforce. | | |
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Let there be light! Over £4000 was raised for solar panelling at Umubano Academy at a fabulous evening of fundraising and celebration on 12 December hosted by APIE Board members and founders Lucy and Brooks Newmark. The solar panels will not only reduce energy costs and help to light dimly lit classrooms; they will also contribute directly to pupil education by providing insights into environmental issues and enabling IT to be used as a core part of lessons. Thank you to all the people who attended the fundraiser and gave so generously to this project. |
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Cycling superheroes smash their fundraising targets John Cox and Tony Bulleid cycled 300km in November and have so far helped to raise over £4000 for APIE. The duo joined the Slow Cyclist and Charity Links on an epic eight night cycling challenge through Kenya's heartlands and the Maasai Mara in aid of APIE and other educational organisations working in the region. We are hugely grateful to these APIE superheroes and truly in awe of both their generosity and cycling skills. |
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Hilden Grange flies the flag Children, parents and teachers at Hilden Grange school in Kent raised a phenomenal £7500 for APIE this year. Their winning combination of generosity and creativity will support children from the poorest families in Kigali to go to school. We also love the human Rwanda flag they made, pictured left. |
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Brunswick pub goes blues, jazz and just a little bit country for APIE We enjoyed a fabulous night of live music and fundraising in November at the Brunswick Pub, Hove, raising almost £300 in just a few hours. Huge thanks to the Tobie Carpenter trio, the burn.it.smith quintet and the fabulous duo Tim Staffel & Paul Stewart who provided some wonderful entertainment and to the Brunswick Pub who hosted us so well. Thank you also of course to all those who joined us and were so generous in their donations to APIE. |
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Fundraising with flowers Our wonderful Schools Ambassador Ena Carroll-Isles and florist Caroline Spurling hosted a flower arranging event to raise funds for APIE. The event raised over £300 which will fund a school place for a child for a year, proving that the generosity and energy of just a few individuals really can change lives. Thank you to all the donors who gave so generously at the event, and hopefully gained some new skills in the process! |
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The amazing US Friends of APIE team has launched a campaign to raise money for the feeding programme at Umubano Academy. The campaign aims to raise $7800 to provide 36 children with one nutritious meal each school day over the coming year, ensuring that children aren't trying to learn whilst hungry and receive the nutrition they need for proper cognitive development. |
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Fundraising from trusts, foundations and grants This year we have received over £50,000 in grants, including £10,300 from the Grille Foundation, £7040 from Lef Pillon Trust, £2000 from the Victoria League, £6500 from the Tony Randall Theatrical Foundation and almost £30,000 in UK aid from the UK Government. These grants have enabled us to improve the quality of pre-school education across Rwanda, provide additional support for pupils with special educational needs, deliver a fabulous Creative Arts programme at Umubano Academy and stock our library with a wonderful range of books in English, Kinyarwanda and French. Thank you to all these organisations for being our partners in education. |
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NEWS FROM UMUBANO ACADEMY |
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Peace Day celebrations Umubano Academy celebrated Peace Day by linking up with St Giles' Church of England Primary School in Hertfordshire and arranging several activities. The day began with a Peace Day Assembly in the school hall where each class performed a song, dance or reading. A “Play for Peace” friendly volleyball match was organised between the teachers and the students, and a great amount of fun was had by all. Each class also contributed a Peace Day Dove artwork and pictures of these were sent to St. Giles school. Each member of the Senior 1 class then recorded a Peace Day message and these were also shared with St Giles |
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New books bring joy at Umubano The excitement of being able to page through a new story book is overwhelming BUT when those new books are not only in English but in Kinyarwanda and French as well, the excitement is even greater. Umubano Academy was able to purchase more than 500 new books for children of all ages to enjoy thanks to a generous donation from the Victoria League. From board books to picture books for intermediate readers and story books for advanced readers, there was something for everyone. The addition of the new books sparked renewed interest in the Library during September, which was also Literacy Month. |
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Umubano Academy goes bananas!
“Umuganura”, the Rwandan National Harvest day, was celebrated nationally on Friday 2 August. At Umubano Academy, we believe that there are many opportunities for learning and not all learning takes place in classrooms. In the school garden we continue to cultivate bananas and vegetables so that students are able to see first hand the bananas being planted, growing, maturing, ripening and being harvested. This year, staff and students were all able to enjoy bananas harvested from our trees and take part in a practical lesson which highlighted the importance of sources of food, growing and protecting plants and healthy eating. |
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Gearing up in the classroom and hall Umubano Academy prides itself on being able to deliver quality teaching with the support of relevant and current resources. This year, thanks to funding from The Grille Foundation, each classroom at the school was able to have a bluetooth soundbar installed, to complement the data projector and whiteboard setup, enhancing the multi-media capabilities in the classroom. In addition, the school hall gained an elevated removable stage, improved lighting and new speakers, with support from The Tony Randall Theatrical Fund. A fixed data projector and a large pull-down projection screen were also installed to increase the functionality of the fully equipped hall making it useful for the local community as well as a venue for workshops, meetings and other communal events. With 12 multimedia rooms surrounding the APIE Rwanda office (which is in the middle of the school site), it sometimes makes for interesting Skype calls but at least the team don’t have to go far to know the new resources are being well utilised! |
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Your support is what allows our work to continue. If you'd like to get involved in any of our projects, please reach out to us at hannah@apartnerineducation.org. If you'd like to donate, please follow the link below. Thank you. |
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