The Conservative Party’s Social Action project in Rwanda and Sierra Leone
Project Umubano 2010
Contents
Foreword
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hen Andrew Mitchell and I set up Project Umubano in 2007, our vision was to bring together a team from across our Party to raise awareness of global poverty and play a small part in tackling it on the front line.
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Foreword by the Rt Hon David Cameron MP
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Introduction by Stephen Crabb MP
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Rwanda Education Project By Pauline Latham MP, Desmond Swayne MP and Wendy Morton
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Community Project By Christopher Shale
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Private Sector Project By Daniel Yates, Fiona Bruce MP and Jeremy Lefroy MP
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Health Project By John Osborne and Sharon Mitchell
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Football Project By Stephen Ogden, Alby Shale and Richard Peers
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Sierra Leone Introduction By David Mundell MP
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Legal Project By Suella Fernandes
The spirit of friendship and partnership which underpins Project Umubano will ensure that our work in Rwanda and Sierra Leone will continue to grow and develop.
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Medical Project By Uma Fernandes and Sibo Sisay
I congratulate the volunteers for investing in Project Umubano once again this year.
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Umuganda By Stephen Crabb MP
It was the first time that any British political party had engaged in a social action project in the developing world. We were always realistic about what can be achieved in a two week period but I have seen for myself the important work that gets done. I know that our partners in Rwanda and Sierra Leone value the work and expertise of our volunteers. Now in its fourth year, we know that Project Umubano has had a profound impact on our Party. Hundreds of Party activists have now participated in the project, either in Rwanda or Sierra Leone. In May I was thrilled that so many candidates who have been a part of Umubano were elected as MPs. They have already started to make their presence felt in the House of Commons, drawing on the experiences and insights gained from Umubano and being examples of our Party’s commitment to development. Now in Government, we have a vital opportunity to deliver the Conservative development vision on a larger scale through a strong group of Ministers at the Department for International Development. But that does not mean that Project Umubano is any less important to us.
Rt Hon David Cameron Prime Minister 1
Introduction Taking over from Andrew Mitchell was an honour and a challenge, says Umubano’s new leader Stephen Crabb MP
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t was a huge privilege to be asked by the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP to step into his shoes and take over the coordination of Project Umubano, the Conservative Party’s inspirational social action project in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Now in its fourth year, Project Umubano is an important demonstration of our Party’s deep commitment to international development. It is testimony to this commitment that just three months after a gruelling election campaign, 65 Conservative volunteers again flew out to Rwanda and Sierra Leone for Project Umubano 2010. Among the group were new Ministers, MPs, businesspeople, lawyers, doctors, nurses and students from all across the UK. Within the Conservative Party there is an enormous range of talents, skills and experience and our aim is to put these resources to work to support the development efforts being made by the people of Rwanda and Sierra Leone. We recognise that a two week social action project can only make a modest contribution to these two countries. But the work that our team does in the areas of Education, Health, Justice, Community and Business is driven by specific needs identified by our partners on the ground. In that way, we hope that our work will continue to have a lasting benefit long after we return home. Umubano means ‘friendship’ or ‘co-operation’ in Kinyarwandan, the mother tongue of Rwanda, and one of the fruits of Project Umubano over the last four years has been the deep relationships that have emerged between our volunteers and many individuals and groups in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Some of our Umubano volunteers have set up ‘school twinning’ arrangements to link up schoolchildren in Rwanda and the UK or have persuaded their employers to sponsor projects or even to provide specific training in Africa. Others have helped to provide sports equipment and clothing for youngsters in these countries. Every year so many of our Umubano volunteers describe the project as “lifechanging”. The work is challenging, hard work, but inspirational and a lot of fun too. I hope you find this booklet provides you with an enjoyable snapshot of the project this year and will encourage you to think about joining us for Project Umubano 2011. Stephen Crabb MP
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Lessons taught and learnt Umubano’s teachers report back on three contrasting experiences in different regions Kigali
By Pauline Latham MP
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rriving at the airport in Kigali felt as though we had arrived in home territory again because this was my third trip out as part of Project Umubano. Each time I have been out I have taught teachers how to teach in English. What always surprises me is how good they are at the theory of grammar - usually better than we are! Putting it into practice, however, is much harder for them. Our job as is to help that and help their pronunciation. This year was very different from previous years because we had in each class a ‘trainer’ who was a teacher that had reached a higher level than most teachers. The new format meant we all taught different groups and were able to move from class to class assisting instead of having sole responsibility for a class of 55. Our group of volunteers was a mixed group ranging from MPs, candidates, professionals, graduates and young people who had all given up holiday to go along. Saying goodbye is always a sad occasion because genuine friendships, with the Rwandans as well as between the volunteers, have been formed after two weeks. I am still in touch with some of those I taught three years ago. It makes our goal of 0.7 per cent of GDP being ring-fenced for International Development mean so much more than if we hadn’t seen the difficulties Africans face every day.
Rwamagana
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By Desmond Swayne MP
ix of us went off to Rwamagana: two old hands and four rookies but we gelled well and made an excellent team. In previous years we stayed at the Avega mission and walked to school each day, but this year the school was in Kayunza, about 20 minutes drive. Compared to Kigali, the pace of events in Rwamagana is very different: 7 o’clock soup for breakfast and depart for school; teach till 2.30pm (with lunch in a bucket at midday); prepare for tomorrow till 5 o’clock; go to the pub and return riding pillion on a bicycle for supper at 7 o’clock. Go to bed at eight. The only variation in the regime was our weekly trip the delightful Rambo Beach, swimming, relaxing and watching our chicken supper being killed. This year, the residential course ensured that the students were more focussed; as examiners themselves, they were of a higher standard; and the course content was a bit tighter. Undoubtedly the highlight of each day was our class singing contest at 2.30 with each class having to perform a new offering, making it enormous fun. It was hard work, but as good as a holiday: returning home having had a great time, made new friends, and perhaps having given something too.
Ruhengeri
By Wendy Morton
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was part of a small team based in Ruhengeri – a bustling and vibrant town in the north west of Rwanda close to Uganda and DR Congo and overshadowed by the imposing Virunga mountains. My task was to work alongside Rwandan Trainers from the Ministry of Education, teaching English to Rwandan teachers and examiners. Walking into the classroom on that first day we were all probably as nervous as each other, but it was great fun – shifting from “chalk and talk” to introducing songs, games, debates and a more learner centred approach to teaching. One of the most important things we could give was pronunciation practice, and for the majority of the teachers this was the first time they had heard English spoken by an English person. My class was enthusiastic and keen to learn. Real friendships were soon formed and one of my fondest memories of this trip is of the “Farewell Song” created and performed for us by some of the teachers at the final assembly – it was all about friendship. “Goodbye dear Wendy friend.. until we shall meet once again” For me, this sums up Umubano and Rwanda friendship and a place which I hope to visit again.
Books of spells This year, once again, Pearson Education donated English language dictionaries to Rwandan teachers, which were distributed by Project Umubano volunteers. A Longman Handy Learner’s Dictionary was given to each of the 1,300 teachers taking part in four intensive English language courses in Kigali, and Southern, Eastern and Northern Provinces of the country. The dictionaries were used in the English lessons and were then taken back to the teachers’ schools. 4
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Supporting survivors’ charities Christopher Shale rounds up the work of Umubano’s Community Project
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rphaned babies who are now teenagers without a single surviving relative, young women dying because they were deliberately infected with HIV, widows, the permanently unemployable, the profoundly traumatised: despite the light years Rwanda has travelled since 1994, tens of thousands of genocide survivors still need support, day after day, over and above what the state can provide. To a man and woman, the people running the main survivors’ organisations are humbling, unselfish, inspirational. Their work defines and consumes them. They are world class at making a little go a very long way. But, so focussed are they on output, they are not nearly as good as they would like to be at three things upon which it depends: evaluating what works best, so they can improve; communicating with all their important audiences; attracting more money. Our job was to help them raise their game in all
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three areas. To this end we worked as one with SURF, the survivors’ fund – for the fourth successive year our local partner, without which much less would have been achieved. The 2010 community project team was quintessentially Umubano: a gloriously disparate tableau of characters, bubbling with ideas, brimming with commercial and life skills, all there to give of their best, at their own expense; all loving being part of their party’s sharp-end international development project; in my eyes, intergalactic superheroes one and all. We spent roughly the first third of our fortnight in a manic round of fact-finding meetings with survivors’ organisations, their potential funders, government departments, diplomats and others. The middle third was design and production, during which we divided into four teams. The third, delivery: three teams each led three half-day workshops, working in small groups with leaders of nearly all the main survivors’ organisations. The fourth team researched, wrote and produced a supporting toolkit – the book of the play, as it were – and a strategy paper, for SURF, to try to make sure the start we made will endure. So will it? It will: since that fortnight in Kigali we’ve met again in London, and acted to make sure it does. There is never enough time, of course. Although most of its dramatis personae change each year, the community project has an enduring ethos and personality; its own Umubano sub-culture, in fact. It attracts people who are at their happiest and most productive when they’re thrown in at the deep end. We start with not much more than a sense of purpose, reserves of adrenaline and a blank sheet of paper. By day 14 we must conceive, create and deliver something of lasting as well as immediate
Our job was to help survivors’ charities raise their game in fundraising, communications and evaluation value, to people on whom countless others depend. It’s not a game; but it is a race: a race against time. And it’s a rush. We’re outside our comfort zone. We have to make everything work for recipients of widely differing seniority and ability, without intellectually over or under-shooting anyone. We’re
absolutely interdependent: none of us, individually, has all the skills we need; but the whole is so much greater than the sum of the parts. We have the most enormous fun. We work hard, but we laugh too – now and then in gales, some days pretty much from dawn to dusk; and on those days we still somehow manage to get things done. And when work is finished for the day, we play. We’re rarely the first to bed. We’re often the first out of it. The community project is not a great option if you want to catch up on your sleep. It’s a fortnight’s sustained assault on the senses. It’s a relentless barrage – wave after wave of life’s richest experiences. It tests. It stretches. It’s almost embarrassingly rewarding. There’s a palpable sense of collective loss when it’s all over – if only until next year. None of us will be in the least surprised If friendships made there last a lifetime. If we could capture and bottle all this we’d never lose a general election.
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Trading places: the Private Sector project
Tuning the engine of Rwanda’s economy
Daniel Yates on explaining what it means to be a bond trader in Kigali
MPs Fiona Bruce and Jeremy Lefroy on helping small businesses
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n the Private Sector Project we spent our week working with the Capital Markets Advisory Council (CMAC) to help make progress with their strategic initiative of developing the capital markets within Rwanda. One of the most basic obstacles to achieving this goal is the lack of financial knowledge and understanding in Rwanda. We tried to play a small part in helping to overcome this by holding workshops over two days with more than fifty people. Having floated the Sock Shop in the Eighties, Richard Ross spoke on his area of expertise; preparing companies for floatation on the stock exchange. This is a key goal of CMAC’s who have already identified over ten potential companies for floatation. Another goal of CMAC’s is to increase the issuance of bonds by government and companies and increase trading in those securities. To support this goal, I held a workshop on the pricing, valuation and trading of bonds. To put the theory into practice we organised a trading game with teams buying and selling bonds, competing to win by making the most profit. In addition we held meetings with companies who intend to raise money on the capital markets
via either a share offering or bond issue. We met with the deputy governor of the Central Bank to discuss challenges to economic and monetary stability, which are important to attract foreign investors into the capital markets. Fortunately we were able to provide CMAC with financial calculators and text books, thanks
We spent our week working to help develop the capital markets within Rwanda – more than 50 people attended our workshops to 7City and the CFA Institute respectively. The books have allowed CMAC to start their own business library for the benefit of their members. One of the most fulfilling anecdotes of the week was of a gentleman who attended our workshops; he was so inspired by Richard’s account of setting up the Sock Shop that he went home and ordered a crate of shirts to be imported from Mauritius to Rwanda in the hope of founding the Shirt Shop in Kigali. Recognising the importance of maintaining our connection with CMAC, we hope to continue to support them in their strategic initiatives into the future. Volunteers were crucial to Chloe Smith MP’s resounding victory in Norwich North
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t was with some trepidation that Jeremy and I arrived at the Private Sector Foundation in Kigali, having no prior knowledge of the businesses we’d offered to work with in a rash of enthusiasm as new MPs several weeks earlier. Were they start ups or would the delegates be expecting us to deliver modules of MBAs?! Would there be a cultural divide or language barriers? We needn’t have worried! The delegates couldn’t have made us feel more welcome and spoke excellent English. They were bright, enthusiastic men and women already trading and employing one or two people in a variety of businesses – shoemaking, chicken farming, clothes retailing, graphic design, accountancy and even a would-be film producer. We broke the ice by telling them of some of our business disasters! On day one we looked at market research and writing a mission statement. They were interested and engaged – but was this typical Rwandan politeness? The acid test would be if they returned on day two. Overnight we wondered? But despite having businesses to run – they all came back! During the remainder of the week, we tackled strategic planning and writing a Business Plan. We also worked on financial, people, and time management. Finally we did workshops on recruitment, interviewing and staff development. Despite cramming rather more in than any self respecting management consultant would dream of doing, and with Jeremy and I learning what worked best as we went along each day, the delegates’ overwhelming feedback at the week’s end was ‘more!’ What we learnt from a most enjoyable experience working with enthusiastic, engaged and interested people was how great the need is for this kind of training in Rwanda – however amateur! There is a real opportunity for volunteers in this area; it became clear
to us that what we had been concerned would be our weakness – our lack of formal training as management consultants – was far less important than our reallife experience running businesses for over 20 years, which enabled us to answer so many of the questions and challenges, which clearly face business people the world over. Building up the capacity to do business well in the SME sector in Rwanda, with the jobs and taxes benefiting local communities which go with them, is much needed. There are thousands of microbusinesses, providing a bare subsistence living for their owners and families, but just a handful of big businesses, and a huge gap in between. Only the larger players can afford access to business management training. We worked with about 14 SMEs. At the end of the week, the Director of the Private Sector Foundation asked if Umubano could come back and work with more businesspeople, who were also keen to learn. ‘How many more?’ was our question. ‘About 72,000!’ was her answer. Any volunteers for next year?
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Project Umubano’s medical team: tackling issues from women’s health to orthopaedics The work of the Project’s doctors encompassed treating more than 700 patients – as well as beginning to set up a course to train the country’s first generation of home-grown orthopaedic surgeons. Here John Osborne and Sharon Mitchell describe Umubano’s work for women’s health Karimbi
By John Osborne
The main objective for the women’s health team in 2010 was to set up a family planning service for Karimbi, the great need previously highlighted by Dr Sharon Bennett following previous visits. We were able to train two nurses to run the clinic and provide contraceptive advice and treatments. A small building in the market has been rented by the government who also supply the contraceptives. The building was bare and empty so we arranged for it to be painted inside, basic furniture was generously supplied by Project Umubano. We were delighted to leave behind a functioning clinic which we hear has already treated 50 patients. It is important to provide support for the staff with a view to expanding the facilities during further visits. An outreach clinic is also planned, but while still at Karimbi we also saw some specialist gynaecological
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patients, helped on the labour ward and gave talks on family planning to the antenatal patients. Project Umubano works so well because we become part of the local community. In this way we have an opportunity to learn about the people of Rwanda and the problems that exist so that we can provide appropriate help and advice. I hope to be able to take part again in the future. Kirambi
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By Sharon Mitchell
s you may know, over the last three years as part of my sabbatical I have spent some months working as a doctor in Rwanda and Uganda. In fact I have just returned from my fourth visit to the Kirambi Health Centre in Rwanda where I now have very strong ties with the people. During my time at Kirambi I have seen almost
1,000 patients, who previously had no access to a doctor as the health centre is staffed solely by nurses. I have used these consultations as a way of helping the nurses to improve their care of patients. We have helped the nurses develop professionally in other ways as well, such as via weekly teaching sessions and provision of a reference library. The focus this year was on setting up Family Planning services. With a view to this we organised training for the Government-funded nurses on how to deliver modern contraceptive methods. We ran workshops in collaboration with the community social workers with post-natal and ante-natal women. We have also furnished and decorated the new family planning clinic. This is the first time many of the women of Kirambi have had access to any contraception methods. Kirambi Health Centre is run by the Medical Missionaries of Mary and cares for a population of 10,000 people, many of whom are very poor, often surviving on less than 25p a day. The centre has 20 staff (12 nurses, 8 community workers). Despite the limited number of staff they run primary care, HIV, TB, antenatal and malnutrition clinics. There are in-patient beds for very sick patients and a maternity ward. The centre also runs farming, public health and water sanitation projects for the community. I have been so inspired by all the hard work that is done at Kirambi. The team there never fail to amaze me. What they achieve from day to day with minimal resources is quite astonishing. With so few doctors in Rwanda, these nurses provide essential medical care to their communities.
The centre would now like to set up a Health Outpost Satellite, three-hours walk away in Cyahafi. This will allow them to reach more people through outreach immunisation, HIV, TB and antenatal clinics, and to provide health education for the local population on issues such as nutrition, disease prevention and hygiene. There will also be classes on community building to help local communities become more empowered and self-sufficient. The MMM have put together a business plan and have enough funding to cover staffing and transportation costs for the proposed Health Outpost. They already own a suitable plot of land but they do not have a building! The building will cost £8728. It will have a class room, two consultation rooms and two pit latrines. So with quite modest additional funds this project, which will make a huge difference to local people, can be put into action very quickly.
Project Umubano’s medics on location
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Sport for all
Sierra Leone: Umubano’s new frontier
The work of Umubano’s football project
David Mundell MP reflects on leading both doctors and lawyers
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onservative Party volunteers partnered with the Rwandan Football Association and the Survivors Fund for the Umubano football module. We coached hundreds of boys and girls aged 6-16 in five locations throughout the country. We also distributed football kit contributed by our generous sponsors. We were inspired by the passion that Rwandan children have for the ‘beautiful game’ and overwhelmed by the raw sporting talent on display. Cristiano Ronaldo-style stepovers were in abundance. One young boy played ‘keepy-up’ across the length of the pitch with his left and right feet before finishing his move with a crisp volleyed goal. Rwandans love to showboat. We were touched by the high esteem in which Rwandan people hold the English game. We often met children whose nicknames are ‘Rooney’ and ‘Gerrard’. Replica Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal shirts were in abundance. However, Rwandan football faces many challenges. There are only around 100 formally qualified coaches for a population of 10 million people. Despite their obvious natural talent, the young Rwandan footballers often display naivety in their decision-making and in their play. These problems can be ironed out with proper coaching from an early age. Not surprisingly, we frequently encountered a lack of proper equipment and facilities. Some children play the game barefoot and few boys and girls have shin-pads. Footballs were often ancient, pitches pot-holed, and water supplies non-existent. Training sessions tended to end with the children pleading for bottled water. Most of the Rwandan children we trained live in rural poverty and come from families torn apart by the 1994 genocide. Football puts smiles on young faces and sometimes provides a career for the youngsters. It fosters self-esteem and can break down international, racial and tribal barriers. We long for the day when a ‘Rwandan Drogba’ graces the English Premiership. We hope that we can help in our own modest way towards making this dream a reality.
Stephen Ogden, Richard Peers & Alby Shale
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his was my fourth year leading the Umubano justice team. The team has now transferred its work in Rwanda to Allen and Overy, the City firm of solicitors. This allowed us to move completely over to Sierra Leone this summer, while still ensuring that our activities in Rwanda have the sustainability that we had been aiming for from the start. The expansion of our programme in Sierra Leone was much appreciated by our partners there, as their justice system remains seriously challenged and is threatening to hold the country’s development back. Cases are often adjourned many times – 40 is not unheard of – and there are only 17 magistrates to serve a population of over six million. To help ease this strain, our team worked again with the Chief Justice and High Court on improving court processes. We also helped train a further cohort of paralegals for the charity Timap for Justice. Paralegals traditionally perform a role akin to citizens advice bureaux. However, in a country where few people have access to a lawyer, they are – very sensibly – becoming increasingly involved in mediation to settle the cases that come before them. Our work with the paralegals therefore focussed on how to prepare for and conduct a successful mediation. We have found that role-play is one of the best ways to illustrate this and, although my performance as a disgruntled wedding planner might have left a lot to be desired, I was really impressed by the calm and assured negotiating technique that our students were developing. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, members of our team gave seminars to senior
members of the judiciary on subjects such as Alternative Dispute Resolution and the UK’s approach to sentencing guidelines. Finally, with the addition of a former police trainer to our team, we were also able to include police officers in our work for the first time this year. We conducted sessions with over 500 police and prosecutors on evidence-gathering and preparing for prosecution. Building confidence in the police is essential to establishing law and order in Sierra Leone. Looking back, that and the other challenges facing the Sierra Leone justice sector often seem overwhelming. However, I believe it is always possible to make a difference and I hope that is what my colleagues and I have been able to achieve again this year.
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Supporting Sierra Leone’s lawyers
Taking the pulse of a new nation
Barrister Suella Fernandes on the challenges facing a developing country
Umubano’s doctors and nurses found their first trip to Sierra Leone inspiring
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ur team of volunteers, led by James Meller, included City solicitor, Ben Hodgson, former Justice of the Peace turned Freetown lawyer, Paul Chiy, former Police Constable Michael Poynton and Barristers Alex Deane, Phillippa Martin-Moran and myself. More heavily dependent on foreign aid and systemically less developed than Rwanda, Sierra Leone displays many hallmarks of a society ridden with widespread human rights and justice abuses. Our introduction from Peter Viner at the British Council’s Justice Sector Development Programme set out the reality: some of the worst prisons in Africa, a stagnant court system, a police service averse to checks and balances, lack of accessible legal representation and evidence of institutional corruption. Our work covered many aspects. Training Paralegals working for an independent
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organisation, Timap for Justice, was particularly inspiring for Ben, Phillippa and myself. Timap Paralegals were truly the “voice of the voiceless”, solving seemingly intractable problems. Alex and Michael worked with the police and prosecutors on aspects of criminal justice. Voluminous codes exist in the UK which regulate procedure and conduct to ensure fairness to defendants. But despite their “in principle” adherance to such standards in Sierra Leone, problems still pertain and there was benefit to be had from training and open discussion about the practicalities. Alex further addressed judges of the Supreme Court on case management and crossborder crime. We also visited Pademba Road prison: an overcrowded, rat-infested and foreboding colonial remnant still standing (just) since 1918. A male inmate dying from a ruptured hernia lay in his bed a few doors away from the women held on deathrow for charges of which they were still unsure, on sentences they did not understand, after having been processed through a system they never deciphered. Advocaid, a small charity that fights for these women through the courts, has secured the release of several detainees. Low-salaries for judges explains the propensity for bribery; lack of suitable training causes cloggedup systems; inadequate regulation allows poor police practice to go unchecked; a limited pool of lawyers pushes up their hourly rate and renders access to justice the preserve of the rich. Our contribution was always going to be modest, but being part of this resurrection in the aftermath of tragedy is inspiring, humbling and a constant reminder of the privileged life we enjoy back home in the UK.
Training nurses
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By Uma Fernandes
ur health project involved working with the Well-Bodi Partnership, a UK-based charity which provides medication, equipment, and training to nursing staff at the Ola During Children’s Hospital. This assistance covers the Emergency Ward, Premature Baby Unit and acutely ill under- fives and babies. In Ola during children’s hospital, I witnessed many distressing cases in the emergency ward. Premature babies who had lost their mothers at birth, left to be cared for by a teenage sister or grandparents; babies abandoned by their teenage mothers or young carers who can no longer continue with such care. I managed to teach basic neonatal and paediatric care as well as parental support to the ward nurses. One area for improvement would be nurse-parent communication. Progress has been made. Medication such as antibiotics, quinine (for malaria) and intravenous fluids and bloods are now in sufficient supply and free of charge for babies due to a recent change in health care policy, providing free care to mothers and under 5s. In overcrowded conditions, the staff’s compassion and enthusiasm was inspirational.
Child health and teenage pregnancy
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By Sibo Sesay
y focus was on the promotion of health and wellbeing of mothers and their children. I worked with the community team in one of the deprived slums of Kroobay. This included education and promotion of breastfeeding and education on child development. I witnessed severe cases of poor nutrition to children and participated in the training of community nurses. Malnutrition and lack of accurate infant feeding was common; the satisfaction of seeing the babies I worked with improve in health and gaining weight appropriately was immeasurable. In a care-centre for street children I saw more than 400 teenagers. The teenage parents and older teenagers also participated in a sexual health session that covered sexually transmitted infections, decision making, relationships and communication and negotiating skills. The information given to them will help them to make informed choices. Many of them were already practising unsafe unprotected sex and many were being paid for sex. If Sierra Leone is to attain acceptable health for the vulnerable children and young people, more must be done.
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Rwanda’s Big Society Umubano goes hands-on in Kigali Umuganda
By Stephen Crabb
Umuganda, which means ‘contribution’ in Kinyarwanda, takes place on the last Saturday of every month. From seven in the morning until noon it is mandatory for all Rwandan adults to take part in a manual activity that benefits their community. This activity is then followed by a traditional community meeting. This year Project Umubano volunteers joined in again with this community activity, helping to clear the foundations for new school buildings in Kigali as part of the Government’s initiative to provide free school education for all children. At the community meeting that followed the Umubano volunteers were officially welcomed by the Deputy Mayor of Kigali and the community. The volunteers also passed on their thanks and promised to return for more hands on work next year.
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Project Umubano is the Conservative Pary’s Scoial Action Project in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. If you would like to go in 2011, please contact the Office of Stephen Crabb MP This report edited by Matt Warman