In 2014, while living and volunteering at a teacher training college in Rwanda, my husband, Glyn, set up a rugby team. When the boys left the college they carried on playing and formed a club side Resilience RFC. The team has grown and grown and now has a junior team as well as a very successful national league team. Three of the players have represented their country in international rugby. Rugby has really changed their lives for the good.
Resilience has always tried to help the community and they have funded some projects within the community, supported their players with school fees and offer their time free during the monthly Umuganda (community work) to help locals by clearing paths, rebuilding houses etc.
COVID has hit the country hard from an economic point of view. The country has done an excellent job at containing the virus but so many people have lost jobs and any income.
Three Resilience RFC players, Jean D'Amour, Fiston and Peter have had to drop out of school. Although school is free in Rwanda (until A level) there are some small costs - uniform, notebooks and pens, school lunch and a few other fees they have to pay. £70 will cover fees for the year.
The boys are in Primary 6 , Senior 1 and Senior 3.
I would like to help them by paying these expenses to help them get back to school and the education all children deserve. Any surplus money raised will be used to help other children to return to school.
Many thanks,
You can read the story of how rugby started in a remote area of southwest Rwanda here
Two Welsh volunteers kick-start Rwandan rugby ... - BBCwww.bbc.co.uk › sport › rugby-union
and find out more about Resilience RFC here:
https://rusiziresilience.weebly.com