Nyira’s House

As the Rwandan Government winds down the work of the Fund for the Support of Genocide Survivors (FARG) in housing and secondary school education, some survivors are still left with poor housing. SURF is therefore pleased to be able to … Continue Reading »

SURF in Nyanza

SURF Rwanda team yesterday made a special trip to visit survivors in Nyanza, including meeting with 86 year-old Kangabe Alibera, as part of the 100 days’ commemoration period. We provided 75 solar lights, thanks to the support of Good Gifts. … Continue Reading »

Business Talent

Ten talented entrepreneurs presented their business plans in a competition to access start-up capital for the establishment of their businesses. The business competition is the graduation of the fourth phase of the Youth Entrepreneurship Training Programme (YETP). YETP was set … Continue Reading »

Age Matters

Caring for the aged in Rwanda is the subject of a new report by AVEGA AGAHOZO, the genocide widows association. With 87 per cent of respondents on incomes of below 10,000 RWF (14USD) per month, what are the support mechanisms … Continue Reading »

SURF Community Counselling Group, 2014

Counselling – Rebuilding

An innovative counselling project, that delivers support through a community approach to women with children born of rape, demonstrates its success as a model of best practice for rape victims, new research has shown. It suggests that the groups, established … Continue Reading »

Think Big

AERG and SURF launched the first meeting of AERG Business Networking Club “Think Big: Growing Your Business in Rwanda”, a forum created to bring together youth, enterprise and innovators in Rwanda through informal networking events, on Friday (28th November 2014). … Continue Reading »

Reparation & Reconciliation

The 20th anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi in April 2014 renewed discussions about justice and reconciliation in Rwanda. Rwanda’s restorative justice sentenced thousands of perpetrators to reparation (often a monetary compensation) at the gacaca (community courts). However, many … Continue Reading »

Widows & Agriculture

New research from Stuart Jones of the University of Reading (UK) shows that agricultural vulnerability of widow farmers in social processes is largely manifested from actions of extended family, rather than exogenous community factors. Genocide has resulted in a fundamental … Continue Reading »

One Dollar Opens

The One Dollar Hostel, new home to 192 vulnerable, genocide orphans, was inaugurated this week by Francis Kaboneka, Local Government Minister, after a four-year construction phase. The brainchild of Rwandan diaspora, AERG (student survivors) and GAERG (former student survivors), has … Continue Reading »

Outrage

The BBC’s recent “Rwanda: The Untold Story” provides a highly imbalanced account of the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, with no challenge to its selection of sources and materials, nor checks on the assertions made. Sadly, it serves to fuel … Continue Reading »