Last year, in partnership with the UK Conservative Party, SURF developed an Education into Employment programme to support young survivors at university in Rwanda to secure a job on graduation.

This was developed by a group from Project Umubano, the two-week international social action programme of  the UK Conservative Party. This year a new group will be working on developing a Leadership and Communications Programme for SURF’s partner organisations.

The impact of the project has extended beyond just the two weeks of the visit, and the excellent Graduate Career Development Guide that was published. Over the last year, SURF has developed an Education into Employment Programme, under the leadership of Maia Gedde.

In partnership with AERG (Student Association of Survivors of the Genocide), and GAERG (Graduated Student Association of Survivors of the Genocide) the Education into Employment Programme covers the following areas:

1. English-language classes: Classes for 100 students began this week at ULK and INILAK for SURF sponsored students and AERG members, and plans are underway to scale up the classes to more AERG students at more universities.
2. Mentoring: a pilot programme is to be launched in October pairing students with professionals (from GAERG) and ex-pats, to provide mentoring over a 3 month period with sessions once a week.
3. SIT (School for International Training): a cultural exchange is planned for later this year with students being paired with SIT students from America.
4. IT Training: computers (purchased through funding from INSPIRE!africa and The Funding Network) are soon to be allocated to AERG chapters which will then set up IT Centres at their universities to provide IT training opportunities for their members, and develop the Centres into income-generating activities.
5. Careers Newsletter: the first newsletter of its kind with news and opportunities in the job market for graduates is to be launched with the Rwanda Development Board.

There are plans to develop an entrepreneurship programme as well. This work will be taken forward by Catherine Russell over the next three months. An excellent project officer (Albert Gasake) has been appointed at AERG to lead on the work too, made possible through funding from the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust.

We are hopeful that the forthcoming Project Umubano group will deliver as great a legacy on the Leadership and Communications Programme this year.

Subscribe to the blog to keep posted on how that develops.