Each year Survivors Fund (SURF) publishes its Annual Report and Accounts, which are officially filed with the Charity Commission. Our 2018 report is now thus publicly available to download and read here.

Below is an extract from the report, highlighting our ongoing work to support the education of survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi, and their dependents…

Education is a fundamental right that enables people to break the cycle of deprivation and poverty. Survivors Fund (SURF) supports access to University education to 13 students, and funding for school fees for a further 29 students, being brought up by genocide widows through funding by INSPIRE!africa and the Reaching Rwanda project. This relieves the burden of widows, who struggle to bring up and provide financial support to the young people in their care. Also, many young heads-of-households have dropped out of school to look after their younger siblings and we give them a chance to attend school.

Many students have no school or university materials, most of them have to walk long distances to attend their places of study, sometimes hungry because they cannot afford rent near university and meals. It is important to provide allowances for transport and meals for such students, which we do through the support of the Good Gifts Catalogue, an initiaitve of the Charities Advisory Trust. Education remains the most important route out of poverty.