Project Launch:

The Groupe Scolaire Secondary School’s Kids’ Club in Rwanda is a student initiated activity where kids meet on a bi-weekly basis to learn songs and study HIV/AIDS and other health related issues. They also prepare performances and skits to show fellow students, practice English, and discuss issues important to them. The majority of Kids’ Club members have been identified as orphans or vulnerable children, having lost one or both parents in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Many are deeply traumatized as a result of witnessing violence or simply growing up without parents. Project Duterimbere (‘We Move Forward’ in the local language), supported with a $490 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2010, provided members of Groupe Scolaire Secondary School’s Kids’ Club with art and sports equipment and provided students an essential outlet for expression, a place to ask questions, to be themselves, and to learn from one another. The goal of Project Duterimbere is to give the Kids’ Club a much-needed “boost.” Using art in Kids' Club activities enables students to publicize what they’ve learned using art both on school grounds and in the community and spreading much-needed health messages throughout the community in an engaging way.