Background

VRUK is a small charity with a group of trustees working to support a community through nursery education with a feeding programme. It is based at the Children’s Centre in the isolated village of Gasundwe and serving the surrounding area of Gihombo Sector. Situated on the shores of Lake Kivu in Western Rwanda, much of rural Gihombo has yet to benefit from the developing national economy and infrastructure.

The Charity is also supporting income generation enterprises throughout the area. The first was the building of the village passenger and cargo boat, owned by GiFo, our partner NGO in Gihombo. Since then, training for a sewing group and safer stoves-making group has enabled local people to start up small businesses. In partnership with local government, we are supporting animal husbandry projects, distributing chickens, goats and pigs to local people. More recently, a co-operative to dry and sell locally caught fish has provided another group of people with meaningful work and income.

We are now hoping to explore the opportunities that Rwanda’s growing tourism trade could bring to the area.

Trustees

Tricia and Lynne, both spent time in Rwanda, working for VSO between 2011 and 2013, training teachers and managing disability projects. Petronella has experience in charity governance. Our latest trustees are Philip and Andy, and together all the trustees give their knowledge, experience and time to VRUK.

We are always looking to recruit others to join us, so do get in touch.

How you can help

By becoming a regular donor, or by just making a single donation, you can support the progress of these communities to self-sustainability.

In addition, VRUK Gift Cards can be bought to fund our projects directly.

The Children’s Centre was funded by donations and completed in 2016. Nursery teachers use the Rwandan Early Years curriculum to facilitate children’s learning through activity. The feeding programme of protein porridge, cooked and served daily from the kitchen, continues to nourish these young children.

The building also acts as a Community Centre, providing community space for meetings, skills training and outreach projects to promote adult education and family health, with basic nutrition and healthcare education for parents. Bio-composting latrines with hand washing stations, built by locally trained villagers, have now been completed for the Community Centre. 

Village Rwanda UK (VRUK) was founded in 2011 and became a registered charity in 2015.

Registered Charity Number 1162004