Running for Rwanda

Posted bydpalexaPosted infund-raising, runningTags:, , , , ,

On this sad day of the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide in Rwanda, Ronny and I hope to bring a very modest contribution to happiness in the world, as we’ll be running to fund-raise for the Centre Ubuntu, “my” project in Rwanda, the one I keep on talking about, the one that is dear to my heart because it was set up following discussions and dreams that Goretti (my Rwandan sister) and I shared together after we met in Rwanda in 2001 and both left a couple of years later… for very different reasons…

This year in July we are planning, with 6 other members of the Association Ubuntu from France, to go and spend some 3 weeks or so in Bwira, in order to visit our partners and their families, the women from Abihuje (= together, in Kinyarwanda). The first action we’re doing is that Ronny and I will be running 10 miles on the 27th April 2014 in the heart of Edinburgh! Are you prepared to be with us on this (but from the comfort of your seat…..)? Because the Association Ubuntu is a charity recognised in France but not in the UK, I can’t use fund-raising websites such as “Just Giving” but would still welcome donations… or just a message of encouragement! Please use the form below to send us your messages.

In Bwira, we will be doing different things, in particular:

  • help put the first stone of the new Community Centre (sorry, this is in French), financed through a crowd-sourcing initiative
  • negotiate with local authorities about two projects that have been initiated for improving water infrastructure and bringing electricity to the village,
  • give a session or two on how to use and communicate through internet (well…. what’s obvious here isn’t necessarily there!)
  • get to meet Mahoro and her family, the 18 year old young lady we’ve been supporting for a couple of years through our child sponsoring programme
  • make good quality photos and a short video as promotional material for the Association Ubuntu
  • we also simply look forward to meeting the people from Bwira, because the Association Ubuntu puts an emphasis on relationships and collaboration. We don’t want to be impersonal, unknown people far away, seemingly with power and money, we want to break prejudices, learn from each other and develop ideas and projects together.

Thank you for your support!