The Objectives

A New Beginning intends to build a sustainable community
centre/school/medical centre in one of the poorest areas of Rwanda. By supplying a sustainable source of education and healthcare where it is needed most, this charity hopes to give the people of the poorest areas the resources they need to breakthrough the barriers to development left by the genocide, and give them strength to find ‘A New Beginning’.
It is the charity’s intention, at every possibility to source and use locally provided materials and workers to build the community centre. Thus, the very act of building the centre will contribute skills to the community through training and work.
The project is based in Musenyi, which lies in the Nyagatare district Eastern province. The village is found on the grasslands of the Akagera National Park, which is located in the North East of the country. A New Beginning has secured 9Hectares from the Rwandese government for this project.
All our goals come at a cost and our hope is to create a truly sustainable development. A New Beginning is realistic about costs and intends to create a framework for the community to continue to benefit from their own produce and facilities.

The main income for the centre will come from the selling of the produce from the farm. In addition to this, those who can afford to will be expected to pay for access to the pharmacy and clinic, and the hiring of the hall for weddings, meetings and important occasions. Also the produce and clothing shop will become a small cafe as well.


The initial development costs will all be met from donations to A New Beginning. These donations can take the form of monthly standing orders or one off donations. Also being collected are all kinds of clothes, shoes, toys and even mobile phones which are distributed to those in need on a regular trips to Musenyi. Also sewing machines from a local charity Just Sew for the widows who can make clothing for the community and sell any surplus. Also the widows can produce handicrafts.

Handicrafts
by the widows and orphans which will be for sale in the UK
Aims

Our Aims are to :-

  1. Cultivate appropriate crops for the high-value end of the Rwandan market and the agricultural conditions in which we plan to grow them
  1. Educate the farm workers and villagers on how to  tend and rotate crops and grow the most sought after produce at the right time to maximise output/income  , also on  how to improve their skills in animal husbandry for dairy product production
  2. Conserve/ harvest rainwater and groundwater and  construct a   micro-irrigation system for all- year-round crop harvesting and to allow more water to be available for general use within the community
  3. Buy books , writing and teaching equipment , stools and desks for the school and continue to train the teachers to ensure current high standards are maintained.
  4. Supply  the Health Centre .with the equipment and drugs needed to provide basic healthcare services within and beyond the community it was originally set up to serve

 

Expected Results

A New Beginning  will benefit the entire community in which it is located ;  specifically,  hundreds of children , many of them in one-parent families or tended by relatives /friends in the wake of past events , will be given a much better chance of enjoying fulfilling lives than would be the case without our intervention .Hopefully over the longer term they will carry the knowledge they acquire from the basic education they will receive into the state education system and beyond providing Rwanda with a larger pool of graduates and entrepreneurs to lift the country further up the development chain .
 When this project is completed , it will create long-term change as the community will be capable of running its own affairs on a sustainable and financially sound basis through a group of locally-based citizens with the necessary expertise to lift it permanently out of the subsistence existence situation which currently prevails .     

    
 
Plans for the Future

Our future plans are to increase the capacity and the production of the farm with the provision of Water Harvesting for the crops and the Dairy herd, also the equipping of the 320 pupils in the school.

To help the cultivation of the farm we have decided that we need a borehole at the Farm to have water all year round and therefore stop the problems with the two dry seasons. The borehole will then provide water for cash crops which will produce more cash and will make the farm more financially viable.

  We are starting a scheme to sponsor an orphan throughout their early life at a monthly sum of £7  (0-3 years) rising to £50 monthly for a university student. This will provide clothes, healthcare, food, school equipment etc. and in return the orphan will write to you telling you of his or her progress in school. We can take out items/presents that you may wish to send to assist your child. We will provide you with the orphans name, photo and history and hopefully you can go out to the Village and visit your sponsored child during the Rwandan Holiday we aim to organise every year.

 
     

 

Drawings to Community centre, Brick Built Bungalow and Medical Centre.

Medical Health Post.
The Health Post is now open and will serve the local three villages and the local Infantry Barracks totalling 11,000 people. This now has freed up the Community Centre so we have a total of 5 classrooms and office for the Headmaster as well as the Meeting Hall which can double up as another 2 classrooms if needed.. We should be able to cater for at least 350 children and adult teaching in the late afternoon and evenings..

Drawings to Community centre, Brick Buillt Bungalow and Medical Centre.