The Ntarama Community Centre and Clinic.

INSPIRE!africa is seeking funds, expertise and volunteers to assist in the building of The Ntarama Community Centre and Clinic that will consist of six classrooms and a clinic for a community of 3,000 orphans, widows and poor people in Rwanda. This is a locally-led project which will offer education, training, health services and community facilities in a deprived rural area northeast of the capital Kigali. Rwanda does not have mineral wealth, and is too densely populated to maximize its agriculture for export, so it must develop its human capital.

The centre will offer local people much needed courses in general health, nutrition, hygiene, sexual and reproductive health; classes in literacy, IT skills, English language and vocational skills. In addition, training in micro-finance will be given, assisting women and widows in particular to start sustainable businesses or income-generating projects.

On a practical level, students and widows in the community will have somewhere safe with electric light to work in the evenings, since electricity is a luxury to which few have access. Local groups may rent rooms to hold meetings and other events that will contribute to the growth of civic society in Rwanda. In due course the centre will have an Internet café, adding to the potential to generate income and be self-sufficient.

Construction of the centre will begin shortly, with the proposed opening scheduled for January 2008. In the meantime, volunteers from Canada, USA and UK will be working with SURF and the local people in summer and fall of 2007 teaching English, IT and vocational skills as well as providing psychotherapy and clinical support.

INSPIRE!africa Partners

In conjunction with our long term partner, Jubilee Action, we are pleased to be partnering with the Rwandan development groups, SURF and IBUKA. Together we will be building and implementing programs at the Ntarama Community Centre and Clinic. In Rwanda, SURF will supervise the building and equipping of the centre and IBUKA will run the centre on a daily and ongoing basis.

Funding

It will cost $435,000 to build the community centre and clinic. The Tinsley Charitable Trust is funding all administrative and project management costs, meaning that 100% of donations to INSPIRE!africa will go directly towards building the centre. Donations of over $150,000 have already been secured.

How you can help

INSPIRE!africa is seeking funds for centre and clinic as well as volunteers to assist in a variety of work.  Further information is available on our website at www.InspireAfrica.org.