"There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women and girls." Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

Our Goals are to:

• To raise funds in support of community-based initiatives in Africa that will advance education, promote gender equality and assist communities to become self sufficient.
• To create awareness in Canada of the issues of poverty in Africa.
• To offer the opportunity for Canadians to make a difference in Africa through donations of time, skills and money.

Currently our projects focus on improving conditions in post-genocide Rwanda. This green and mountainous east African country has endured a turbulent past. Most recently in 1994, 800,000 people were killed in the genocide and, like many other countries in Africa, HIV/AIDS, malaria and poverty are a constant. Almost a third of Rwanda’s children are orphans, and too few have access to education beyond the primary level.

Remarkably, against this backdrop of conflict and turmoil, hope is flourishing. Rwanda is rebuilding and reinventing itself, although there are still problems to overcome including a tragic lack of education, particularly for girls and supporting widows to regain their lives which will transfers into supports for families and whole communities. It is these types of projects which Inspire!Africa is supporting.

Projects include:

• Building the Rwanda Girls School
• Supporting Child Headed Households in Rwanda
• Supporting Trauma Counselling for Widows and Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide
• Offering a Speakers Series about projects in Africa
• Volunteer Opportunities in both Canada and Africa

"Gender inequality is driving the pandemic, and we will never subdue the gruesome force of AIDS until the rights of women become paramount in the struggle." Stephen Lewis