Dr. Jeremy Bohonos visits the non-profit organization, Rwanda Children

Charlcee Cervantez I March 8, 2023

Dr. Jeremy Bohonos recently spent a week at Rwanda Children, a large and complex education, healthcare, and social service organization that serves over 1,000 beneficiaries annually around the rural and economically distressed community of Ntarama, Rwanda.

The mission of this organization is: to provide daily shelter, food, medical care, education, and hope to at-risk Rwandan children in the name of Jesus. Rwanda Children serves over 500 children and 850 adult learners in various educational programs while providing healthcare for over 6,835 community members annually at the campus clinic.

"It is the single most impressive community education campus I have ever set foot on," Bohonos said. "Rwanda Children is a beacon of hope in its community."

While visiting the campus, Dr. Bohonos heard testimonials from over 150 graduates of the adult education programs and parents of students enrolled in the school who spoke glowingly about the transformative nature of the education and other services provided on the campus.

Additionally, Rwanda Children offers a Fighting Malnutrition program that teaches parents of malnourished infants how to grow and prepare healthy, nutritionally balanced organic meals. It also provides materials such as seeds and garden implements to help these adults start home garden plots capable of sustaining their families. 

This program has helped bring over 400 infants from the brink of starvation to healthy weights while providing the knowledge and materials for parents to sustain their children's nutritional well-being for years to come. Other adult education programs provide job skills training to single mothers and adult literacy classes.

Rwanda Children also gives goats to graduates of its various programs to provide sustainability to their families. For example, one goat can give birth to 2-3 kids after six months. This gives families the opportunity to sell them. With this money, families can buy food, health insurance, and other essentials.

While visiting, Dr. Bohonos donated a goat in his dad's name, David, to a graduate Joselyne. She is a single mother of 22 years old, and she lives with her one daughter. She enrolled in the sewing program in 2017. Upon graduation, she received a certificate of completion and a sewing machine which she is using to generate her family's income.

Rwanda Children had also given her a goat in the previous years, but the goat died later. The support of providing a new goat to her is a renewal of her hope to continue the strive towards the sustainability of her family's well-being.

The co-founder of Rwanda Children, Serge Gasore, is a native Rwandan and survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. In 2005, Gasore came to the United States on a track scholarship at Abilene Christian University (ACU).

While living in the United States, Gasore felt like half of his heart was still in Rwanda. So after completing his master's degrees in Information Technology and Global Service at ACU, he founded Rwanda Children to aid vulnerable children in his home village of Ntarama.

"My heart was focused on children because a lot of things happened to me when I was a child," Gasore said. "I knew there was a darkness in my community, and I wanted to go back and be a part of the solution."

Rwanda Children has also won multiple national-level awards from the Rwandan government. The national government of Rwanda has twice recognized the impact this organization is having, once with the "2019 Rwanda Ministry of Education Award" and once with the prestigious "2019 Protectors of Friendship Pact" which recognizes those engaged in promoting reconciliation among Rwandans in the Aftermath of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. This award was personally bestowed to its founder Gasore by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Learn more about Rwanda Children and the work of their community here.