Volunteer Work Rwanda

 

Those undertaking volunteer work in Rwanda will be struck by the levels of poverty outside the major urban areas of cities like Kigali with around 39% of the population living below the poverty line. Overall, 92% of those poor living in rural areas. One contributing factor is that Rwanda suffers from a poor education system where only 68% of first-graders end up completing all six years of primary education. Nationally, 38 percent of children under 5 years are stunted and 2 percent suffer from acute malnutrition (wasting or low weight-for-height) not least because of low agricultural productivity. If you have ever been to Rwanda it is easy to see why, with the country bathed in steep hills making basic agriculture farming an inefficient burden.

Rwanda has a high orphan population which can be emotionally and physically demanding for the volunteer but it also needs to be sensitive to attachments the children will form with adults who care for them. As such, many volunteer work programs in Rwanda look for longer volunteer placements so the children don't have a conveyor belt of adults coming into and out of their lives every few weeks. Makes sense. There are also opportunities to teach in a country where the government commits only 3.07% of all expenditure to education, compared to the world average in 2018 based on 60 countries of 4.16%.

Please note that many volunteer opportunities in Rwanda were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the permanent closure of some volunteer opportunities and restrictions on others. Hopefully things are now beginning to return to normal. If you run or know of a volunteer work project in Rwanda let us know by contacting us here. We look forward to hearing from you!

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