L’Esperance Children’s Aid Rwanda
Children’s Village Kigarama
Agricultural Work Program
December 2012
Executive Summary:
The main goal of the Children’s Village Kigarama is to provide a good, harmonic environment for the intellectual, spiritual, social and physical growth of all our children, which includes preparing the children to become upstanding, contributing members of society when it is time for them to leave our care. To that end, the orphanage has instituted an Agricultural Work Program (AWP) designed to instill a work ethic and life skills that will assist them in their journey.
Mission:
The Mission of the AWP is to further support the existing goals of the orphanage which include:
Self-sufficiency and life/work skills: Through instruction and execution the children learn the value of work and the ultimate rewards. They also are able to grow their own food in the future.
Problem solving: As the children are responsible for completing their own assigned responsibilities, they will be required to overcome obstacles. With the appropriate guidance they learn to develop workable solutions to those problems.
In addition the AWP teaches the children about the food lifecycle and they gain a deeper understanding of where their own food comes from. Food becomes less of an entitlement and something that they actually participate in producing.
Program Description:
At L’Esperance, the children are grouped into families with a mother or father assigned to each unit. They live, work, cook, eat, play and worship together. This concept extends to the AWP. Each family unit is assigned a plot of land and with the
assistance of an agricultural supervisor; they plant,
cultivate and harvest food for the orphanage’s consumption. Each child is required to work
three hours per day, five days per week in the garden when school is in session. During the holidays, the children work five hours per day. The more labor intensive chores are reserved for those children 12 and older, while the younger children are closely
supervised by the mother and are given chores that are age appropriate and may be shorter in duration.
The time requirements allows for all work to be completed while simultaneously allowing the children plenty of time for school, homework, and play.
The program allows the
orphanage to reduce its external labor costs and therefore, a portion of these savings are passed on to the children as a reward which also introduces them to money management
skills—similar to receiving an
allowance for completing chores in the household.
The guidelines of the program include: 1. Education first!
2. Participation at age appropriate levels
3. All participate (including mothers, fathers)
4. Older children assist in
supervision of younger children 5. Share the rewards
6. Have fun/relax
7. Prepare for success in life
Outcomes:
The program mimics what many of these children would experience if they were part of a traditional rural Rwandan family. At a young age, these children are taken into the fields by their mothers where they are taught the names of plants, learn how to grow seedlings, how to keep the plants healthy and when to harvest. These children never take for granted where their food comes from and also are able to support their own gardens when they leave the family home. A work ethic is instilled at an early age and reinforced throughout their childhood.
It is easy for a child in an orphanage to feel that they are entitled to food, clothing, water and other basic needs. They sometimes do not question where the supply comes from or how difficult it is to obtain or replenish. We properly care for the kids without spoiling them.
At L’Esperance we highly value education and the opportunities it brings and it is a top priority. However, for a variety of reasons, not all of the children are able to continue on to University. With the AWP they are taught work skills and gain experience that they can take out into the world and make them more employable.
Increased sense of responsibility in the children and less idle time
Reduced agricultural labor expense meaning more money can be invested in the children’s care and education
Better management and presentation of all our agricultural fields Ability to invest savings into more projects
Conclusion:
The Children’s Village Kigarama is thrilled with the early success of the AWP and how the children have embraced the program. A next step is to implement a money
management training program for the children. We look forward to continued
implementation and improvement and ultimately, the positive impacts it will have on all of our children and their success in life.
If You would like to support our Agricultural Program or any other Projects please
feel free to use any of our following bank accounts. We appreciate enormously
Your precious help and support. The Children of Rwanda deserve a much better
life.
Victor Monroy, Director
L’Esperance Children’s Aid Rwanda. Children’s Village Kigarama
P.O.Box 5026 Kigali, Rwanda Tel. +250/(0)788545731
Email:[email protected]
Web:www.lesperancerwanda.org www.victormonroytrust.com
If you would like to donate online via PayPal (USD)
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G55E6WS894JBL
If you would like to wire funds:
Our Bank Account in The Netherlands (Euros)
Bank Name: ABN AMRO BANK
Bank Address: Amsterdam
Swift Code: ABNANL2A
Account Name: VICTOR MONROY TRUST
Account Number: 448122782
IBAN: NL50ABNA0448122782
Our Bank Account in Kigali (Euros)
Bank Name: BANK OF KIGALI
Bank Address: P.O. BOX 175 KIGALI, RWANDA
Swift Code: BKIGRWRW
Account Name: VICTOR MONROY C/0 L’ESPERANCECHILDREN’S AID
Account Number: 0 40 – 0 20 69 65 – 97 / EUROS
Correspondant: FORTIS BANQUE BRUXELLES (forEurope)
DEUTSCHE BANK.TRUST COMPANY.NEW YORK (USA) Our Bank Account in Kigali (USD)
Bank Name: BANK OF KIGALI
Bank Address: P.O. BOX 175 KIGALI, RWANDA
Swift Code: BKIGRWRW
Account Name: VICTOR MANUEL MONROY ESCOBAR
Account Number: 0 40 – 0 370 713 12 /USD
Correspondant: FORTIS BANQUE BRUXELLES (forEurope)
DEUTSCHE BANK.TRUST COMPANY.NEW YORK (USA) Note: the bank in Kigali does not use the IBAN (International Bank Number)
