The most fundamental questions here are: How do we create peace in a region devastated by years of conflict and violence? What are the concrete steps that we can take to engage youth in reconciliation, to give them the opportunity and skills to create a new future for Africa?

Our Work and Programs

Amani Vocational School

Vision

In the summer of 2008, Amani Africa will begin construction on a new vocational school in rural Rwanda. Through all of our work with vulnerable youth in East Africa, we realized that many development efforts still do not provide innovative and sustainable solutions to a critical problem: the lack of educational and economic opportunities for teenage drop-outs and genocide survivors.

Vocational Curriculum

Quality education is clearly vital. But considering the acute obstacles and social circumstances that our youth face in many aspects of their lives, simply providing access to the conventional education system in Rwanda does not sufficiently address or acknowledge the full scope of the problem. It is not enough to give teenagers the chance to attend primary and secondary school if we don't also examine ways to help them succeed after they've graduated. Their education will not do them much good in the long term if they do not have opportunities to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills in the workplace.

We’ve chosen to focus on vocational training because the youth with whom we work need skills that are directly applicable to the work environment. Many of the Amani participants were forced to abandon their education at an early age and therefore lack the basic reading and writing skills that they will need for nearly any type of future employment. For some children, this vocational training may be the highest level of education that they receive; others may find that they excel in an educational environment and choose to expand upon their vocational skills by furthering their schooling in an academic setting. In any case, the Amani Africa Vocational School will equip students with practical and marketable skills that will help them get jobs in the local economy or start their own businesses.

The Amani Africa Vocational School will offer a curriculum that will help position students to respond to the opportunities unique to their community. In recent years, Rwanda has emerged as a destination for international investors and tourists. Therefore, the Amani vocational curriculum will include training in culinary arts, tailoring, hotel and tourism management, computers, and financial management.

Windows of Opportunity

With government plans underway to construct the new international airport in Nyamata, the need for young people with tourism industry skills will grow. A foundation in these skills also easily translates into related fields, such as other types of management and service industries, and therefore opens opportunities for future employment.

In addition, the Rwandan government has created Youth Entrepreneur Funds to provide grants to young Rwandans with innovative ideas for starting small businesses. With certification from a reputable vocational institution, graduates of the Amani School will be prime candidates for microfinance loans and attractive applicants for potential employers in various industries in the country.

Location: Nyamata

The small town of Nyamata is located about 30 minutes from the Rwandan capital of Kigali. During the 1994 genocide Hutu militias targeted their violence on the Nyamata region, killing an estimated 90 percent of the Tutsi population. With the combined devastation caused by the genocide and the ravages of HIV/AIDS and malaria, Nyamata now has one of the highest concentrations of orphans and child-headed households in the country.

Nearly half of the population in the Nyamata region of Rwanda lives in extreme poverty. Many of the teenagers leave Nyamata to beg and live on the streets on Kigali. The lucky ones find jobs working as bicycle taxis, making $1 a day. Amani has organized programs in Nyamata for the past few years, and we know that these teenagers will thrive if given the opportunity to attend school and receive training. Our work has proven this to be true.

Now, the local government in Nyamata has donated 25 acres of land near to the site of the new international airport, which will be completed in 2010.

Amani Guesthouse

We believe that a sustainable solution to the problems vulnerable children face must be tied directly to the circumstances of the community. The town of Nyamata, situated about 30 minutes away from the Rwandan capital of Kigali, was selected as the site of the new international airport that is scheduled to open in 2010. As the future gateway to Rwanda, the area has already received newfound attention for development projects.

Amani Africa plans to begin construction of a guesthouse in Nyamata that will contribute to the local economy and provide employment opportunities for graduates of the Amani Vocational School. The Amani guesthouse will take advantage of the new wave of international tourism in Rwanda while providing our students with real-life experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. The proceeds from this social enterprise will contribute to the operating costs of the school.