COVID-19 has been a challenge for everyone in their daily lives. In Rwanda, it has deeply affected our children and their families.
During the month of April, we were able to support them with food. In May, it was difficult. We kept following up with the kids through phone calls with their mothers or guardians. By the beginning of June, we were able to visit some of them in order to know how they were coping with the situation of staying home. Here is how they are doing:
Gatenga is a neighborhood in the Kicukiro district (akarere) in Kigali Province, Rwanda. Most of our kids reside here and have become friends outside of the Center both with their group and the Busanza group.
We met with each of the kids at their homes in an open space. In the short discussions we had with each of the kids, these are their testimonies on their experience with COVID-19. Amina told us that she is not happy having to stay home all the time. “It’s boring, we cannot move, meet our friends, go to the Center, or go to school. No more entertainment, said Amina.”
This sentiment was been expressed by all of the children at Gatenga.
Idrissa is also worried. In Rwanda, the Ministry of Education has put effort to making courses available through e-learning and has encouraged children to use the television and internet to follow their studies. Unfortunately, Idrissa does not have tools to facilitate home learning.
Eric voiced that it is not easy to stay at home all day, but that he is trying to help his aunt. “I enjoy helping,” he said.
Next we visited Line at his grandmother’s home where he is staying with his Mum. “I am happy because none of my family, friends, or myself have been affected by COVID-19. It is scary how it has killed so many people. We are safe and the progressing situation in Rwanda is good. I hope we will resume school as planned. I am full of hope to go back to school. Staying home is not easy, but I am trying. And if I have to go out, I always wear a mask and respect social distancing. Your visit is encouraging. I am happy with my family.”
After each individual conversation, we had a short discussion in a group. Prosper, a volunteer coach, encouraged them to enforce their discipline and effort to cope with COVID-19, to keep social distancing.
He reminded them to stay home and wear masks.
In this photo, two of the children did not have masks. They were instructed that if they cannot get a mask to inform Amahoro Builders so that they could provide one.
The children were told that protecting their lives and the lives of their families is the reason why they have to respect these measures.
In all, the children are trying to cope with the situation, but is not easy.
“We are safe, our family members are safe, and we do not have COVID-19 in our homes. We are grateful for your support and encouragement,” the children said.
Editorial Note:Rising Above the Storms acknowledges the importance of wearing a mask in public to limit the spread of COVID-19. We are working with the kids to stress the importance of wearing masks and are providing masks to the kids without any. We are posting this blog to show the real hardships our kids are facing. The reality is, during the pandemic, our kids have even less access to the internet leading them to turn to in-person activities such as soccer to retain their connection to the world. At Rising Above the Storms, we aim to provide our kids access to the internet as a fundamental human right in hopes that our kids can value their health and the health of others above that of connection and connectivity.
At the Center, Fred and Yvette act not only as counselors to the kids, but as guides in their lives. That is why the kids at the Center often refer to them as Teacher. One of those kids is Eric. Eric is one of four kids who live at the Center, and who have stayed there throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice a week, Fred is checking in on the kids at the Center. When asked to see how Eric was doing, this was his story.
“Ah teacher, it is so boring for us. We don’t get to see our fellow friends from the Center to have fun and play football together. We are not going outside of the fence and we are afraid of this virus and how it has threatened people and weakened everything in our country and the world.
In order to respect the 2 meter social distancing rule, we are not allowed to play together. I feel insecure and we don’t know when this will end.
How much longer will this continue?
What will happen to us?
Will we continue to have food?
What about the kids in our community who are not with us?
Maybe after the coronavirus, I won’t see my friends. I often worry about what is happening to them.
Teacher, will we be able to take our final exam in primary 6? Or we will redo this year? It is not certain or clear. I do fear that I will have to repeat this year. The coronavirus has made me feel uncertain about tommorow.
Alone in the garden, I try to revise my class notes and read but my attention is limited. I just want to hear about the solutions for the virus.
My afternoons in the Center are very hard. My days are long since I cannot play with the others. Dieudonne [the caregiver and housekeeper at the Center] reminds us to keep our distance and we fear getting too close to each other.
Saidi is one of four kids who live at the Center, and who have stayed there throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice a week, Fred – a counselor for Rising Above the Storms – is checking in on the kids at the Center. When asked to see how Saidi was doing, this was his story.
“Here, whatever you touch, you have to wash your hands with soap and clean water. Our hands have never been so clean. While we do respect prevention through sanitation, you start to dream about washing your hands.
I become hopeless and fearful when I think about my friends being back on the street.
Are they safe?
Are they respecting this measure of sanitation? Ha, they possibly can’t.
What about my family? Surely they are not safe like I am here.
I pray that God protects them.
Teacher, do you think we will be able to resume our classes after this? Will everything be destroyed?
While this place gives us security, we still worry. Reviewing my notes and reading is hard. I cannot concentrate and when I start reading I start to feel sleepy even if it is very early in the morning.
Ngabo is one of four kids who live at the Center, and who have stayed there throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice a week, Fred – a counselor for Rising Above the Storms – is checking in on the kids at the Center. When asked to see how Ngabo was doing, this was his story.
“Ohoho teacher, you don’t know how hard it is with no class, no football, no group games, and then you are asked to be alone. Even though I am with others at the Center, I have to social distance myself by 2 meters and have discipline to wash my hands.
C’est dure. This is hard.
Cleaning the garden, sleeping, eating, and playing alone is becoming boring. There is hope though because I feel catered for here, but I wonder what is next? We pray to God but the fear remains. The future is uncertain.
We hope that Rwanda will not have the amount of cases like in other countries. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if one of the kids at the Center or one of our relatives were infected with the virus.
When I sleep during the day, it is very hard to sleep during night. It is hard to concentrate when I am learning and reading my notes.
Sometime in the Fall last year (I’d say August or September?), I received an e-mail in my work inbox. I don’t remember every word in it, but it was a mass e-mail asking employees to nominate their peers who have gone above and beyond to make an impact in their communities and around the world, for the “Be the Bridge” Award. The content was especially appealing, and I flagged the e-mail for a follow up on my part so I could nominate some of the amazing people I knew. Unfortunately it got busier, and the deadline passed. I didn’t do my part. I was bummed!
I am the Bridge between Street Kids in Rwanda and a Chance to Dream! SJC, Nov 2018
Sometime later, I received another similar e-mail, this time a very different message. “You have been nominated for the Bridge Award“. The e-mail also revealed the name of the colleague who nominated me, and I reached out to him immediately, in awe. As it turns out, he wanted to remain anonymous! Perhaps a check box he may have forgotten to tick/untick, but I was glad I knew whom it was. I later found out about another colleague who also nominated me, but I didn’t get notified for that one. These 2 incredible people, had previously worked on a year-long project that featured my nonprofit in 2017-2018. I was very humbled & thankful!
With our very own Fran ❤️, the head of Cisco HR!
A month or so later, I received another e-mail:
“Congratulations! We are thrilled to let you know that you have been selected as a Grand Prize Winner of The Bridge Awards! On behalf of the entire Cisco community, we are truly inspired by your actions and proud of the incredible contributions you have made. In recognition of your achievements, we are pleased to offer you a trip to the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. Your prize will include airfare, accommodations and, a VIP experience at the Global Citizen Festival.”
Kelly & Maxine, cheering, after my video shoot interview at Cisco in SJC! Love these 2 ladies very much!
I was too excited that I couldn’t even hold it down to read the rest of the e-mail, that urged me to keep it to myself until every Winner has been notified. I saw that after I shared it with at least 10 people (my family, fiancé, adoptive parents, my manager..). I was like oops, sorry guys! I couldn’t help it. Fast forward to November, the Winners (later I found out it was 10 of us) were invited to the Cisco Headquarter in San Jose, California to attend the company’s meeting where the Winners were going to be revealed.
Making it to San Jose in the morning of the event, I saw a dear friend there, Joy. I know her from church, Cisco & a gala that my nonprofit hosted in 2016. None of us knew that the other was a winner. Everything was a secret, obviously, until the official announcement!
With my dear friend Joy, in San Jose, CA before the Winners Reveal!
Then I got to meet more people, and learned the amazing work they did. I couldn’t believe my ears, eyes! Please allow me to proudly brag about men & women (in no particular order) that I got an honor, great privilege and an opportunity of a lifetime, to be named Cisco Bridge Award Winners with. I cried, felt encouraged, and humbled! Now my lifetime friends! Cisco has greatly empowered me, my family and now many more people, our kids in Rwanda!
Make sure you watch this YouTube Video: We Are the Bridge!
7 of the 10 Winners, with Cisco’s head of HR & head of Marketing
Joy, through Habitat for Humanity rallies Cisco as a company to help build homes for the homeless around the world; she hails from North Carolina. Rajeev helped organize relief goods for victims of flood in Kerala, India in addition to founding two NGOs dedicated to hunger relief for children in slums and on the streets of India!
Vanessa founded the non-profit Love Never Fails, which works to rescue and empower human trafficking victims & survivors; she is based in the beautiful California. Cathy, in Johannesburg, South Africa, dedicates her personal time to take care of kids in need, feeds them and gives them basic essentials.
Claus in Germany, works with Refugee School for Digital Integration (ReDI) to teach courses like Cloud Security and IoT to refugees, via Cisco.
Scott, a long time volunteer firefighter & ski patroller, developed technology (that won award) to keep firefighters and skiers safe in the US and around the world. He hails from Seattle. Shawn, in Atlanta, works with Women Orthopedist Global Outreach, (an all-female team of orthopedic surgeons) that replaces joints for people in developing nations.
Daud, in Pakistan, created the SAYA Welfare Society by donating a family owned land to create a basic medical facility to provide free healthcare services. Ramachandran leads a program that partners with Step Up For India to teach English to kids using technology near the Cisco office in Bangalore.
At the FNB Stadium, South Africa
In addition to 10 of us, Cisco extended the invitation to 10 Runner Ups. 7 of them joined us, and a total of 17 people (plus our leadership teams, including our CEO & Chief People Officer), we all went to South Africa. For the Global Citizen Festival, Mandela 100 (Mandela would have turned 100 in 2018)!
Global Citizen Festival, according to their website, is a concert that brings together musicians, world leaders, and global citizens in an effort to influence positive change on a global scale. In South Africa, 70% of the tickets were given away for free, to recipients who took action, to help advance the mission of the Global Citizen to end extreme poverty by 2030. The FNB stadium was packed, close to 100K people. Knowing that I was surrounded by people who care about the humanitarian work, gave me hope.
There were so many famous people, artists, humanitarians, activists, world leaders, global citizens; Beyonce & Jay-Z, Tyler Perry, Trevor Noah, Oprah, Ed Sheeran, and so many more, all to support causes around healthcare, education, fighting poverty & diseases etc. It was absolutely incredible!
After the brunch with Cisco CEO & Head of HR, South Africa
It was an experience of a lifetime, but my favorite part was getting to know the winners and runner ups. The runner ups represented Belgium, Lebanon, Nigeria, Italy, United States etc. Hearing their stories and work they are doing, in addition to their Cisco job was truly humbling. How do they do it? There is no simple answer but here is a fact: Cisco makes it possible for its employees to do what they love doing outside work. For example, full time employees get 40 hours a year, paid time off, for Time 2 Give (community give back). For every hour spent volunteering for qualifying organizations, Cisco donates $10/hr.
Moreover, Cisco matches donations, dollar for dollar, up to $10K a year, by employees to qualifying organizations and nonprofits. All the above, is really what has encouraged and helped my nonprofit continue its operations and grow. Cisco employees’ donations to Rising Above the Storms constitutes somewhere over 80% of our annual funds. That’s huge!
The bottom line, I now have colleagues around the world, that I am humbled to call friends. They are changing lives, and it gives me an encouragement and hope, just knowing them. And I am proud to work for Cisco, a company that deeply cares about a cause close to my heart, and empowers me to be successful!
Never in a million years have I ever thought that I would start a nonprofit, leave alone sharing personal, painful wounds of my past with strangers on the cyberspace, or in person for that matter. It has always been a challenge for me to comfortably talk to people I just met, and it still is the case today unfortunately. The idea of starting a nonprofit first came to mind in 2012. I felt urgency and a desire in my heart; I could sense something bigger than I had ever imagined was about to unfold. Soon, it became clear to me that this was what God Has been preparing me for all along.
Losing parents at 13, surviving a genocide with younger siblings who were all under 10, juggling life, pain, loss, poverty, betrayal, disappointment; it has been a long journey to recovery! However, from the very beginning, I perhaps understood that the idea of starting a nonprofit that is centered around my personal journey may possibly mean opening up about my past and personal experiences, something that is extremely difficult for me to do.
You see, I come from a culture that is famous for keeping things to themselves. In Rwanda, you don’t talk about your personal life to people who aren’t your close friends or family members. When you make a casual conversation with a Rwandan around their personal life, they’ll become suspicious of your motives in asking. It is still true today.
Kids in our program during the celebration of International Day of the African Child, July 2017
In fact, more than a decade here, the thought of learning about a stranger’s marital issue or not getting along with a boss during an hour plane ride is still appalling to me today. Don’t get me wrong, I really love listening to others and learning more about their personal stories. My challenge is the other way around; talking to strangers, especially in a group setting, about anything, especially sensitive topics such as 1994 in Rwanda. It doesn’t matter if those people seem harmless. So, when God laid this idea of starting a nonprofit on my heart, I felt equally scared and excited!
RAS Facilities in Rwanda
Summing up my life story and what God has done for me and my siblings, I couldn’t imagine a better name to call my nonprofit: Rising Above the Storms. I chose “Rising” instead of “Rise” as many tend to think of R, to emphasize on a continuing journey, a work in progress. The journey began when the most devastating atrocities of the 20th century hit my beautiful home country on April 6, 1994. By the end of 90 days, my parents and 2 of my siblings have been killed. You can read more on my recollection of their final moments that I wrote on the 20th anniversary of their death: In A Garden of Fame Where Their Treasured Memories Grow Fonder: Two Decades Later.
I like how some people think S means Stars. I will take it.
It’s been a wild ride since the official launch of RAS, in 2014. Combining the expectations of what it takes to get a startup off the ground with my busy engineering career has been close to impossibility to say the least. I now understand why every person I have met who is an executive director of a nonprofit is their full time job. It’s impossible to do anything else.
Earlier this year, we launched our first partnership with a local organization in Rwanda to start a mobile based classroom for street children. We currently have 17 kids in our program, 11 of them back in school. It’s been an incredible journey to get to know these kids, through our team on the ground. The kids who visit the center on weekly basis receive care through therapy sessions after a meal. This allows them to express their challenges and struggles as we walk with them through life.
Group photo after launching the Treasured Learning Center in Rwanda
There are multiple ways you can become part of this amazing experience: you can sponsor a child for $50 a month. This amount covers their school material, tuition, school uniform, therapy sessions, meals and clean cloths they receive when they come to the center on a weekly basis. Or you can simply donate on our website: Learn how you can get involved.
Rising Above the Storms is my personal story, my non profit and my life’s calling and God’s mission for my life. I can’t imagine doing anything else. This is without a doubt what I am meant to do for the rest of my life. Caring and loving vulnerable children & youth is something that moves me to tears and keeps me up at night. I weep just looking at hungry, abandoned children that I don’t even know; it could be on TV or newspaper. I could have easily become one of those children; it’s not because of anything I did to be very fortunate.
As the Bible quotes in Isaiah 61, I hope to spend the rest of my life striving to be their voice! God bless you.
