About us

Date founded: May 2008No. Of Volunteers: 4 Type of organisation: Non- Governmental Organization

Origins and ambitions

Why and how was this education program established? What does it aim to achieve? Rwanda School Garden Initiative (RSGI) was established with the objectives of fighting against malnutrition which is gaining the ground in many schools in Rwanda;

• increasing the number of school attendees while reducing school goers drop out;
• disseminating school garden skills in the communities where school children are living; increasing the number of active and productive persons in the family;
• cultivating the culture of saving among the school children while they are still young, protecting the environment while benefiting from the nature without hearting it.

In establishing the RSGI, we first developed a curriculum that takes into account a methodology adapted to the target group and based on the type of the product we want the children develop. By classifying vegetable into families (those found in Rwanda are classified into 5 families), school children are also split into 5 families. In that context, each child comes to know which family he/she belongs to, and what is promoted by that family, including all skills and techniques required in that vegetable family. After every farming season, there is crops rotation in order to allow the school child to get to know a full package of skills and techniques to grow different types of vegetables.

Fruits

On the side of fruits, each child is given three fruit trees, and one among the three will be planted for his/her father, another one to the mother and the third his/hers. All this is to  motivate the school child so that he/she can take care of those trees.

Rabbits

On the side of rabbits, each school child receives two rabbits, a male and female, and after one year each school child owns almost 100 rabbits, as result of investing about 6000Frw to yield 200,000Frw after one year.

Summary

In summary, RSGI is a revolution in Healthy Lifestyle, Environmental Stewardship; Community and Social Development all starting at early age. RSGI offers dynamic, beautiful settings in which to integrate every discipline, including science, math, reading, environmental studies, nutrition, and health. Such interdisciplinary approaches cultivate the talents and skills of all students while enriching the students’ capacities of observation and thinking. Rwanda School garden projects nurture community spirit, common purpose, and cultural appreciation by building bridges among students, school staff, families, local business, and organizations