Aspire Academy

Rwanda

Through Aspire Academy, we will get at the root of poverty by educating children, helping to heal their hearts, and most importantly, introducing them to Jesus.  Depending on the encountered need, Aspire Academy will have 2 or 3 classes per grade

level, with 20 - 24 students in each. Classroom numbers will remain low to ensure that students get the attention they need from the teacher, and for the teacher to have an intentional relationship of discipleship with each student.

Many older students are unable to go to secondary school because they didn't have access to a decent primary school. The closest school, a public school, has about 60 kids in each class for every one teacher. Poverty and overcrowded classrooms create an incredibly difficult uphill battle.

Aspire Academy will accept children from the community who are most vulnerable, and without resources. Our project has a thorough process of selecting children based on need.  The Rwandan Government has categorized households based on income levels, property, and welfare. Aspire Academy will admit children from families in the lowest economic group. Most of these families live on less than one US dollar a day. These are the children that do not have basic needs met, such as a stable source of food or shelter.

So far, selected children have mild to severe malnutrition and other limiting factors to accessing education even when education is available in a public school. We have a list of 96 children waiting for sponsorship. 

The relationship/discipleship between student, teacher, and God is especially important to our school as many people are still dealing with affects from the 1994 genocide. Generational trauma and injury still exist in many lives as this massacre was only 28 years ago. God and the love from others is vital in the healing of this pain. This support is also key in helping students develop their personhood and grow in their confidence and belief in themselves. Aspire Academy will develop an environment of hope and belief in the freedom from poverty in the children enrolled. To address malnutrition, in addition to education and a relationship with God, each student enrolled in Aspire Academy will be provided both breakfast and lunch.

This will ensure that they do not go hungry and to help ease the financial burden on their families. God has already been at work and has provided a great partner organization for a porridge/breakfast program for each of our classes.

Aspire Academy is preparing to open doors in September of 2023 as we welcome our first class of Primary 1 students. We will build classroom by classroom as each class moves up to a higher grade. We are praying great things over this land and this project and we cannot wait to see how God moves in it all.