Foundation Rwanda Annual Report 2011 by Jules Shell

ANNUAL REPORT 2011 Hope for Children Healing for Mothers

ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik/Foundation Rwanda

A NOTE FROM JULES SHELL

FOUNDATION RWANDA EDUCATION PROGRAM

• A Note From Jules Shell, Foundation Rwanda’s Executive Director & Co-Founder 5

ANNUAL REPORT 2011 Hope for Children Healing for Mothers

• Foundation Rwanda Education Program

• How Are The Students Doing? 10 • Selection Of Beneficiaries

• Payment Of School Fees

• Monitoring & Evaluation

• A Closer Look At Foundation

Rwanda’s Education Program 15

Rwandan landscape © Jonathan Torgovnik

NEW INTIATIVES & HOLISTIC SUPPORT

FOUNDATION RWANDA FUNDRAISING

FOUNDATION RWANDA NEWS

FOUNDATION RWANDA 2011 FINANCIALS

FOUNDATION RWANDA 2012–13 GOALS

• Trauma Counseling & Community Counseling Pilot Program

• How Are The Mothers Doing? 18 • Income Generating Activities For Mothers

An Evening Of Food & Fotos

• Foundation Rwanda Undergoes 29

• Color Rwanda With Hope Campaign

A Strategic Review Thanks To Openbox

• Foundation Rwanda At TEDx

• Survivors Fund & The SIP Project

• Fistula Repair & The IOWD Clinic

• Dream Big - What More Can We Do? 33

• A Note From Dan Kunsnetz

Foundation Rwanda Board Member & Chair

• The Foundation Rwanda Team Is Growing!

• Indego Africa & The Ladies Of Absangiye

• Foundation Rwanda:

• Accomplished & In The Works 42 37

• End Of Year Balance Sheet, Revenues & Expenses

• Thank You!

Odette with her son Martin ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

A NOTE FROM JULES SHELL

FOUNDATION RWANDA’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER

A MOTHER’S WISH Foundation Rwanda grew out of one mother’s wish: Odette, who had been impregnated by the man who raped her, wanted to provide a better future for her son, Martin, who had been born under such horrifying circumstances. A mother’s wish is universal: for her child to be happy, healthy and to succeed in life. In Odette’s case her wish was more specific: she wanted her son to have an education. Since Martin was not considered a “survivor” of the genocide he did not qualify for government provided free education. Foundation Rwanda was created to grant Odette’s wish. Your generous support and partnership have allowed us to fulfill not only Odette’s wish but also the wishes of over 800 mothers like her. When I co-founded Foundation Rwanda in 2008 with photojournalist Jonathan Torgovnik, we had no idea where the journey, or the power of photography, would take us. Working with you to fulfill the wishes and dreams – large and small – of women who have lived through the most horrific things imaginable is to me, the most meaningful work there is. Foundation Rwanda has made great strides to grow our education program from what was initially a desire to grant one mother’s wish to where we are now: supporting 824 students. We are the only organization solely advocating for the needs of the women who were raped during the Rwandan genocide and the children born from those horrors. We have a strict verification process to make sure every family we support fits our criteria for enrollment and that we are fulfilling as many mothers’ wishes as possible.

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

2011 – 2012 UPDATE This report is to update you on how the Foundation Rwanda mothers and children are doing, and everything we did in 2011, as well as to bring you up to speed on our programming highlights for 2012. This, and future reports, will include financial statements for the prior calendar year as well as an update on our current activities. (All Foundation Rwanda audited financial reports from 2008–2011 are available online). Foundation Rwanda began with the goal to create a support network that would send children born from rapes committed during the genocide to school. We felt that once the program was fully in place and thriving with local partners this special generation of children would graduate from school and in some way would have overcome many of the basic disadvantages that the circumstances of their birth had forced upon them. Toward that end our goal has been to grow our sources of income as quickly as possible in order to get as many of these children into school as quickly as we could. Thanks to your generosity and some remarkable partners and supporters we have sent 824 children to school who otherwise would have only longed for an education. Having worked to grow Foundation Rwanda quickly from scratch, and having created our education program, we felt it was time to reflect on where we have been, what we have done and where we should focus our efforts anew. After a strategic review donated by our friends at Openbox and many conversations with our board, our partners in Rwanda and the mothers we support, we concluded that we greatly value the need for holistic support for families over rapid program expansion. This summer we launched a trauma counseling pilot program thanks to support from our partners Survivors Fund (SURF) and we hope to launch a bicycle build program to put bicycles in the hands of those children living in the most remote regions who walk 3½ hours every day to and from school.

A TRAGIC LOSS I am saddened to report that very tragically, Olivier, one of our students, passed away last month due to complications from an ulcer. I cannot fathom the pain and grief his mother Beata is feeling. She not only survived the genocide and rape but has also gone blind due to the lack of available medical care which could have treated her cataracts. She had told us while her son was still living, “My son is my eyes. His education is everything.” I made a promise to Beata, and to all of the other Foundation Rwanda mothers I have met, that Foundation Rwanda would continue to find new ways to help their families, to tell their stories and to share their dreams and hopes with the world. We spoke to Beata recently in the wake of her son’s passing. She could not bear to talk about her loss but she still has hopes and dreams. She asked if her remaining son might be able to attend school like his brother and she dreamt of the day that she would be able to add a room on to her mother’s house so that she could rent it for sustainable income and become independent. I am humbled that after all she has been through Beata still has dreams. She still has profound hope that her life, and her remaining son’s life, can be better.

WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU On my last visit to Rwanda, I stayed in the home of Agathe, one of the Foundation Rwanda mothers, in a mud house without running water, electricity or a flush toilet. I’ll never fully understand what these women have been through and only by spending time together in their daily routines can I truly get a sense of their challenges in order to make sure Foundation Rwanda’s programs provide direct responses to their needs. Agathe, upon my departure hugged me, smiled and said, “You are my mother, my father and my sister - all in one.” I replied, “There is a whole community of people around the world who love and support you – I am here representing the thousands of people around the world who care about you.” If there is one thing we could do better, it is keeping you up to date on all of the good things your support has enabled Foundation Rwanda to do. That is why this year will bring the addition of a communications person to our US team. Our annual report is full of news but if there is one thing you take away, please know that YOU, the Foundation Rwanda community, mean the world to these families. I hope you will continue to join me as we share in a mother’s dream and fulfill her hopes for a better future - one child at a time. With gratitude

Executive Director Foundation Rwanda FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Josette with her son Thomas © Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Foundation Rwanda students attending class. ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

2 FOUNDATION RWANDA

EDUCATION PROGRAM FOUNDATION RWANDA’S

education program grew from sponsoring

150 students in 2009 to 500 students in 2010

and is currently sponsoring education for

824 children

We hope to expand our programs in 2012–13 to holistically support both the mothers and students with counseling programs and the students with vocational training and extra tutoring where necessary.

“

Although there are many needy children in Rwanda who would benefit from education, Foundation Rwanda’s support is specifically reserved for children born to women who were raped during genocide and have no capacity to provide for their education. After we enroll a child in our education program, we do everything we can to make sure their mother and siblings are supported holistically by linking the families to other organizations that specialize in medical care, income generating activities, and trauma counseling, when possible.

“

Foundation Rwanda and Survivors Fund (SURF) are monitoring and evaluating the program, which is delivered in partnership with local social workers from: AVEGA Eastern Region (AER), AVEGA Western Region (AWR), Solace Ministries (SM), and Kanyarwanda. The FR program is administered in Rwanda by Samuel Munderere, our local program manager and Emilienne Kambibi our local social worker, in partnership with a network of social workers from our partner NGOs who travel to all regions around Rwanda to find eligible students for the program.

We have worked with Foundation Rwanda since day one to help implement their education program with local partners in Rwanda. The importance of the program is that it quite simply addresses a mother’s wish for her child to benefit from the opportunity for education and focuses solely on a population that no other program in Rwanda addresses.

– David Russell, Director, Survivors Fund

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Patrick

“

Patrick (in blue) and his friend Robert

is in Senior 3 and lives with his mother in a small house in rural Rwanda. Patrick’s school is an hour’s walk from his house but now that he has a bicycle, it takes him less than half an hour to get to school. Patrick is among one of the best students in his class. Before enrolling in Foundation Rwanda’s education program, Patrick used to do odd jobs to get money for his school fees and missed school frequently. He is now attending school regularly and peacefully without the fear of being chased from class for not paying school fees or for lacking school materials. With his improved school attendance, he is also performing better in class. During last year’s long holiday, Patrick worked hard to buy a second hand bicycle to make his travel to school easier. “I would not have bought myself a bicycle if I still had to find school fees myself – it has been possible because of the sponsorship. With the bike, I get to school on time and I work hard on my math and physics so that I can get sponsorship to go to university to study mechanical engineering.”

Emmanuel

“

FOUNDATION RWANDA

“

Emmanuel

is attending secondary school in Butare and is in Senior 4 concentrating on physics, mathematics and chemistry. He is studying hard to become a civil engineer. He is among the best students in his class and is known at his school as “Mr. English”. Emmanuel says, “I am studying hard and sharpening my English language so that I may obtain a scholarship to go and study in Europe.” We visited Emmanuel at his school where we found that due to his own trauma, he is pretending to be a foreigner so that people won’t know he was born from rape. Many people in Emmanuel’s village know about the circumstances leading to his birth which have affected him and his mother (to the extent that during school holidays, Emmanuel does not like to return to his home community. Emmanuel chooses instead to stay with his mother’s relatives in another place). Emmanuel’s mother remarried after the genocide and has three children. Her husband dislikes Emmanuel and refers to him as the son of the Interahamwe (militia). Emmanuel’s step-father does not provide for his basic needs like he does for his other children. With Foundation Rwanda’s support, Emmanuel is cared for, has access to a good education and has a chance at a productive future.

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Joseph is in Senior 3 and attends a Catholic school. His mother has been battling a severe case of post traumatic stress disorder

related to her experience during the genocide and receives treatment from the mental hospital in Kigali. Due to her condition, his mother is unable to work and depends on social support from the local council. The money she receives is not enough to support her basic needs, much less to pay school fees for her son. Joseph’s dream is to become a high ranking officer in the Rwandan army. “I want to join the army to protect and prevent violence that is done to innocent people. When I think of the violence that was done to my mother and caused her to be traumatized I feel that my life will be satisfied when I protect people.”

“

Joseph at his school standing next to the school motto board

“

Chantal

is in Senior 4 and lives in the same community as relatives of a militiaman who raped her mother and killed her relatives. She told us that it bothers her that during her school holidays she goes to the same church and collects water from the same place as the relatives of her mother’s rapist. Her mother disclosed the circumstances of her birth to her when she 14 years old and since then she has developed a strong friendship with her mother. She attends a boarding school far from her village where no one knows about the circumstances leading to her birth and says she studies well, is positive about life, and is interested in social sciences and debate. She particularly likes debates because she wants to study law at University in order to become a lawyer and bring to justice the militiaman who raped her mother. “I am putting my hope for the future in her as she works very hard” her mother said.

“

Chantal

– Chantal ’s mother

“

Grace

is in Senior 3 and this is her third year receiving scholarships from Foundation Rwanda. After completing primary school in 2007, her mother could not afford to pay for her to start secondary school so she stayed home helping her mother with the house work. In January 2010 she was identified by Foundation Rwanda’s network of social workers and started attending school. Grace says, “For my age and size I should be in Senior 6. I am studying hard to become a teacher. With Foundation Rwanda’s support I have a future to look forward to, otherwise I was starting to think of getting a man to marry me.” Grace told us her happiest moments are when she is playing basketball at school. The support she has received has changed her vision from that of getting married at an early age to that of becoming a teacher.

“

FOUNDATION RWANDA

Grace working out a math problem before class

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FOUNDATION RWANDA

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SELECTION OF BENEFICIARIES

Foundation Rwanda beneficiaries are identified through the Partner NGOs that have established networks across the country and have outreach systems that include committees from village to national level. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS, SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY FOUNDATION RWANDA AND OUR PARTNER NGOs The child must be born of rapes committed as a result of the 1994 genocide.

The mother must be able to document that she is a genocide survivor.

The mother must show the child’s “mutuelle” insurance card and birth certificate, which shows the child’s date of birth to be between December 1994 and December 1995.

CHALLENGES IN VERFICATION: Rape happened on a systematic scale all over the country and many of our beneficiaries live in rural and very remote regions that are difficult and costly for the Foundation Rwanda team and local partners to access. An operating grant of $15,000 to staff employees in rural areas would greatly help to monitor the program and assess the children’s progress in school.

1st TERM

BREAKDOWN COSTS PER CHILD (AVERAGE) SCHOOL FEES BREAKDOWN PER STUDENT FOR THE YEAR 2012 (IN $US)

Project Costs Secondary

2012

Project Costs Primary

Descriptions Tuition Scholastic materials Transport School uniform Essential personal supplies

2nd TERM

3rd TERM

–

$17

–

$17

–

$17

$50

$34

Tuition

$17

$33

Scholastic materials

$25

$17

Transport

School uniform

$25

Essential personal supplies

$25

$17

$100

$75

SUBTOTAL

*In-person visits by our partner organizations and our Rwanda staff to monitor each student’s progress further increase the costs per child. In sum, the total average cost per child per year is $350.

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FOUNDATION RWANDA

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PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES

Funding of school fees is transferred to our NGO partners’ accounts at the beginning of every term with a Foundation Rwanda team member present when possible. Payment is made by check or cash depending on the preference of the organization and where the beneficiaries live. The beneficiary must present an ID and sign for the funds. Cash is used in particular cases where receiving funds in check form is difficult, especially for those who live in remote areas with limited or no access to banks.

Parents and guardians have been asked to make a contribution to the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), a contribution which goes towards teachers’ salaries. The amount varies depending on the school, for example some schools charge Frw 3,000 ($5) and others charge Frw 5,000 ($8). In-person visits by our partner organizations and our Rwanda staff to monitor each student’s progress further increase the costs per child. In sum, the total average cost per child per year is $350. Please note: fees may vary by school.

In 2010 a government universal education policy was passed giving free education to all children (not just those considered “survivors”) through the tenth grade. As a result, Foundation Rwanda no longer needs to provide school fees for children through grade 10, but payment of school fees is not the only challenge these children face in being able to attend school.

In addition, Foundation Rwanda has been setting aside reserves in order to help ensure some level of continued funding of school expenses for children that we sponsor. This is done because these children’s education will take many years to complete and we want to protect the children’s enrollment for future years against any potential decline in our revenues. We hope with your continued support to reach our goal: to assure each and every child we enroll that they will be able to continue their education through to graduation. It is common in Rwanda to have students of different ages in different grades. Although the majority of Foundation Rwanda students are turning eighteen years old, their grade levels vary due to lack of school fees and their circumstances. Foundation Rwanda will need an estimated $1,000,000 to be able to sponsor each of the 824 students currently enrolled in our program through graduation from secondary school.

Foundation Rwanda provides all students in grades 9 & 10 with 45,000 Frw ($75) and primary school children with 30,000 Frw ($50) in their first school term to be used for their uniform, transport, scholastic materials, essential personal materials and one-off materials (i.e. mattresses or toiletries/female supplies). The children in primary school and grades 9 & 10 will be given 20,000 ($33) Frw to cover these expenses for following terms. Those in grades 11 & 12 receive, on average, 143,000 Frw ($238) which includes school fees, uniform, transport, scholastic materials and necessary personal supplies.

We hope with your continued support to reach our goal: to assure each and every child we enroll that they will be able to continue their education through to graduation.

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FOUNDATION RWANDA

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MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Foundation Rwanda launched a baseline survey in 2011 to assess the needs of the families we support regarding disbursement of school fees and the holistic well-being of the mothers and children we support. We are proud to report Foundation Rwanda now has a standardized monitoring and evaluation system to track each student’s and mother’s progress which is essential to enable our local partners to be more accountable and to play a greater role in the outreach to the students and families in the program.

other pertinent information. This collection of data is critical to the success of our students and to applying metrics for improvement of our program. We have made great strides in this area largely relying on our local partners for manpower. However, given that our local partners’ capacity is already stretched, we would greatly benefit from an increase in our budget to pay for dedicated community workers to focus specifically on monitoring the students and mothers who live in particularly isolated regions. It is incredibly important to conduct visits and evaluations of such families, although it is an expensive and time-intensive process due to the cost of traveling to remote locations and the lack of telephones in their households. We are now identifying both high and low achieving students and will determine whether tutoring or counseling may be helpful. We also are working to identify which students might excel in alternative educational programs such as vocational training or higher education programs.

Families are monitored in-person via a network of social workers and counselors from our partner organizations and by our own in-country employees. Our program includes regular and ongoing monitoring and counseling of the Foundation Rwanda families. We are investing resources to update our internal databases to monitor and track data including: mother and child profiles, partner organizations, schools, medical treatments, extra-curricular activities, counseling, income generating activities and

HOW MONITORING AND EVALUATION IS CARRIED OUT Foundation Rwanda provides designated forms that a teacher completes relating to the student’s academic performance and behavior in school.

FOUNDATION RWANDA

Statistics

STATISTICS

Foundation Rwanda’s program manager visits schools and speaks to the school adminstration to check on student performance and ensure that school fees were paid on time and in full.

NGOs

FEMALE

MALE

AER

131

AWR

103

Number

CURRENT

Foundation Rwanda collects each student’s grade slip from the previous term at the beginning of each new term to assess the student’s grades and any challenges they may be facing.

TOTAL

SOLACE

KANYARWANDA

234

200

434

KARONGI

SURF

TOTAL

443

381

824

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FOUNDATION RWANDA • A CLOSER LOOK AT FOUNDATION RWANDA’S EDUCATION PROGRAM

REPRESENTATION OF FEMALE AND MALE STUDENTS AS PER ENROLLMENT VIA PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS 250

REPRESENTATION OF GIRLS AND BOYS ENROLLED 460

FEMALE

234 200

GIRLS

MALE

449

440 200

BOYS

420 400

150

380 100

375

360 73 58

340 38 25

AER

AWR

SOLACE

KANYARWANDA

KARONGI

320

GIRLS

SURF

2011 REPRESENTATION OF STUDENTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

BOYS

OUTLOOK: NUMBER OF STUDENTS TO GRADUATE PER YEAR 70

PRIMARY

2012

SECONDARY

2013

54%

2014

381

443

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

46%

10 0

FOUNDATION RWANDA

2012

2013

2014

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

The ladies of Kayonza including Beata (third from left) with supporter and friend Linda Trau. ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

3 FOUNDATION RWANDA

NEW INTIATIVES & HOLISTIC SUPPORT TRAUMA COUNSELING & COMMUNITY COUNSELING PILOT PROGRAM BACKGROUND

COMMUNITY COUNSELING PILOT PROGRAM

Many of the mothers we support have repeatedly asked for trauma counseling to address their specific challenges of having a child from rape. They are wanting to maintain healthy relationships now that their children are in the midst of their teenage years when many are starting to confront and understand the circumstances of their birth. With very few psychologists in Rwanda, an appropriate counseling policy is an important missing link to address the psychological challenges the Foundation Rwanda families face. Although they are receiving educational support, many of the children do not know the reasons for it; their mothers, however, are traumatized by the knowledge that a time may come (and has come for many) when they need to disclose their stories to their children.

Thanks to a small grant from our partner Survivors Fund, Foundation Rwanda was able to launch a pilot community counseling initiative in June (2012) in Butare, Nyanza and Bugesera Districts with oversight from Dr. Jemma Hogwood (SURF). The program seeks to provide ongoing psychological support and to create a safe and secure environment through which a process of disclosure can be decided upon and managed, should a mother choose to tell her child the circumstances of their birth. For those mothers that choose not to disclose to their children, tools can also be provided to enable them to deal with social and emotional issues if and when they arise. This initiative aims to provide community counseling for groups of Foundation Rwanda beneficiaries to focus on daily life challenges as well as issues of disclosure and parenting. The pilot program is currently reaching 40 women (out of the 800+ families supported) directly in their local villages by providing opportunities for group and individual counseling. The mothers receive support from trained professionals, as well as from their peers, which we hope will foster the creation of wider support networks so they can combat feelings of isolation.

RESEARCH Denise Sandole, and Professor Carl Auerbach, from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University in New York, evaluated 40 Foundation Rwanda testimonies and conducted research in Rwanda studying female survivors of the genocide. They concluded that five interventions are critical for post-genocide recovery, and chief among them is counseling. Auerbach and Sandole launched a research project to help Foundation Rwanda understand the counseling needs of women who were raped during the genocide and who have a child as a result. They worked with psychology experts from Rwanda and abroad to assess the psychological needs of both the mothers and children to establish counseling methods to address the needs of those mothers who have disclosed, or plan to disclose, the circumstances regarding their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birth.

Many of the women speak openly and honestly about the challenges they face. Examples include: being angry all of the time and getting into conflict with neighbors, finding their child hiding under the bed and thinking that someone was coming to kill them, forgetting things, etc. They are able to communicate their feelings and to grieve, and have given feedback to one of our local counselors saying they are very happy with the group and the opportunity to meet regularly and receive support. They also asked for the opportunity for income generating groups (which have proven to increase self confidence) and asked if the budget for the counseling initiative could be increased slightly to provide tissues and water for each group.

In collaboration, Dr. Auerbach, Dr. Sandole, and Dr Jemma Hogwood of SURF undertook a study of disclosure amongst a Foundation Rwanda target group, which revealed that the target group seek a more structured and ongoing psychological support for them and their children.The research also revealed that the majority of children have been disclosed to, or are indirectly aware of their individual histories, and that women are seeking more support to deal with the after effects of disclosure, and coping with the roles and duties of being a mother in this situation. FOUNDATION RWANDA

Click here to see our proposal to help bring counseling to more mothers.

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Valentine Valentine is one of the initial group of Foundation Rwanda Mothers to receive support. She says that with this support her life has changed in an extraordinary way. Valentine says, “Before my children joined Foundation Rwanda’s program there was nobody for me… there was nobody to tell me, ‘You can make it, you can do it.’ Foundation Rwanda’s program which supports the education of my children helped me to regain my dignity. I have hope that my children will one day be important people in society and help me when I get old.” In 2010 Valentine received a cow from the government program “Girika Munyarwanda” and she gets 10 liters of milk per day. Because of Foundation Rwanda’s support for the education of her children, Valentine can use the income from the milk sales to meet her other basic needs including renovating her house. Valentine has disclosed to her daughter the circumstances of her birth and added that she attends church to keep the “good spirit.” She has also begun informally telling her story to other women in her village that Foundation Rwanda supports and would like to broaden that role to encourage other women with the same experience as her not to lose hope. “You can have it bad and still move on and do something good with your life,” she says.

“

– Valentine

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Valentine with her daughters Amelie and Inez. ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Sonia Sonia has a remarkable story. Sonia was raped during the genocide at the age of 16. As a result of the rapes she endured, she gave birth to a son. Her surviving family was unwilling to accept her child and she felt her only option was to run away from her village and go to Kigali to live with her son and a friend. Her friend encouraged her to start school and in 2006 she completed her secondary school but did not get the required grades to secure government funding. However that did not deter her. She got a job working as a receptionist but the pay was not enough to fund both her son’s education and her university. But she was committed to supporting her son going to school until 2009 when he was enrolled in Foundation Rwanda’s education program. Because Sonia no longer had to pay school fees for her son, she used the extra money she could now save to enroll in a university in Kigali to study finance. Today she is in her fourth and final year at university and was able to secure a part time job with Goshen Finance. “I am happy that Foundation Rwanda is supporting the education of my child. This has put my heart at rest knowing that my son will get an education and an opportunity to become important in society. He will finish secondary school next year and I have been able to use the money I would have paid for him to pay for my own education. I want to excel in the field of banking.”

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– Sonia

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Rosine Rosine was 18 years old when the genocide started. After the genocide, Rosine married her husband and together they had four children. After giving birth to her first child, Rosine developed complications with her fistula which she battled for eight years until 2011 when she received treatment from Kibagabaga Hospital through Foundation Rwanda’s partnership with IOWD. In 2012, when Rosine went for a checkup, her doctor found cancer in her uterus which requires specialized treatment from the National University Hospital. She is undergoing treatment thanks to a small hardship fund from our partner Survivors Fund but is awaiting an operation. In addition to her health challenges, Rosine’s social and family life is challenging. After her husband learned that she was suffering from uterine cancer, he started avoiding Rosine and refused to care for her. In addition, the man who raped Rosine was convicted within the Gacaca Courts but he escaped from prison and she fears that he will return one day and kill her in retaliation. It is clear that Rosine could benefit greatly from regular counseling and a support group to cope with these challenging events and she has asked Foundation Rwanda to help support her with fees for transportation and medical visits as she battles uterine cancer.

Rosine

Anitha Anitha remarried after the genocide and lives in the same community as the relatives of the man who raped her. She did not disclose to her daughter Dianna the circumstances leading to her birth but her daughter was told by the relatives of the perpetrator. “They told me that my mother is bad and is responsible for putting my father in prison.” Since then Dianna has been fighting with her mother. “I am devastated by the behavior of my daughter,” says Anitha. “She does not believe me at all. Instead she believes the relatives of the man who raped me, and killed my family.” We are distraught to report that Dianna has dropped out of school and is struggling with drugs. Anitha has asked Foundation Rwanda for counseling and support to cope with the trauma and stress resulting from their situation and to help her daughter return to school and normal life. Emilienne, Foundation Rwanda’s community social worker, visits Dianna twice a month in Butare to provide counseling for her.

FOUNDATION RWANDA

Anitha

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Josette Josette is a mother of two children: Thomas who is 17 years old and in Senior 1 and Arriane who is 13 years old and in Primary 6. Josette told us that she had never thought that her children born of rape from the genocide would get an education or behave like normal children. She typically looked at her children as a curse and thought they would always be isolated in society. When Josette joined Foundation Rwanda’s program and began getting school fees and school materials for her children, she started changing her perception. Seeing her children attend school boosted her belief in them. “I can now see the worth and value of my children in the education they are getting and what they can become. I believe they have potential of becoming responsible people in society. It is only through this support that I realized I should love my children and treat them well,” Josette said recently. “Foundation Rwanda allows me to pay school fees for my children, to send them to secondary school.” Having begun but never graduated from high school, Josette is determined to see that her children are educated. In 2010, Josette joined a training program of Foundation Rwanda mothers in bead and jewelry making via the SIP project. Before joining the group, she would have never imagined she could make handicrafts that were good enough to sell. Now, she sells them during her spare time. She also works at Survivors Fund. She starts work early so that she also gets time to work on her jewelry making business. With the money she earns from selling the crafts, Josette has been able to provide the extra money for her son to attend a better school. She has a savings account and wants to get a loan to grow her business and support her family. Most importantly, Josette now appreciates the importance of loving and educating her children. “I am very happy because I stopped disliking my children, thinking they were children of the killers.”

“

– Josette

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Josette and her son Thomas. © Jonathan Torgovnik

FOUNDATION RWANDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FOUNDATION RWANDA

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NEW INTIATIVES & HOLISTIC SUPPORT

INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES FOR MOTHERS In 2010, Foundation Rwanda embarked on a partnership with Indego Africa to help provide income generating activities for Foundation Rwanda beneficiaries in rural areas. Abasangiye commenced an intense series of training programs with Indego Africa (initially funded by Foundation Rwanda and Survivor’s Fund). Classes include Business Management and Entrepreneurship, English and Kinyarwanda literacy, and computer skills. In 2011, the women of the workshop cooperative overcame the death of their revered vice president who led them to make giant strides as an early-stage business. Completing orders for J.Crew, Nicole Miller, Anthropologie, ShopBop, and Steven Alan, Abasangiye matches workplace success with a strong classroom learning ethic and showcases its commitment to education with near perfect training program attendance rates. Abasangiye was one of two cooperatives to produce 9,000 wrap bracelets for a Spring 2012 collaboration between Indego Africa and J.Crew. The cooperative also produces wine bags, totes, and coasters. Abasangiye took part in two major initiatives as part of Indego Africa’s expansion of wraparound health services. In July 2011, all members of Abasangiye had their vision tested and, where needed, received eyeglasses. The second initiative included a day of breast cancer awareness training. In yet another example of the women’s clear commitment to their education, three members submitted applications for Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Women Program and are currently in the selection process.

– Odette, 49, Absangiye

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It has improved my health and well-being to work with Indego Africa and the cooperative. Before,I used to only sit at home and never leave the house, and I felt an internal anger and loneliness that made me feel sick and tore me up from the inside. Now I feel happy because I have purpose and company and I never get sick... The partnership is helping us to develop as a cooperative and become strong businesswomen and draw strength from one another.

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SURVIVORS FUND & THE SIP PROJECT Foundation Rwanda’s main partner, Survivors Fund (SURF), has developed a targeted program for HIV+ women survivors of the genocide, a number of which are mothers of the children that we support, through a holistic approach encompassing legal aid, counseling, home based care and livelihood development. Many of the women in the project who also require support to access antiretroviral treatment through public health clinics desire confidence and independence in doing so. The core of the program has been developing a new successful model of income-generating activities based mostly around growing, buying and selling crops and livestock.

The project aims to help women form association. They receive regular training in developing and managing small businesses for activities ranging from cassava growing to cattle trading, sewing to shopkeeping. The culmination of the training is a proposal for a loan which is being assessed by a microfinance fund. So far 30 groups of over 600 women have completed the training and many are now generating an income to support themselves and their households.

FISTULA REPAIR & THE IOWD CLINIC Two of our supporters, Dr. Cara Beth Lee, an orthopedic surgeon in Seattle, and Amy Theobald, have been traveling to Rwanda for the past few years to conduct orthopedic surgeries for those in need. While there, they met with some of the Foundation Rwanda mothers who, when they heard Dr. Lee was a surgeon, confided in her regarding problems they were having with their fistula due to the rapes they endured and childbirth. Fistula is a horrendous condition where a woman is constantly leaking urine and is ostracized by her family and community.

IOWD runs three clinics a year in Rwanda led by Executive Director Barbara Margolies and welcomes any women suffering from this condition to access free treatment. In 2012, Foundation Rwanda together with IOWD were able to see that twelve of the Foundation Rwanda mothers were examined and two underwent surgery for this very important treatment. A big thanks to IOWD for their excellent work and partnership, and to Dr. Cara Beth Lee and Amy Theobald for being catalysts for this care. We look forward to seeing many more Foundation Rwanda women accessing treatment through this collaboration.

Dr. Lee and Amy immediately got in touch with Foundation Rwanda to see what we could do to address these very sensitive medical needs. We found an excellent organization called The International Organization For Women And Development (“IOWD”) who, in partnership with the Minister of Health and Kibagabaga Hosplital, runs clinics to address the fistula needs of women in Rwanda.

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NYC LA All photos © Robert Leslie Photo bottom right © Getty Images

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FUNDRAISING

FOUNDATION RWANDA: AN EVENING OF FOOD & FOTOS Foundation Rwanda: An Evening of Food & Fotos, our annual benefit, took place in 2011 in Los Angeles at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills sponsored by La Brea Bakery (thanks to La Brea Bakery, John Yamin & Nancy Tellem!). A big thanks for the goodwill and generosity of LA acclaimed chefs including Nancy Silverton (Mozza, La Brea Bakery) and Suzanne Goin (A.O.C., Lucques, Tavern, Hungry Cat) among others. The event was a great success with a screening of the Intended Consequences Film and the legendary Sir Sidney Poitier in attendance.

donated by some of the world’s best rock photographers of music legends such as Elvis Costello, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, The Beatles and more. The evening is 100% volunteer run! Special thanks to co-chairs Paulina Cone and Sara Solfanelli and our amazing committee and to all participating restaurants, chefs, volunteers and our sponsors without whom the evening would not be possible. In addition, we launched our first Foundation Rwanda Charity Buzz auction of entertainment, sports and culinary experiences. Special thanks to all who donated and to Advisory Board member Nancy Brady for ensuring its success.

Foundation Rwanda: An Evening of Food & Fotos returned to Bonham’s Auction House in New York City in 2012. The evening, sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company & La Brea Bakery-Aryzta, was a great night and included exquisite food by Gabe & Katherine Thompson (L’Artusi/ dell’anima), Nancy Olson (Gramercy Tavern), Recette, Tia Pol, Char No. 4, Fatty ‘Cue, Kuma Inn, French Culinary Institute & Nunu Chocolates & spirits by Patrón Tequila & Brooklyn Brewery. In addition, we raised significant funding thanks to our auction of iconic photos generously

Jonathan Torgovnik’s images and stories from Rwanda are both haunting and hopeful. We are honored to support the extraordinary work of Foundation Rwanda and believe helping these mothers and children is an important foundational step in the country’s continuing journey of healing and reconciliation.

– Sheri & Howard Schultz, Schultz Family Foundation/Starbucks Coffee Company

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With gratitude to Starbucks Coffee Co., La Brea Bakery/Aryzta, Open Society Foundations, Delta Bulding Corporation/Zachary & Michal Levison and Linda Trau Studios for their wonderful partnership in the event and a special thank you to Bonham’s Auction House for hosting our event for the second time. We are looking for key corporate partners and a venue to host our next New York event, in autumn 2013.

Please contact jules@foundationrwanda.org with any questions or to secure your sponsorship of Foundation Rwanda: An Evening of Food & Fotos NY 2013.

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The mothers of Kibuye viewing the Color Rwanda With Hope Coloring Book for the first time. ÂŠ Jules Shell

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FUNDRAISING

‘COLOR RWANDA WITH HOPE’ CAMPAIGN 2011 was a remarkably creative year for Foundation Rwanda. People always write in to ask how we continue to find ways to keep these mothers’ stories in the news and garnering attention nearly 18 years after the genocide. Knowing the challenges these mothers have overcome and still endure on a daily basis, it is our mission to continue pushing the envelope with new media.

and hopes of the students you help to support. The project debuted at the Color Rwanda With Hope launch party with a film and exhibition of drawings by the children you help to sponsor at Sunwest Studios in NYC. Color Rwanda coloring books are making their way around the country to California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Australia, South Carolina, Michigan & Alaska to name a few!

Thanks to the brilliant Color Rwanda Team and our partnership with Omino Gardezi, Jakob Daschek and Kate Cunningham we launched one of our most beautiful projects yet: The COLOR RWANDA WITH HOPE film, coloring book and exhibition of paintings of the dreams

To see the film or purchase a coloring book, visit: foundationrwanda.org. Phase 2 of the project will focus on the mothers’ hopes and dreams and will kick off this Fall as we shoot a short commercial with Ridley Scott Director Jakob Daschek and the CRH Team.

WANT TO HELP? We are looking for a production grant to help produce and edit phase 2 of the project and will be sourcing donated TV, print and media space. Please get in touch with any ideas: jules@foundationrwanda.org.

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NEWS

FOUNDATION RWANDA UNDERGOES A STRATEGIC REVIEW THANKS TO THE FOLKS AT OPENBOX After a remarkable first meeting with Openbox founder Marquise Stillwell, his deep caring for the cause led to a thoughtful moment for Foundation Rwanda to pause and undergo a strategic review to help us hone in on new thinking. Growth of an organization demands an equal measure of effort in response.

Openbox interviewed a number of our partners in Rwanda, our board and funders. Six key outcomes were identified: 1

Western ideas about a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s age corresponding to a certain school year do not pertain to Rwanda. A student is happy for the chance of an education and will enroll in a class corresponding to their skill level no matter what his/her age is.

Our beneficiaries and partners have overwhelmingly expressed the need for quality versus quantity as the mothers are desperate for holistic support in trauma counseling and income generating activities.

Partnership is invaluable. The education program could not have existed without the hard work and sensitivity of our local partners or an outside organization like Foundation Rwanda advocating for this stigmatized population. This includes undertaking all of the fundraising abroad and implementing and enforcing key monitoring and evaluation practices.

4 We have a solvable problem and a solid program. The schools exist; the problem is the funding for school fees.

If enough people support the cause and believe in Foundation Rwanda, we could expand the infrastructure with our local partners to enroll the estimated 20,000 children born of rapes during the genocide. 5

We should do what we do best â&#x20AC;&#x201C; use art and photography to tell the stories of the women we support and invest our resources in communicating the stories to a larger audience.

6 Education is a means to opportunity. We should begin identifying existing opportunities for vocational training

and higher education for Foundation Rwanda students nearing graduation from secondary school.

For more information, email jules@foundationrwanda.org

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NEWS

FOUNDATION RWANDA TAKES PART IN TEDx Foundation Rwanda is very proud to have taken part in the first ever TEDx event on the theme of “Service” in partnership with the US Military and Scott Air Force Base and emceed by Simon Sinek, author of ‘Start With Why’. Watch Foundation Rwanda’s Executive Director, Jules Shell, tell the inspiring stories of Foundation Rwanda mothers Ellianne and Agathe in her talk entitled: Smile at the Man who did this to you: Stories of Hope from Rwanda. Watch the video here.

Foundation Rwanda’s Executive Director, Jules Shell presenting at TEDx ScottAFB

THE FOUNDATION RWANDA TEAM IS GROWING Foundation Rwanda needs your help to find experienced candidates in the San Francisco or New York areas who share our passion and excel in online marketing campaigns, communications and social media. We also have a 6 month internship based in Kigali, Rwanda assisting our program manager Samuel Munderere. For more information please visit: http://www.foundationrwanda.org/jobs.aspx

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2011 FINANCIALS DREAM BIG – WHAT MORE COULD WE DO? Foundation Rwanda will officially turn five years old in July 2013. Our organization was founded in response to one mother’s wish to provide education for her child born from rape during the genocide as the government refused to consider her child eligible for government sponsored education that all survivors have access to. Thanks to your support, Foundation Rwanda has gone far beyond that mother’s wish and now our program is thriving successfully with the aid of our local partners. This group of severely marginalized women and children now have an organization to turn to for help and you have helped to enrich the lives and futures of these children, bringing hope to their mothers.

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So, where do we go from here? Clearly, our first priority is to ensure that we can fulfill the commitments we have made to the students that we already support. We have created reserves and are working to try to set up a scholarship fund to ensure that Foundation Rwanda will have the funds to permit all 824 children to complete their educations. But, what about the others? There are an estimated 20,000 children born from rape during the genocide. Can we help them too? This is what we mean by “Dream Big” and in this sense our goal is simple: we would like to raise enough money to provide schooling through secondary education for this entire generation of Rwandan children born of rape by building a scholarship fund. Let us know if you have ideas about resources or partners to help us accomplish this ambitious goal. If you don’t dream big, it’s hard to achieve big goals! Help us to achieve this one.

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2011 FINANCIALS

a note from

DAN KUNSNETZ ,

FOUNDATION RWANDA BOARD MEMBER/FINANCE CHAIR

2011 VS. 2010 The following financial statements show our financial results for 2011 compared with 2010. 2011 was a challenging year to be sure, but due to the way that we are required to account for multi-year grants, the presentation makes out a far starker picture than actually exists.

ENROLLING MORE STUDENTS MEANS INCREASING PROGRAM STAFF You will also see that our 2011 expenses rose by 12% which was largely due to our increased payroll expenses in 2011 to scale the education program. Clearly having more people on the ground providing program services to our families is critical to our success so we felt these were dollars that were well spent.

MULIT-YEAR GRANTS Specifically, you should note that it appears that our income as reported declined by 75% from 2010 to 2011. Much of this was because we were required to report multi-year grants that were awarded to us in the year of grant instead of spreading such income out over the years that we actually get the funds. This treatment required us to “over-report” such grants in the year received even though the funds were not available to us at that time. Even accounting for this “bundling” of income effect, there is no question that we raised less money in 2011 than in 2010. Part of this is due to the fact that in 2011 we began to try to tap into West Coast supporters to augment the significant base of support we initially built up on the East Coast. Our LA Food & Fotos event was a success and introduced Foundation Rwanda to many new potential supporters and key sponsors but, like any first time fundraising event, our net proceeds from the event were below what we had raised in 2010 at the NY Food & Fotos event.

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A CONSERVATIVE RESERVE FUND You should note that our conservative planning to create significant cash reserves has ameliorated the 2011 decline in income. We created these reserves to help ensure that the Foundation Rwanda children whom we have sent to school will not be affected by the ups and downs in our fundraising. Accordingly, despite the decline in 2011 revenues, we were still able to increase the number of children that we sent to school in 2011 and we still have sufficient reserves to continue the educations of these children as we go about finding new sources of support.

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2011 FINANCIALS

INNOVATIVE FUNDRAISING & PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Foundation Rwanda grew out of a photography project that was published by two major European magazines where the readers responded to the mothers’ wishes and collectively sent in over $250,000. In addition, thanks to the generosity of a handful of passionate and very supportive individuals and foundations, we have been able to create and scale an excellent and efficient program with local partners. The support of these grassroots donations coupled with large scale donors has anchored our programs to date.

Thank you We thank all of our financial supporters of every size, for without whom we would not be able to provide the support for the Foundation Rwanda families that we do. If you have any questions about our financial performance, condition or otherwise, or if you have any suggestions for new sources of revenue that we should pursue, please contact:

While we continue to reach out to our current supporters and try to identify new ones, in 2012 we are embarking on a new initiative to “crowdsource” other forms of support. Towards this end we are moving towards actively tapping into the robust “social media” markets to try to raise funds in smaller amounts from vastly more people. This will allow us to stay true to our mission and to build online campaigns that will not only raise awareness but also provide funding with a lower cost of fundraising expenses.

jules@foundationrwanda.org.

CREATING A SCHOLARSHIP/ ENDOWMENT FUND We hope old and new donors will recognize the value of education and dignity for all and join with us to raise a $1,000,000 scholarship endowment fund to ensure that all 824 students enrolled in secondary school will graduate.

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2011 FINANCIALS

END OF YEAR BLANACE SHEET, REVENUES & EXPENSES FOUNDATION RWANDA STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011 REVENUE AND SUPPORT Contributions & fundraising activities

182,964

Donated services

27,430

Other income, including income interest

21,331

TOTAL UNRESTRICTED REVENUES

231,725

FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES Program services

306,162

Management & general expenses

47,546

Development

55,397

TOTAL EXPENSES

409,105

Change in net assets

-177,380

STATEMENT OF POSITION AT DECEMBER 31, 2011 ASSETS Cash and investments

716,857

Contributions receivable

41,211

Prepaid expenses & other current assets

5,367

Fixed assets & website, net

115,070

TOTAL ASSESTS

878,505

LIABILITIES Accounts payable & accrued expenses

18,274

Grant payable

162,085

TOTAL LIABILITIES

180,359

NET ASSETS

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Unrestricted

658,146

Temporarily restricted

40,000

TOTAL NET ASSETS

698,146

Total liabilities and net assets

878,505

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2012 – 13 GOALS Accomplished! Launch a baseline survey to assess the holistic needs of the Foundation Rwanda families we support and institute a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation process for the education initiative. Pilot a Foundation Rwanda Community Counseling Initiative for Foundation Rwanda mothers in rural areas with little or no access to counseling and support services.   Partner with IOWD for comprehensive fistula treatment and surgeries for Foundation Rwanda mothers in need.  Double the revenue from our annual benefit, Foundation Rwanda: An Evening of Food & Fotos. Launch the Color Rwanda With Hope campaign: an exhibition, a film and a coloring book at colorwanda.org.

In The Works & Would Love Your Feedback: Fully fund the first ever trauma counseling initiative specifically for women with children born from rape during the genocide. A seed grant of $90,000 is needed to expand the pilot program to reach all 800 mothers. Click here to see our proposal to help bring counseling to more mothers. Find continued support for our Color Rwanda With Hope project phase 2 to expand the campaign and continue to tell the hopes and dreams of the mothers we help to support. Work with key partners to build an endowment campaign to ensure every child of this generation of Rwandan children born of rape has an equal right to education.

We’d LOVE to hear your feedback on any of the above. Please be in touch anytime at jules@foundationrwanda.org.

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Agathe with her new smile thanks to Stacey & Dr. Jonathan Levine & Glo Good. ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik

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Thank you

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I always thought that I was the only one suffering from having a child that was born out of rape but after our group discussion, I got to know that it is no longer my concern as an individual but our concern as a group. Sharing our experiences gave me more hope and strength. – Anonymous

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Thank you for helping us when you did not know us. It gives us hope that there are still good people in the world. – Donatille

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– Anonymous

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Thank you. We had no position in society. Now, our kids can go to school and access rights like the other kids.

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Hope for Children Healing for Mothers www.foundationrwanda.org Please help us spread the word and join us on

ÂŠ Jonathan Torgovnik/Foundation Rwanda