eeing great potential in their son, Loic Rwagasana’s parents decided to invest in his future by sending him from Kigali, Rwanda, to Riverside Military Academy R│( M│ A │ i │) n │ A │ . 9 1│0 2 l │ t │ h │ o │ u │ g │ h │ t │ h │ e│ i │ r │ p │ r │ i │ m │ a │ r │ y│ g │ o │ a │ l │ │ was for their son to develop independence, they have no doubt been pleased to see him develop in other ways as well. Rising through the ranks to command Delta Company in his senior year, Rwagasana gained invaluable experience leading his peers even as he built lasting relationships and an unmatched camaraderie with his classmates.
YO U T H
FOR
YO U T H
Growing up in Rwanda, Rwagasana
As Rwagasana and his friend delivered masks to the schools,
witnessed economic inequalities, which
they saw additional needs. Many parents lost jobs during the
sparked in him a strong desire to help
│p│a│n│d│e│m│i│c│m│a│k│i│n│g│t│u│i│t│i│o│n│p│a│y│m│e│n│t│s│d│i│c│u│l│t│,i│f│n│o│t│i│m│p│o│s│s│i│b│l│e│.
others. When he returned to his home
They also found that many students did not have access to
country during the winter furlough of
online learning during that time. So began their second
│20,h│e│a│n│d│a│f│r│i│e│n│d│b│e│g│a│n│a│n│o│n│p│r│oß│t│ called Youth for Youth Rwanda││(Y│Y│R│).
│n│o│n│p│r│oß│t│i│n│i│t│i│a│t│i│v│e│w, │h│i│c│h│t│h│e│yYouth │c│a│l│l│efor │d│ Education. The
Through this new charitable venture, they reached out to
nonprofit’s first initiative was to provide
donors and raised an impressive 1.3 million Rwandan francs
masks to school-aged children, because
(around 1,300 US dollars), which covered school costs for
they noticed that many students either did
20 students. After they presented the gifts, Rwagasana said,
│n│o│t│h│a│v│e│m│a│s│k│s│o│r│w│o│r│e│d│i│r│t│y│m│a│s│k│s│.U│s│i│n│g│ an online system, they quickly raised the funds necessary to address this need.
“ This evening was heartwarming, especially after calling the school director and the students to tell them the good news. It was one of the most impactful moments of our lives.” │W│h│e│n│a│s│k│e│d│a│b│o│u│t│t│h│e│d│i│c│u│l│t│i│e│s│o│f│l│e│a│d│i│n│g│a│n│eœ│e│c│t│i│v│e│ │n│o│n│-p│r│oß│t│o│r│g│a│n│i│z│a│t│i│o│n│i│n│R│w│a│n│d│a│w│h│i│l│e│s│t│u│d│y│i│n│g│i│n│t│h│e│U│n│i│t│e│d│ States, Rwagasana said, “While I am at school, the distance is not │a│n│i│s│s│u│e│w│i│t│h│m│e│b│e│i│n│g│p│a│r│t│o│f│t│h│e│Y│Y│R│m│i│s│s│i│o│n│.I│e│n│j│o│y│b│e│i│n│g│t│h│e│ │i│d│e│a│g│u│y│,a│n│d│I│d│o│n│o│t│n│e│e│d│t│h│e│l│i│m│e│l│i│g│h│t│t│o│k│n│o│w│t│h│e│i│m│p│a│c│t„││.
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REVEILLE | Riverside Military Academy
