The small roadside village of Gihinga in Rwanda’s Southern Province has approximately 6,800 inhabitants, most of whom are coffee farmers. Farmers grow coffee, bananas, beans and cassava. Gihinga Primary School was established in 1946 and currently has about 1,300 students enrolled.
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| old building |
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| interior of old building |
According to the Ministry of Education, normal classroom size should be maximum 45 students per room. Gihinga’s student enrollment far exceeded that with approximately 80 students in each of 16 classrooms. The need for extra classrooms was evident as the school was still using one of the original buildings made from mud bricks; the building was in dire need of replacement. Other classrooms were very dark inside and made it difficult for the children to see the blackboard adequately (there is no electricity at the school).
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| new classrooms |
Our Community Aid program, in collaboration with Shenga Coffee Washing Station and the local community, built an additional 4 classrooms at Gihinga. The new building was inaugurated in February 2010 and the construction project also included replacing metal roofing sheets in all the classrooms with transparent sheets to allow more light in.
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| interior new classroom |
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