27-year-old Vedaste wants to help his students to thrive

“Unfortunately, we find that a lot of children do not finish school and instead drop out early,” he says. To resolve this issue Vedaste says that he has “three goals with the extra teaching that I hope to complete. I hope that the students become academically better, that many more students finish school, and most importantly, that the students become happier and thrive better,”

In order to achieve the goals, it requires that the vulnerable students are helped in several areas. Vedaste explains that there is a connection between the children’s background and academic ability. Often it is children from poor homes who drop out of school.

“In schools like this, which are outside the cities, many of the students come from poor families, and these are the same students who can’t keep up academically,” says Vedaste.

But it is not only the family’s income that has an impact on children’s learning at school. Vedaste explains, “Many of the children who are challenged at school also have a hard time at home. You can’t concentrate and learn if you’re not safe and comfortable at home.

Therefore, it is also important that you as a mentor have eyes for more than the child’s performance in school. You also need to understand the child’s situation at home and give parents tools to help their children, he says.

“Through the training, I have learned concrete tools and methods that I can use to guide and advise the students who are having a hard time – both at school and at home,” says Vedaste.

He says that the best thing about the training was that time was set aside to learn new things and discuss with colleagues. Something that there is not room for in the same way in a busy everyday life. Now Vedaste and his colleagues are looking forward to helping the school’s vulnerable students with their new academic and pedagogical techniques. As soon as teachers receive the final teaching material, the weekly extra lessons begin every Saturday.

About the Kura Umenye project

• 120 schools in eight districts in Rwanda now working with Kura Umenye
• 9,604 children in grades 4, 5 and 6 and 480 teachers are involved in the project
• 572 children who had dropped out of school have now returned
• 8000 children are involved in the part of the project that focuses on mental health
• Eight practising psychologists have been hired and are supporting the rehabilitation of 294 former street children so that they can settle well into their new families and environments
• At the same time, the psychologists support more than 1,180 parents in the family programs
• The project is supported by the Hempel Foundation and Danmarks Indsamling