Helping an Inspiring Teacher

Muraho!

Earlier this year, we went to Rwanda and volunteered at Les Enfants de Dieu (EDD), a rehabilitation centre that houses, feeds, and educates young street boys with nowhere else to go. During our month there we made a really amazing friend named Gratien, a teacher at the centre who welcomed us with open arms and made us feel at home. The longer we worked with Gratien, the more inspired by him we became.

After growing up on the streets and being taken in by EDD as a boy, Gratien chose to remain at the centre after graduating and work there full-time. At the age of only 22, Gratien is the most passionate and hardworking teacher we’ve ever met. He spends every day and night at EDD, playing games and sports with the boys in the hours before and after class. In the classroom, his infectious enthusiasm and limitless energy inspires even the quietest and most detached children to begin participating in the classroom. In his own time, he’s sourced computer hardware from local stores and put together a computer lab for the boys to begin learning computer skills.

He does all of this while pursuing a teaching degree at the Mount Kenya University, and barely making enough to pay tuition, let alone all the other amenities a young man might need. We recently learned that a lifelong friend of Gratien has come to him in need of assistance, and Gratien, being the generous man that he is, has agreed to take care of her. Unfortunately, the additional costs involved will require him to stop his studies and may force him to leave EDD and find employment elsewhere. It broke our hearts to hear that such an incredible teacher and role model for the boys may have to give up what he’s most passionate about.

Together, we made this page to help support our friend. The $1000 goal would fund his next year of tuition and rent, allowing him to continue his university studies and teaching position at EDD. We’re asking our friends and families to help contribute any amount they can spare to help Gratien, who has positively impacted so many of the lives around him and often asks for so little in return. Thank you for reading this, and we hope that together we can make a deserving person’s life a little easier in the coming months.

Our love and appreciation, Kayla, Ronnie and Mickey