Indiegogo is committed to accessibility. If you have difficulty using our site, please contact support@indiegogo.com for assistance or view our accessibility notice by clicking here

This campaign is closed

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Breanna's fundraiser to teach English at a health center in Gashora, Rwanda.

You may also be interested in

Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Building Bridges in Rwanda

Breanna's fundraiser to teach English at a health center in Gashora, Rwanda.

Breanna's fundraiser to teach English at a health center in Gashora, Rwanda.

Breanna's fundraiser to teach English at a health center in Gashora, Rwanda.

Breanna's fundraiser to teach English at a health center in Gashora, Rwanda.

Breanna Olason
Breanna Olason
Breanna Olason
Breanna Olason
1 Campaign |
Gashora, Rwanda
$1,303 USD 16 backers
86% of $1,500 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk

A gift from Rwanda

$100 USD
0 out of 5 of claimed

Friends and Family,

I’m graduating from Western Washington University this June!  I managed to graduate on time in four years, with a major in Cultural Anthropology and a certificate/minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).  As the graduation deadline gets closer, it makes me reflect on how much I accomplished, learned, and experienced in such a short amount of time; as well as become anxious to start the new chapter of my life!  I’d like to say I know my exact career path, but I can’t yet.  What I can say is, I’m ready to apply my degree with hands on experience this summer.

For my last two quarters, I have been working with Trish Skillman, the director of the TESOL program at WWU, and Steven Vanderstaay, the Vice Provo of Undergraduate Education, Professor of English, and director of the collaborative international service-learning project, Building Bridges in Rwanda

Building Bridges in Rwanda is focused on helping the citizens of Gashora.  One of their top requests from our program is English instruction in the local health center.

Rwanda's community health system is well known as one of the best in Africa. In ten short years, Rwanda has drastically reduced rates of AIDs, Malaria, malnutrition and other infectious diseases. The heroes in this effort are the community health workers who travel by foot or bicycle to the rural communities, who I will be working with.

With English recently becoming a national language in Rwanda, the medicine labels and medical training materials are printed in English. Yet most health workers don't speak English. That's why service projects like this, which provide English instruction for community health workers, are so crucial.

Americans are very welcome in Rwanda. The community health center I will be teaching in was built with aid from the United States. With your help, I can help make the center even more effective by teaching the health workers English.  Steven went to Gashora in February with some of the materials I created and came back with an outstanding review of how beneficial it was to the health workers.

Here is a section of an email from Steven:

"We provided ESL instruction at the Health Center for 4 days. I taught material that reviewed the curriculum we taught at the health center last summer and a packet of material that you created for us. The students appreciated my review but were thrilled by the curricula you provided. Your health-related English materials were very culturally appropriate and at a level that worked for the health workers.

The health workers were also very pleased with the laminated flash cards you provided; they have added these to their library so that students can use them and check them out.

The health workers were very excited about the possibility that you could provide a curricula of 4 weeks of health-related English materials for them in the summer.”

Currently, I’m creating the 4-week curricula for the health center. 

With my expertise in TESOL and the program needing an extra hand in English instruction and management of the classroom, I have been asked to go on the program this summer as a WWU faculty member! This is a volunteer based program for myself, as I will be an alumnus from WWU.  The program is paying for my flight, but I have to pay for the rest of the trip.  The total cost of the trip is $1,500 for lodging, meals, service learning projects, travel/health insurance, and excursions and transportation in Rwanda. 

With your donation, you will be contributing to my future goals of becoming an ESL teacher as well as the passion I have for other cultures and travelling.  You will also be contributing to strengthening and sustaining Gashora’s community and people.

Everything that is fundraised will go directly to the program.  As little as $10 will be immensely helpful!  If I don’t reach my goal, I will pay for the rest out of pocket. 

I thank you for taking your time in reading this, and hope you consider donating to an opportunity that will be life changing and rewarding in so many ways. 

 

- Breanna 

 

The above picture is last year's group with the health workers.  Below is more information if you would like to learn more about the program, Rwanda, and the health center.

Link to WWU program information:

http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/eesp/template/studyabroad/home_rwanda.shtml

The travel blog from last year’s group in the program:

http://rwandastudy2012.blogspot.com/

Gashora Health Center:

http://www.rwandaworks.com/projects/gashora-health-center

The World Bank – Rwanda:

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/rwanda

Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
Need more information
Let us know if you think this campaign contains prohibited content.

You may also be interested in

Up Caret