Ruhanga is a poor rural school located in a pleasant setting on the crest of a hill in the Gasabo district of Rwanda. Most of the students come from farming families and walk up to 5 kilometers to school. Ruhanga has struggled for a long time and has a very poor pass rate on national exams. Absenteeism has been a major problem as students are often kept home to work on their family land. Parents have lacked involvement in the school. The school is drab and run down. Most of the glass for the windows is missing and the classrooms are dark and dirty. There is no running water provided to the compound. It has been difficult for Ruhanga’s teachers to integrate with the community.

Through its participation in the Whole School Development Program, leaders, teachers, and children at Ruhanga says the following changes have occurred at their school during the past year.
• Head Teacher has learned how to work together with her teachers
• Pass rate on national exams has increased.
• Absenteeism has gone from 45% done to 1%.
• The Parent Teacher Association has been empowered and is training parents about the importance of their role in the life of the school.
• Local leaders are getting more involved in the life of the school.
• Children are learning what unity really looks like, beginning to steward the resources of the school more effectively, and understanding what it means to serve one another.

With your help, over the next year, Wellspring will help Ruhanga make a successful transition to instruction in English (a recent government policy change), continue to develop a vision for how the school community can work together to improve its school environment, and substantially improve the quality of education in the classroom (Learn more about Ruhaga).