In its project “EEP : Enfant Etudiants Pauvres” of Caritas Diocese Kabgayi by the support of ICLI and Caritas Bilbao, Bilbao council in Spain, it has given the support to 405 Students including 225 in secondary school and 180 in primary school.
The given materials to students in secondary school are notebooks, bags, pens, hygienic napkins, soaps and hygienic papers. Not only that, but they were also given school fees. For primary school, materials are being distributed after finishing secondary. These beneficiaries more vulnerable students chosen from all 29 parishes of Kabgayi Diocese in partnership with local authorities, aged between 13 and 18 years in secondary school and 7 to 12 years old for primary school, with good marks more than 70%in TVET, more than 60% in general sciences and having parents who willingly want to join SILC (Saving Internal Lending Communities) groups.
The EEP project aims at ’Promoting the schooling of poor students and reduce their vulnerability and of their families in the intervention area’’ where Caritas works for well-being of poorest social categories, as to empower them in order to contribute to the poverty eradication through the promotion of schooling of poor children as the basic strategy of sustainable development. This project does not work only by school fees school materials, but it also works in different activities like MHM and SILCs.
Health menstrual Management
Caritas Diocese Kabgayi’s EEP project intervenes in some schools by giving support of their girl’s rooms. This is done through giving some hygienic materials and advices as a strategy of helping the girl’s students including girls from poor families to follow the lessons regularly and comfortably in their menstrual periods. In last academic year 2022-2023, 8 schools located in three districts : Muhanga, Kamonyi and Ruhango were reached in abovementioned service.
SILCs (Saving Internal Lending Communities) groups.
In order to develop parents of student beneficiaries of EEP project to be self-reliant, there is approach of combining their parents in groups where they can save money so that the will be able to pay for school fees and basic needs for their children in future. In this context : SILCs groups have been created and supported financially in order to promote the economic capacity of families of beneficiary students and increasing Community Development. This objective was achieved where all parents of beneficiary students are grouped into 18 SILCs groups and all those groups are functioning and have been supported financially.
Author : MUSABYIMANA Joselyne
