RWANDA EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROJECT

Rwanda Education Assistance Project
Five Samuel Purdy Lane
Katonah, NY 10536
info@rwandaedu.org

Project Genesis

In 2006, Ed Ballen, a clinical social worker, journeyed to Rwanda to volunteer at the Hameau des Jeunes orphanage with his daughter, Rachel, and her friend, Amelia Lavin. It has been Rachel’s lifelong dream to do so, and became a passion of Ed’s as well. Hameau des Jeunes is a vibrant orphanage, founded by Father Hermann in 1974, embedded in the beautiful Rwandan landscape along the shores of Lake Muhazi. Home to approximately 150 children, the orphanage has become a flourishing center of activity with a secondary school, a trade school, and a nearby elementary (primary) school, all of which contribute to its vibrant sense of community. The population of orphans includes survivors of the genocide, children who have suffered parental loss due to HIV and other illnesses, as well as the devastating impact of poverty. The orphanage, under the continued leadership of Father Hermann, a Salesian priest, has extended its influence to the neighboring village of Musha, where he has built new homes, established a medical clinic, and is currently exploring ways of increasing agricultural diversity and productivity. With his background in developmental psychology, education, and trauma (Ed was a lead responder for Catholic elementary schools closest to the World Trade Center after 9/11), Ed brought with him a diverse supply of toys, arts and crafts activities, and games to Hameau des Jeunes. Despite desperation and poverty, he discovered a profound sense of community, boundless joy and a hunger for learning, an artistic and musical spirit, and a deep desire for opportunity, within the children.

Mr. Ballen returned to Rwanda with his daughter, Rachel, and another friend, Charlotte Renfield-Miller, in the summers of 2007 and 2008. During the summers, he conducted meetings with all of the older children in the orphanage to find out, from them, some of their hopes, needs and challenges. They repeatedly expressed the many disruptions and gaps in their education (many secondary students were as old as eighteen and they were just beginning secondary school), their fear of leaving the orphanage with no place to go and the desire for new skills that could ensure a productive life for them in the future.

At the same time, Ed was struck by the vast number of young children in the surrounding rural area, whose faces and hair were blotched with fungus, and whose stomachs were extended from malnutrition. Yet their eyes seemed to preserve some unyielding hope. As a response to these overwhelming 4 needs, the formation of the Rwanda Education Assistance Project began shaping itself during the 2006 and 2007 school years. Instrumental in the vision of REAP are two young Rwandan men, Alain Rwabukamba and Jean Marie Kinani, both of whom acted as translators for Ed during his stays in Rwanda. Alain came to live with the Ballen’s as a member of their family, arriving in the summer of 2007, and attended the Harvey School in Katonah, NY. Alain deeply affected the lives of his fellow classmates by educating them beyond the classroom about the plights and hopes of his fellow countrymen in Rwanda. He received the highest school honor, named after the founder of The Harvey School, at his high school graduation. This award is given to the graduate who has most affected and changed his/her classmates. Currently, Alain is a freshman at Manhattan College, on a full scholarship, and has already led two campus wide events to educate students about the genocide in Rwanda and the work of REAP. Alain has been a guiding force in the formation of REAP. In the summer of 2007, Alain’s friend, Jean‐Marie Kinani, became Ed’s translator.

His spirit as a survivor (he lost his entire family – parents, grandparents and five siblings) is a testament to his intelligence, emotional vibrancy, and abiding spirituality. Jean Marie is the REAP Administrator in Rwanda, as he places hard work, opportunity and forgiveness as the cornerstones of his life.

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Rwanda Education Assistance Project (REAP) is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.