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MIRACLE CORNERS RWANDA (MCR)
Jacqueline’s Corner Plans to Build Community Center in Rwanda NEW YORK, NY, April 2007 to present –Jacqueline’s Corner has been raising funds to build a new MCW community center in the District of Bugesera, approximately 30 minutes outside Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. Modeled after MCW centers in Tanzania and Sierra Leone, the new center will host a variety of activities including Information Technology (IT) education, social entrepreneurship classes, arts and culture activities, early childhood education, language education, and trauma counseling. MCW Executive Director Visits Rwanda and Advances Plans to Build Community Center KIGALI, September 2007 – MCW Executive Director Eddie Bergman traveled to Rwanda, where he met with government representatives and civil society leaders to assess the potential to establish a community center in the country. Former Youth Leadership Retreat participant and filmmaker Gilbert Ndahayo organized Eddie’s trip and made several high-level connections for MCW. Eddie returned highly enthusiastic that an MCW center would have a unique and measurable impact in Rwanda. Plans to build the center in Bugesera began immediately. MCW Associate Executive Director Registers Miracle Corners Rwanda (MCR) KIGALI, April 2008 – After building relationships with the National Youth Council and the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sports, MCW Associate Executive Director Alfred Hanssen registered Miracle Corners Rwanda (MCR), the local organization through which MCW will develop the Rwanda center, with the national government. MCR Planning Committee Established to Oversee Project Development NTARAMA, April 2008 – After several months of preliminary work, a local planning committee was established to oversee the development of Miracle Corners Rwanda (MCR). As a first step, the committee conducted a needs assessment, identifying services MCR could provide. The six committee members represent students' and survivors' organizations, the national land bureau, and a trauma counseling NGO. Once the center is established members of the committee will serve on the MCR Advisory Board as well as the MCR Leadership Team (a team of young social entrepreneurs that manages the center’s activities).
Above left: the MCR Planning Committee meeting in Kigali, Rwanda Above right: the MCR Planning Committee with community representatives meeting in Nyamata, Rwanda MCR Secures Building Permit to Begin Construction NTARAMA, October 2008 — Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Bugeresa District, MCR was allocated land and granted a building permit, allowing the organization to break ground for construction soon. Construction documents were prepared in August 2008 by an architect serving on the MCR Planning Committee. Construction will be managed by Innocent Nizeyimana, a young Rwandan civil engineering student.
Above: the 1 hectare plot of land allocated to MCR in Ntarama, Rwanda U.S. Volunteers Join MCR Team NTARAMA, September 2008 – MCW fellow Khalid Elachi and volunteer Karen Shulman arrived in Rwanda to work with the MCR team to prepare the center to begin operations in spring 2009. Together they will develop the center’s business plan and create syllabi for the center’s activities. In November, Khalid Elachi will return to the MCW New York office and volunteer Amir Rodney Smith will join the MCR team in Ntarama.
Above: perspective of the proposed center For more information, contact Jacqueline Murekatete (Jacqueline@miraclecorners.org) |
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