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Groupe Scolaire Gatagara is situated 2km off the main tarmac road that
connects Kigali to Butare.The Gatagara complex is the biggest,
and one of the very few centres in Rwanda that provides education
and training opportunities for disabled students.
The ethos of the centre is very much to encourage students to be
independent and to integrate into the social and economic life of Rwanda.
This centre has different activities to assist the disabled in
school from pre- school to secondary level and has been chosen in
order to give disabled students positive and realistic job opportunities
on leaving school. In fact the staff claim that a high proportion of
school-leavers have found employment in labs and health centres
across the country.
The secondary school is nominally supported by the government,
but the vast majority of its funding comes from Co-operation Belge,
Cord Aid, Les Amis de Gatagara (a Belgian organisation) and
Christophel Blenden Mission.
Cord Aid funds 80% for the school’s running costs but this will end
soon and Frank’ has been made the General manager for Gatagara
centre.
There are plans to make the centre a reference for Rwamagana,
Butare and Kigali. However, such are the connections of the
‘Brothers of Charity’ who run the school that future
funding from other sources is not in doubt.
The influence of the ‘Brothers of Charity’ on life at the school is noticeable,
but students and teachers of all denominations are accepted and
there will be no pressure on the volunteers to attend church functions
if they do not wish to.
Gatagara is a predominantly Francophone area and the ability to
communicatein either French or Kinyarwanda would be a great asset
in social settings.
The centre has a secondary school in Butare but on the HVP campus in
Gatagara there are other activities for the disabled, carpentry,
mechanics,orthopaedics and tailoring workshops,
a well-equipped medical centre
(primarily to support the many disabled students at the centre),
agricultural and forestry enterprises and an administrative team
that has offices elsewhere in the country.
In all, the centre employs about 200 staff.
The short track to the main road is bumpy and muddy,
and volunteers would have to walk or catch a lift in one of the centre’s
vehicles. However, at the main road it is easy to flag down one of the
frequent minibusses witch either go to the nearby market towns of
Nyanza and Ruhango, north to the capital Kigali,
or south to the university town of Butare.
Communications by road are generally good.
It is 87km from Kigali and the nearest towns, Nyanza and Ruhango,
are both 10km away.
There are two volunteers in Nyanza and three others in Save.
The whole campus is green, with forests surrounding it, in a rainy
and agricultural area. It is a beautiful rural location and
the surrounding area consists of rolling hills.
On campus there is a bar and a shop selling basic essentials.
Life in the community would be self-contained but fairly quiet during
the working week
