Centre Marembo craft producers have been working hard to develop a range of new crafts that are being sold in Rwanda and through Shop4Rwanda.com.

All of the new products are made by hand by trainee tailors and weavers at Centre Marembo. The centre has developed a number of groups at the centre who are trading their products through Shop4Rwanda and also at markets in Kigali.

Any profits are fed back into the projects to help secure a sustainable livelihood for the producers.

Visit www.Shop4Rwanda.com for more information.

Links:

• www.Shop4Rwanda.com

Centre Marembo is currently placing focus on reintegrating boys back into the community. Under Rwandan law, the centre is only entitled to care for the boys at the Umugongo House until they turn 18.

The Centre has already worked hard to support the transition of some of the 18 year-old boys back into the community. The centre is involved in sourcing places for them to live and provides a facility to seek employment and to undertake training in employable skills. In December 2010, eight boys will be reintegrated into the community on completion of their secondary education.

The reintegration of the boys at the age of 18 is a key challenge for Centre Marembo. Not only must the staff at the centre ensure that those in the house are receiving the right amount of care, they must also ensure that those that leave the house do so with the support network that they require to live independently.

The Umugongo House is one of the centreʼs major successes. Thanks to its supporters, the project has brought significant change to the lives of dozens of young boys that would otherwise be living and working on the streets.

The Umugongo House is always looking for ongoing support. If you would like to support the project, you can do so by making a general donation which will help us to buy bed, sheets and school uniforms. 

Laura and Anna Craggs raised over £1,300 for rYico this month by walking the entire length of Hadrian’s wall in just 5 days.

The two sisters braved bad weather and painful blisters to complete their sponsored walk on Friday 13th August 2010. The money they raised in donations from family and friends will be used at Centre Marembo.

N.G.O worker Laura Craggs from Brighton, has been a volunteer with rYico for three and half years and is currently a trustee of the charity. Laura told us it was great to “get out in the open air for a few days, do some real walking and also to raise some unrestricted money for rYico.”

Walking in harsh weather from Bowness on Solway in the west of England, to Wallsend near the east coast the two sisters said “the thought of having a warm bed in the evenings to look forward to kept us going...we saw a lot of rain and Anna had some impressive blisters!".

Anna reported that "On day one it became apparent that my walking boots were no longer waterproof. As the weather got worse, my feet got wetter and the blisters got bigger. It got so bad that I actually wore flip flops for the final 5 miles of the walk".

Both of the sisters are keen walkers in their spare time and had support along the way from their parents.

Links:

• rYico's news page

Over the past year the beading group at Centre Marembo has been developing fertility necklaces that are designed as a simple family planning method. The beads represent a woman's monthly cycle and help women to track the days and their fertility.

The idea was brought to the centre by a doctor from Austria who has set up a programme called AKTION REGAN. She has been working closely with Centre Marembo and national family planning bodies in Rwanda. Centre Marembo was commissioned to produce and market the necklaces in Rwanda.

The necklaces are now on the market in Rwanda and will soon be on the market in the UK through www.shop4rwanda.com.

Links:

• Aktion Regen website
• Shop4Rwanda.com

Ten young people from Canada are currently visiting Centre Marembo spending two months at the centre working alongside the Rwandan young people.

The project between Canadian organisation L'AMIE and Centre Marembo, named "Youth, love, protect and conserve the environment", aims to build and solidarity between young people from different countries.

Around 50 young people from Centre Marembo will work with those from Canada in delivering activities beneficial to Centre Marembo and the local community.

The activities will include designing and setting up a kitchen garden at the Umugongo House, Centre Marembo's residence for 30 former street children. The volunteers will also work with the young people at the centre to encourage recycling in the local community and encourage environmentally sustainable activities.

Links:

• Latest rYico newlsetter

We are pleased to announce that Centre Marembo, rYico's training and resource centre in Kigali, has been successfully registered as an NGO in Rwanda. This means that they we recognised nationally in Rwanda which will enable us to apply for government and other institutional support within the country.

We are looking for support to sustain our projects which range from drop in services for street children and accommodation and schooling for former street children, to vocational training courses for older youths.

Links:

• Latest News

Over recent months Centre Marembo has been working with a group of girls in Gisimenti (a small rural town 60km from Kigali) to make baskets and other woven products for sale in Rwanda and the UK. The group are being organised and trained up with the support of Centre Marembo and are now able to earn an income. Centre Marembo usually works with groups in Kigali but realises that the need extend far beyond the city. Any funds received for this project will be invested directly into building the technical and business skills of the group and others, enabling them to earn a living and support their families. rYico is also looking for funding to re-develop its online store in the UK where it sells the products made by the groups supported by Centre Marembo (see www.shop4rwanda.com).

Centre Marembo provides training for young people in income generation. One of the training groups make beads which are sold in local markets.

Over recent months the beading group at Centre Marembo has been developing a range of necklaces that are specifically designed as a simple family planning method. The beads represent a woman's monthly cycle and help women to track the days and their fertility.

The idea was brought to the centre by a doctor from Austria who has set up a programme called AKTION REGAN. She has been working closely with Centre Marembo and national family planning bodies in Rwanda and we are delighted to report that Centre Marembo has been commissioned to produce and market the necklaces in Rwanda.

This is a great opportunity for the beading group and it is hope that it will also have a positive impact on women and families in Rwanda and beyond.

New boys join the Umugongo House residential project at Centre Marembo

January has been a busy time for the Umugongo House. Several boys have moved on to secondary school in Cyangugu (South West Rwanda) and the house has welcomed some new residents. Two new boys joined Umugongo House in the last couple of weeks. Pacific, 8, and Ginora, 6, both have sad tales. Pacific, lost both parents to AIDS related illnesses recently and had no one to look after him. He was living on the streets of Kimironko, when Kigali's sector authorities picked him up. He was taken in and passed over to Centre Marembo whose staff are now settling him into a new life in the Umugongo House.

Ginora is just 6 but had been neglected by his mother. His father left the family when Ginora was young and his mother would go out to work as a 'house girl' and live away, leaving him at home on his own. When the Kigali authorities heard about his situation they asked Centre Marembo to take him in. Both boys are now settling in to life at the Umugongo House and attending local schools along with the other residents.

To continue its important work with street children, rYico needs funding to feed and cover school fees for the 30 boys that it cares for. If you are interested in supporting the project, please get in touch at info@ryico.org.

Philip Rushworth, a recent volunteer at Centre Marembo, wrote an article for Rwanda's New Times newspaper about Centre Marembo and the plight of street children in Rwanda. Read the article here: http://allafrica.com/stories/200909300148.html

A volunteer from BODY & SOUL has just visited the centre to document the projects and film the journal-writing group. Rosie Turner visited the project on behalf of Bottletop, the donor or the journal project.

Rosie writes:

Ryico is run by some inspirational staff who show that even without all the necessary funding with passion, drive and certainly a great deal of creativity, they can continue to achieve as much as they can. Being adaptive in how they move into the future in terms of funding has demonstrated good foresight and forward planning especially as funding is and certainly will remain challenging for the foreseeable future. The work that they have managed to keep going considering the challenges is inspirational. I do hope that all their hard work will bring the organisation what it so rightly deserves. The service provided by Marembo centre is certainly unique in its ethos and delivery and I feel that this is what makes it stand out from the other orgnaisations supporting street children in Kigali. With more secure funding and funding for their own place, they would be given the opportunity to excel at what they are doing.