Our Story
The Project was set up in 2012 by Grace and David Bevan to provide early years education. They founded a nursery school which has added another year group each year and now caters for 230 children.
A Personal Connection to Rwanyana
Grace was born in Rwanyana and met David when he was volunteering as an Education Advisor for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in the nearby town. Now living in Bolsterstone, near Sheffield, England, the family has always retained a close personal connection to Rwanyana.
In 2013, they recruited a few local friends to help them support the Rwanyana community. Through fundraising and sponsorship, the project was successfully launched.
Then, in 2018 a small group of trustees registered the work as a UK charity with the aims of supporting education and the relief of poverty in the area. The charity is funded through child sponsorship, donations and fundraising events.
Education Is Our Priority
The heart of our work is Bevan Community School. Every year another class, classroom, teacher and year group has been added so that now it is a thriving primary school giving a good standard of education to over 270 children.
As well as a happy and secure environment the school provides two meals per day for the children, which for some could be the only food they get.
Some of our trustees have had careers in education around the world and have travelled on a number of occasions to Rwanyana to teach, develop resources and conduct teacher training. We are immensely proud of the progress of the students of Bevan Community School!
Fighting Poverty On Multiple Fronts
Alongside the running of the school, in January 2019 we opened a small emergency aid clinic, which has a full time nurse, Brenda. This has been a huge success; previously any medical issue required a trip to the local town and many people couldn’t afford the transport there. Brenda also acts as the school nurse and supports the community with training on healthy eating and well-being.
Other initiatives include the construction of two water tanks to collect rain water. Without these the school children would have to fetch water from the lake at the bottom of the hill about 2 miles away. 16 homeless children are sponsored and live in a small supported hostel from where they can attend the school.
Supporting The Local Economy
Rwanyana is situated in the hills above the beautiful Lake Bunyoyi, South West Uganda. It is an extremely poor area and subsistence farming is the main occupation, so we ensure sure that all donations are spent in the area.
The school employs local people in teaching positions and support roles, such as cooks, and also for outdoor work, including fetching firewood and working in the fields to grow food for the school meals.
We also use local tradespeople and source local materials to help boost the local economy where unemployment is persistently high. Some of the school children are now working with the tradespeople to learn skills, such as how to install solar panels.