Shining a Light on Inclusion: Burundi Eco-Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma’s Mission to Empower Albino Education

The Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma is dedicated to the education of albino children. He has been supporting their education for over a decade by providing them with school kits. Across Burundi, there are currently more than 500 albinos in school, with more than 80% of them benefiting from the support of the Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma

For more than a decade, the Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma has supported the education of albinos.

A large donation of school materials worth FBu 10 million was made to the Albinos Sans Frontières (ASF) association, located in Nyakabiga in Mukaza community in Bujumbura town hall. This giveaway includes a variety of school supplies, namely: 72 dozen 100-page notebooks, 60 dozen 60-page notebooks, 72 dozen 48-page notebooks, 30 dozen 36-page notebooks, 8 a dozen calligraphy notebooks, 500 blue pens, 10 dozen regular pencils, 60 erasers, 30 math boxes, 60 boards and 20 boxes of colored pencils. This activity was held by the Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma with the support of BANCOBU and BBCI banks as well as Rotaract-Ingoma on September 14, 2024.

Steve Ntwari, president of the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club expressed his gratitude to BANCOBU and BBCI banks for the essential support shown to them during this activity. He emphasized that this year marks the twelfth time that the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club has committed to albino families. The aim of this initiative is to facilitate their children’s education by providing them with school kits. Ntwari also noted the significant progress recorded in the education of albinos, emphasizing that the number of albinos in the school continues to increase every year.

510 albinos in the school period

In Burundi, there are currently 510 albinos in school, and more than 80% of them benefit from the support of the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club. This was revealed by Odile Nzeyimana, president of the general assembly of the Albinos Sans Frontières (ASF) association who represented the president of this association in the distribution of school kits.

He warmly thanked the Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma for its unwavering support over more than a decade. He noted that 51 (24 boys and 37 girls) among the 510 albinos currently assisted by this association, attend post-primary education institutions, while 459 (213 boys and 246 girls) have been currently enrolled in basic schools. With this in mind, five winners completed their post-basic course while a further five passed the 9th year national competition. The latter, thanks to the efforts of the government, through the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, now have access to boarding schools to continue their studies.

The beneficiaries were delighted

Cynthia Hakizimana, the second class science winner at Kanyosha community high school, one of the beneficiaries of the school kits provided by the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club through the ASF association, was delighted with the school materials received. She noted that, since the first year of primary school, she has used school materials offered by the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club. However, he asked teachers not to stigmatize students with albinism.

At the same time, Pascaline Ndayikengurukiye, mother of two albino children, one of whom is in the post-primary cycle and the other in the first year of primary school, expressed her gratitude for the support she receives by the Rotary Club of Bujumbura-Ingoma in the education of their children. She said that it had been difficult for her, since the birth of her first child, to provide for the needs of her offspring. Fortunately, the society Albinos Sans Frontières helped her by providing her with appropriate clothing to protect her children from the sun’s rays.

He asked the Bujumbura-Ingoma Rotary Club to continue its benevolent actions and continue to help them with their children’s education. For her, it is essential to offer financial support to albino families, thus allowing them to have capital to develop and meet their basic needs. This is even more important as albino children need special care, to be washed at least three times a day and their clothes must also be changed regularly, he concluded.