St. Laurent Nursery School Rwanda
The St. Laurent Nursery School began as the vision of Marceline Nirere, a Rwandan mother of four. Realizing the importance of education and the benefits of starting early, Marceline began offering free nursery school to the children in her village in 2003. Focusing on letters and numbers in all three of Rwanda’s national languages, Kinyarwanda, French, and English, Marceline was able to offer the local children an incredible head start on their educational journey.
Every morning from 8:00am until 12:00pm, more than 80 children under the age of five gathered on Marceline’s front porch, an area no bigger than two square metres. After practicing the alphabet and numbers, the students participated in singing and dancing, allowing them to develop both their social skills along with their academic skills.
After 6 successful years of operating the nursery school, Marceline took the school one step farther. Knowing many of her students spend the entire morning at school, with little to no food, and aware of the fact that many of her students would return home and be required to help with chores before eating their first meal sometime in the afternoon, Marceline set out to offer a breakfast program at the nursery school.
With partial funds provided by the parents and subsidized by GO!, Marceline started a daily breakfast program for her students. Every morning, Marceline would wake up extra early to begin preparing porridge for the students. Thanks to Marceline’s amazing dedication, every day, the students receive a large cup of sorghum porridge to help fill them up and give them the energy they need to learn, play, and grow. The cost of porridge for 70 students is approximately 5$/day.
PHASE 1
Nirere Marceline and her Passion
When Amanda Furst was introduced to Marceline, she amazed by what she saw. As a trained teacher herself, Amanda was in awe of Marceline’s abilities to instruct over 80 little students in such a small space, with limited resources available. Amanda and Marceline decided to collaborate to bring to life Marceline’s vision of being able to provide the students with a real classroom experience.
With funds raised by Westwood Collegiate students in Winnipeg, Canada, Marceline and Amanda were able to locally source construction materials and hire community members for the construction of the school. In the end, Marceline and Amanda were able to build two classrooms and equip them with benches, chalkboards and beautiful, educational murals. Additionally, toilets were installed and a field was cleared for singing and dancing.
PHASE 2
The St Laurent Nursery School Grows
The official building opened its doors in February 2009. Though modest in the beginning, the nursery school quickly expanded to include a second teacher and increased student enrollment. Phase 2 of the project began in 2013 with funds raised by seven students from University of Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Global Partnership (EGP).
The university students came to Rwanda to partner with local community members to build a library, create beautiful play structures, install a rain water catchment system, upgrade the toilets, prepare a garden, and provide school supplies and uniforms for the students.
The expanded nursery school was embraced by the community and parents began paying small student fees to support the second teacher as well as the minimal costs required to maintain the school. Marceline continues to devote her time and her energies to the school in hopes of giving all the children in her community a head start on their education!
PHASE 3