Published August 10, 2009 @ 02:29PM PT

Two ORI students - Charles Habonimana and Jackson Vugayabagabo - participated in a major youth conference this weekend that brought together young people studying both in Rwanda and abroad. At the conference, Jackson had the honor of speaking with President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame and, in the photo below, he is sitting next to the First Lady (whose Imbuto Foundation organized the event). Jackson and First Lady Jeannette Kagame are pictured above. The New Times, Rwanda's main paper, reported on the conference. Congratulations to Charles and Jackson on their participation and invitation to the conference!

Published July 31, 2009 @ 06:48AM PT

Earlier this month, Innocent Mushenyi - an ORI scholar studying law at the Université Libre de Kigali - defended his undergraduate dissertation. Innocent not only defended his dissertation successfully but he also received the highest dissertation grade in ORI history; he is now the fifth ORI scholar to graduate from university. This is great news at any time, but I could not help connecting Innocent's achievement with the incredible speech about Africa's future that President Obama gave on July 11 in Accra, the capital of Ghana.   In the speech, President Obama talked about how the United States is fully behind Africa's continuing growth but that, ultimately, the future of Africa is up to Africans themselves. There were many noteworthy passages, but these stood out for me... Read More

Published July 08, 2009 @ 07:52AM PT

Orphans of Rwanda is the feature story of the March/April issue of Miller-McCune magazine. Writer Colleen Shaddox spent time with our students and team in Rwanda, spoke with co-founders Dai Ellis & Oliver Rothschild, and had the opportunity to speak with some of our key partners. You can find the article - titled "Simply Rwandan" - here!  

Published May 29, 2009 @ 07:20AM PT

May 27, 2009 Housing to Empower Rwanda's Future Leaders: Project Number 2106 Location: Kigali and Butare, Rwanda During our two day visit with Orphans of Rwanda, Inc. (ORI), we spent most of our time hanging out and talking with ORI scholars at their group homes. As two college kids ourselves, we felt right at home. As the students joking pointed out to us who was the "mom" or "dad" of the house, we began to understand what Yvette, the Director of Career Development said: "for these students, the group homes provide families, something many of them did not have as children." ORI serves orphans and vulnerable children by, as the students said, providing absolutely everything they need for a successful university career and preparing them to become competitive in the job market. ... Read More