What We Do
Youth
Young men & women 16 to 23 years
“It is the young trees that make up a forest.”
– African Proverb
Technical & Vocational Training
Center For Champions
The Center for Champions, a community-based residential center in Rwamagana, offers trade training in welding, construction, sewing, plumbing, electrical and beautician skills. The Center provides highly vulnerable rural youth with sought-after skills through our Technical, Vocational Education & Training (TVET) programs. The programs annually prepare 800 – 1000 students for secure employment in much-needed skills and trades that enable considerably higher incomes than unskilled casual labour. The Center also offers sports programs for community connection, and provides entrepreneurship support and training, recognising that many graduating students will need to start their own small businesses to secure employment. For those with the academic talent and drive, our TVET programs also offer a pathway to university.
Financial Literacy & Savings Group
Along with technical skills, young people need financial literacy and essential life skills to secure future employment and find their place within the community. Students within the Center for Champions establish savings groups and small cooperatives, which help meet their immediate financial needs and teach them the foundations of a successful business. Through loans and mutual support, these groups enable young people to start microenterprises in their chosen fields upon graduation.
Within the groups, members receive training on how to save, even on minimal incomes, and how to provide small loans from the group for income-generating activities. In the early stages, for example, a member might take a small loan to buy bananas from a farmer and sell them at a local market. The loan is repaid, and the profit remains with the borrower. As members’ incomes increase, so do the group’s savings and opportunities to start and grow small businesses.
Entrepreneurship Support
AEE Rwanda programs provide a variety of support to graduates entering small businesses, including coaching entrepreneurs on writing a business plan, connecting people with micro-finance and banking services, training in financial and business management, and providing start-up capital or equipment.
Community Learning Support
AEE Rwanda offers literacy programs for out-of-school youth and adults, enabling them to participate in Rwanda’s social and economic development actively. Limited availability of reading material, particularly in Kinyarwanda is a major barrier to building literacy. To address this, AEE Rwanda establishes local libraries stocked with diverse books and trains community members to manage them.
