Our first meeting with Jonathan Torogovnik and Jules Shell-the founders of the Foundation Rwanda was initiated by another SFF board member Jeremy Goldberg, who described their efforts below:
"As we discussed first at the board meeting, Foundation Rwanda is a small organization making a large impact in Rwanda. They are focused on helping the estimated 20,000 children born as a result of rape during the 1994 genocide, as well as their mothers. It's primary focus is on providing secondary school education to these children, who are not considered "survivors" and therefore not eligible for free public schooling, not to mention the lack of resources they have to meet other related needs (e.g. uniforms, supplies). They are also working with the mothers of these children on a variety of economic empowerment initiatives. Lastly, as photo and videojournalists, Jules and her co-founder Jonathan have used their images and the stories they've collected to create remarkable photographic exhibits and educational materials that are being disseminated across the country.
Beyond possibly providing direct support to Foundation Rwanda, I'm hopeful the Segal Family Foundation might also consider a capacity building grant so that they may upgrade their website to be able to better leverage the tremendous amount of exposure that the organization is getting online. I'm confident that an upfront investment should allow the organization to raise 5-10X that amount annually."
Their energy and entrepreneurial spirit is wonderful and we are happy to help and support their efforts.
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