Kigali – In a small parish in Nyaruguru, a family of five now lives under a solid brick roof, safe from the rains that once flooded their fragile mud house. Their children can study on a clean table, dream bigger, and plan for a future that once seemed out of reach. This story is echoed in hundreds of households across Rwanda, thanks to the long-standing partnership between the Union des Églises Baptistes au Rwanda (UEBR) and Compassion International Rwanda (CIR).
UEBR, founded in 1939, has long balanced its spiritual mission with a commitment to social transformation. Since 1985, its partnership with CIR has worked to support vulnerable children and families through education, healthcare, and shelter. What began modestly has now grown into a nationwide effort impacting thousands of lives.
From 2022 to 2025, the partnership has delivered striking results. UEBR currently supports 5,885 children—2,850 boys and 3,035 girls—through 23 projects based in parishes across Nyaruguru, Gisagara, Nyamasheke, Rusizi, Bugesera, Ruhango, Ngoma, and Gatsibo districts. Beyond education and healthcare, the focus on decent housing has been transformative: 420 families received new homes, while 921 houses were renovated, lifting children out of unsafe conditions.
Education remains at the heart of the program, with children receiving school fees, uniforms, and materials to ensure no one is left behind. Health facilities and medical support further safeguard their well-being, enabling them to grow in dignity and confidence.
UEBR leaders describe these efforts not as acts of charity but as investments in Rwanda’s future. “When you build a house for a family or provide a child with schoolbooks, you are preparing tomorrow’s leaders—pastors, teachers, doctors, and innovators,” said one church representative. “This is about shaping the future of Rwanda and beyond.”
Project staff and volunteers are praised for their dedication, often going beyond routine duties to serve with compassion. Their work, leaders say, is more than service—it is a calling to nurture lives and restore dignity.
As Rwanda continues to push forward with its development agenda, the UEBR-CIR partnership stands out as a powerful example of faith-based action meeting practical needs. Its impact is measured not only in statistics but in the stories of children carrying schoolbooks with pride, families sleeping under safe roofs, and communities regaining hope after years of hardship.
From the hills of Nyaruguru to the fields of Bugesera, the message is clear: when faith and compassion are combined with action, lives change, futures brighten, and nations are transformed.
