Volunteer work at Gisimba orphanage in Kigali

Our initial plan was to teach the kids English, however, because they were on their Christmas break we decided to give them a more relaxing experience as they get enough of learning when they go to school which most of them do. Instead we engaged them in a lot of sports activities; soccer, volleyball and table tennis, played with them (bought them a lot of toys and various board games), there was an “art room” where they could be creative, draw and paint, and there was actually a computer room (sponsored by a Korean NGO) so here they could practice using Word etc. and I also let them play computer games. For the older kids (16-20 y.o.) they really just liked to talk to us to hear more about life when you leave the orphanage (life as a grown up basically), which educations they should go for, how to apply for jobs once they finish their education etc. etc.

For New Year’s we organised a party in cooperation with 15 of the teenagers which was a huge success. The kids themselves organised entertainment all night long spanning from a singing contest, a dancing contest, speeches, a catwalk show and a comedy show. We provided food, beverage, decorations and music. It was a blast of a party.

In addition, we arranged a day out where we took a bunch of the kids out for a 5-6 hour trekking tour to the nearby Mount Kigali.