The professional school, restructured by Come Noi, has always hosted courses for hairdressers, sewing, welding, masonry, electricity as well as literacy courses and general education.
We started in 2009 to support the project for re-education, family and social reintegration, schooling and detoxification of street boys and girls.
The main building, built with the financing of the Exodus association in Milan and furnished by Come Noi, hosts 45 boys and girls without families.
Today the professional school is becoming more and more relevant even at the national level. The use of drugs, the small delinquency, the prostitution and the phenomenon of single mothers put in danger the younger generations, to the point that public institutions entrust the Center with the re-habilitaton of young prostitutes and boys who are about to end a custodial sentence.
Taking care of girls is an innovation, because the society has a mostly male-dominated culture, especially in the countryside.
Over 50% of the students find a job after finishing the professional school courses; of these, 70% are steady positions. These are very comforting results for Come Noi, that finances the salaries of teachers and educators.
The contribution of Come Noi is essential: today, there are 97 students enrolled in three-year courses: no more than 40% of students are able to pay. Some annual courses are attended by 70 street boys and girls who have no schooling or who have only partially attended primary schools and pay no fees.
In 2016 Exodus was recognized by the State as “Center of Excellence of National Interest”, the professional courses entitle to a recognized diploma and the Center has become the site of examinations for the students of other existing Centers in the north-eastern region of Rwanda.
As a result, the Center will received new computers from the State, WiFi and cameras will be installed so that you can follow the lessons and relate to the center from every place of Rwanda. Three new classrooms will be built by the students of the masonry course under the guidance of their teachers.
New courses of cooking, IT, music, guitar and English language are added to the already active courses of hairdressing, cutting and sewing, knitwear, electricians, construction, carpentry, bakery, welding and general culture.
To find out about our other active projects in Rwanda click here