Providing the poorest and hopeless young children with hope for the future through quality education
Burundi Light of Life Action is a non-governmental organisation that was founded in 2019 to advocate for sustainable development in Burundi by working to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Here, we are working on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) to give access to quality education to war orphans and children from very humble social backgrounds with the main intention of developing future men and women equipped with enough relevant competencies and knowledge to address and to unpack the most socio-economic pressing problems here in Burundi, but also to help to tackle global challenges faced by the humanity today. We also work to achieve transformational leadership in the poor parts of Burundi so as to contribute to the National Development Plan 2018–2027 of Burundi. Our main objectives are:
-To contribute to education through the construction of community schools to expand our quality education access initiative to many kids and young people in the poor parts of Burundi.
-To fight against poverty through social entrepreneurship by setting up economic and social development projects for community development.
-To fight against social discrimination and gender-based inequality and gender-based violence
Currently, Burundi Light of Life Action is sponsoring 12 war orphaned kids (6 boys and 6 girls) to attend private schools to access the quality education they need in order to achieve the better future they aspire for themselves, for Burundi, and for the global community. By building community schools, these kids and along with other destitute ones in the rural areas will continually access quality education which will surely enable them to achieve their goals, dreams, and vision much more easily.
Initially, we sent 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls) to school in 2019, then we increased the number to 12 children (6 boys and 6 girls) after one year and we desire to increase this number to more children because there are so many others who are left out in the society and who are crying for help and assistance.
In fact, eight of them used to repeat every class twice; but since our intervention in 2019 they haven’t repeated any class thanks to the private school support as well as the reinforcement of their learning at home and we shall keep them going higher. Three of the four remaining were primary dropouts until we came and took them back to school. The remaining one was born with AIDS and was desperately studying. When we met him, we encouraged and mentored him by treating him with respect, love, and admiration which helped increase his self-esteem and we continually made him understand that though he is the only child in his family to have been born with the virus, he can be successful and contribute positively to his community. Since that time, he has improved without repeating even once and next year (2023) he will hopefully finish his primary school studies.
We strongly believe that real positive social transformation and global solutions are based on quality education.
Burundi Light of Life Action is passionate about impacting orphans and abandoned children because the founders of this organisation, me included grew up as orphans and we received social assistance from a charity organisation called Restoration of Hope (RoH) which took us to private schools to access quality education, which has enabled us to act socially as agents of change. The knowledge and the skills we gathered along the way as we progressed in school paved a way for us to be able to participate in the advancement of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals 2030, acting as youth ambassadors.
I got involved with this initiative as a way of giving back to the community, because due to my past tragic experience of being orphaned at a young age, I had to seek social mentorship and assistance to grow personally, to heal, and to develop myself, along with other co-founders of this organisation. By working on UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, we are giving back to the global community and society because the funds that Restoration of Hope used to put us to school and to pay for our daily livelihoods were donated by international charities and individuals.
Apart from advocating for quality education, we plan to collaborate with any public or private partner, and non-governmental organisations, both national and international to achieve our following meaningful long-term objectives:
-18 Community High Schools called “Kingdom Schools” in 18 provinces of Burundi, with one community school in each province.
-18 Community Hospitals called “Kingdom hospitals” in 18 provinces of Burundi, with one community hospital in each province.
-18 Community Leadership Training Centers called “Kingdom Leadership training centers” in 18 provinces of Burundi, with one community leadership center in each province.
-3 Charity Homes called “Kingdom Shelter’’ in 3 provinces of Burundi.
Finally, I would love to invite each and everyone who feels like contributing to the quality education of the poorest young children in Burundi to team up with us to help make a difference in the lives of many by contacting us on: lightaction.burundi@gmail.com.Thanks
