Root Foundation Rwanda

In 2012 Kigali city was counting over 7000 children who were living on the streets instead of being raised in families and attending school. During this time, Patrick Kiruhura who was a film making student had been working on a short documentary (on youtube as 'Nzitukuze') about a vulnerable single mother who had refused to be a street beggar or prostitute but was working hard day and night to keep her daughter in school. When Patrick shared this story to his friend Muragwa Bienvenue, it triggered his passion to create a better community for the vulnerable children and youth. From the beginning, Root Foundation was built on the idea of understanding and addressing the root causes of this challenge following the statistics showing that 40% of enrolled children could not complete primary education. With their friends, Patrick and Muragwa spent the following 12 months visiting different streets and suburbs of Kigali to meet the street children, before they initiated any programs. January 2014, Root Foundation was first approved as a Non-governmental organization by the Rwandan Governance Board (RGB) to provisionally operate in Rwanda. In June 2016, Root Foundation was officially issued as a Legal Personality with the official name ROOT FOUNDATION. As reflected in its name, Root Foundation came to existence from the belief that the issue of the street children should be responded to from its root causes. As of August 2020, Root Foundation serves 309 children, youth and their families. Root aims at serving 2300 vulnerable children and youth by July 2024 and to impact their life by building the character, talent and confidence through a personal development program, encouraging the mind and passion for learning through a scholarship program, and building the parenting and financial capacity of the parents through the parents’ empowerment program.