Kindergarten students with their teachers in Burundi.
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Burundi
Union Chretienne Pour L'Education et le Developpement de Desherites (UCEDD)
Mennonite Central Committee partners with Union
Chretienne Pour L'Education et le
Developpement de Desherites (UCEDD) which
works exclusively with and for the integration of the
Batwa people in over 7 provinces in Burundi. Due
to poverty and a lack of acceptance, many Batwa
receive no schooling. UCEDD encourages Batwa
families to send their children to school.
In 2002, School of Hope opened in Mutaho, Gitega
Province. Located at the juncture of 5 provincial
borders in the middle of a Batwa community, it
offers K-6 classes, adding one more class each year
it has been open. Staff and students are from three
ethnic groups: Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi. Through
learning and interacting together, all at the School of
Hope are learning to respect each other as valued
equals. Global Family funds help to provide teacher
training, teaching supplies, and needed classroom
furniture.
