| Building the School
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ETO Nyamata School The Nyamata Vocational School is a project instigated by the Rwandan government to help rebuild the country’s skills base. Nyamata village is about 30km south of the capital Kigali in an area where some of the worst massacres of the genocide took place.As vocational training is high among the objectives of RUGO, the government asked for our help to support the school and RUGO’s initial contribution included the donation of equipment for masonry and construction, carpentry, plumbing and appropriate technology, information technology and tailoring to a value of £120,000.These funds were secured partly through fund raising activities and from a grant of £25,000 from the Tudor Trust. Donations were also received from many companies and individuals including RMC and Barclays Bank. Energis (now part of Cable and Wireless) provided sponsorship through their Chairman’s Award scheme and National Grid Company, George Wimpey and the Institution of Electrical Engineers donated computing equipment for use in the school and other educational establishments. Alfred McAlpine carried out a nationwide appeal to all of their sites on behalf of RUGO and secured a significant quantity of second-hand tools and equipment. A container of tools and equipment was sent by RUGO to the Ministry of Education in 2002 and the school opened in October 2003 with an initial six classroom blocks, an administration block, and a workshop block funded by the Rwandan Government. The school continues to grow offering a wide range of courses, including, motor vehicle repair, welding and fabrication, electrical installation, fitting and turning, home economics, refrigeration and air conditioning, and electronics for TV and radio repair. RUGO Member Hettie Paul visited ETO Nyamata in July 2007 and during her visit was able to see great progress in getting the school up and running. The former Director of the School, Nick Arnett, had been able to turn the tools donated to the School by RUGO to good use. |
Lessons in the School
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rugo.org 