John Gasangwa, a Rwandan living in the United States of America, says that visiting underprivileged residents in Boneza Sector, Rutsiro District, helped him realize his mission of supporting them to achieve what they needed most, especially education.
Gasangwa first visited Rutsiro after completing his business studies at the University of Colorado in 2010, with dreams of starting a coffee business, inspired by the high demand for Rwandan coffee in international markets.
However, when he met women coffee growers in Boneza, Gasangwa listened to them share their real priorities, which shifted the focus of his business plans.
Among the needs these women expressed as essential for their progress were access to clean water, quality education for their children’s future, and support in entrepreneurship.
Although he had initially come to explore coffee business opportunities, upon realizing that the community’s urgent needs were more basic, such as education, his love for his country outweighed his personal ambitions, and he began searching for ways to provide the community with the better life they longed for.
In 2011, Gasangwa founded a Non-Governmental Organization called Arise Rwanda Ministries, which started inside a church without a roof. From there, he opened a nursery school with 60 children learning under a coffee tree.
The number of children kept growing, eventually reaching 300, who were later provided with formal classrooms. In 2016, he established Kivu Hills Academy, the first model secondary school in that area.
Today, the school hosts 350 students who pursue technical and vocational skills in fields such as construction, hospitality and tourism, electricity, water technology, ICT, and more.
In his testimony, Gasangwa said: “We saw how urgent education was, so we built a school. Now it has 350 students learning technical skills.”
He added: “Boneza has transformed because, at the time we started, there was no secondary school here. No student ever thought they would graduate from high school. Over 150 have already graduated, and some have gone on to university.”
Gasangwa confirmed that the vocational program at Kivu Hills Academy performed excellently last year.
He explained: “Students from Boneza, just like those elsewhere, can now create their own jobs. These are the changes we’ve achieved. What I wanted was to see a child from Boneza access quality education. We want them to go to universities, work in places like Akagera National Park hotels, or serve across the country. That’s the dream I live for.”
Residents of Boneza Sector confirmed to Imvaho Nshya that before the establishment of Kivu Hills Academy, the sector had no secondary school at all.
Nkurunziza Etienne, from Kinunu Center, said: “We are happy that our children can now study in a nearby secondary school without walking long distances to other sectors.”
Professor Chrysologue Kubwimana, a retired academic, said he played a role in encouraging investors to support Boneza Sector in Rutsiro.
He said that major positive changes in the area are directly linked to the school built by Arise Rwanda Ministries, led by John Gasangwa.
He said: “Some of the employees working in hotels along Lake Kivu in Boneza are former students of this school. It is impressive to see local youths contributing to the development of their home district.”
Prof. Kubwimana also recalled that 25 years ago, there was not a single secondary school in Boneza Sector.
Through Arise Rwanda Ministries, Gasangwa also provided cows to 600 families under the Girinka Program, who have since passed on cows to others, dug 10 wells that provide clean water, and built a modern hospital in the sector that will open next year. He has also empowered over 5,000 women to start businesses and benefit from them.
Src: Imvaho Nshya
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