Child Sponsorship Background from Gikongoro, Rwanda

SOS Children's Village Gikongoro

SOS Children's Village Gikongoro is situated in the town of the same name in southern Rwanda.  It is about 160 km from the capital Kigali and can be accessed easily by the Butare-Gikongoro-Cyangugu main road.  Although the first SOS families moved into it in 1992, the Children's Village didn't open officially until May 1999 as a result of the war disturbances.  SOS Children's Village Gikongoro has 12 family houses, which can each house up to ten children.  In addition to the administration buildings (village director's house, aunt's house, service area), SOS Children's Village Gikongoro also has a sports ground, an SOS Nursery School and an SOS School.

Other SOS Projects Gikongoro

The SOS Nursery School opened its gates on 4 January 1993 and from then onwards was attended by 150 children (also those from neighbouring areas), who are supervised in three group rooms.  The playground is at the heart of the facility, which allows small children to play on swings, slides, climbing frames and to run around.

The SOS School (Primary School) opened in September 1992.  There, just over 200 children are currently taught in six classrooms.  Due to the great need for teaching facilities, there are plans to build six more classes and a science and technology room, an office for the head of the school, a sick ward and sanitary areas are also to be added to the existing school in the foreseeable future.

Background to Gikongoro

Gikongoro is a city in Nyamagabe district, South Province, Rwanda. Gikongoro was also one of the former twelve provinces of Rwanda and is situated in the southwest of the country.  The province has an area of 2,146 square kilometres and its population is more than 460,000 prior to being disestablilshed in January 2006.