Rachel Uwimana

Rachel Uwimana has been an Educate! student since 2006.She fled the Democratic Republic of Congo for Uganda with the rest of the Educate! Scholarship Students in 1997.

Rachel graduated secondary school in Uganda before being sponsored by Educate!, but then was unable to continue her education due to sickness. While she was waiting to go back to school, she started volunteer teaching at the local primary school, where she was put in charge of a primary 1 (or first grade) class with over 100 students! Her confidence and ambition is truly remarkable and comes in part from her experience teaching and handling so many children.

Rachel has been crucial in helping COBURWAS, the organization started by the Educate! Scholarship Students, with its transformative community work including building an orphanage and sending over 70 students, mostly young girls, to school in the nearby town of Hoima. In addition, Rachel helped start the Kyangwali Star, the first newsletter in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, where she lives.

Today Rachel is attending nursing school in Jinja, Uganda with Educate!’s support. Her goal is to help her community overcome the numerous health related challenges they face, from malaria to AIDS. She believes she can understand and empathize with her patients after all the sickness she has suffered from in the past.

Rachel is also working with a KGNU Boulder reporter to start not only the first radio station in Kyangwali, but also the first women-run news source. Spreading news and raising awareness about issues facing the community will be empowering for the women running the station.The women will also set a wonderful example for the community of the power of women and provide a great role model for the girls in Kyangwali!

Rachel and fellow Educate! student Wereje Benson are featured in a recent film released by Educate!: Lighting Africa’s Future.