After researching sustainable solutions that could benefit Rwanda on a national scale, it is clear that educating the Rwandan youth will be the most effective way of improving Rwanda’s economic future. Education has been on the rise in Rwanda since the genocide of 1994, but schooling beyond the primary level is unaffordable for many, resulting in an average of only 17% of Rwandan students that return to school every year. The Rwandan government is aware of how essential education is and has been setting goals to improve educational enrollment. Along with goals to improve its educational system, the Rwandan government has set goals to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, transforming itself into a middle-income country by 2020. Much of this rebuilding includes moving citizens from rural to urban communities and improving transportation systems. Currently Rwanda lacks licensed architects, engineers, and skilled construction workers necessary to facilitate these tasks, forcing itself to import the expertise of foreign countries.
Program:
Rebuilding Rwanda’s core element is an orphanage that will house 200+ girls and boys. The orphanage will be comprised of housing, an infirmary, a dining hall, a soccer field, and is directly integrated into the rest of the project’s program. The educational and economic aspects of Rebuilding Rwanda are driven by Rwanda’s need for both education and infrastructure, combining the two to form a school as well as a production facility that will make the program economically sustainable. The educational portion contains the majority of the program and includes a technical school that focuses on preparing secondary-level students for tertiary education in architecture, engineering, or construction management. Ultimately the goal of this school is to provide Rwanda with its own architects, engineers, and construction managers. In effect, Rwanda would be less reliant on other countries to provide these expertise during the country’s current and future infrastructural rebuilding process. The production facilities consist of a small factory that prefabricates affordable housing components. This prefab housing factory would create an efficient and economical means of providing low income housing to Kigali. The concept of the prefab housing factory is directly linked to the technical school’s curriculum. While attending the school, students will receive vocational training in metal and woodworking, preparing students for careers as skilled workers in the construction industry or employment in the prefab housing factory.
