Wilderness Bisate News – April 2024

April is the time when the country comes together to remember the 1994 Genocide (known as Kwibuka in Kinyarwanda), and it was no different at Bisate. To show our respect, we observed a week-long period of no music or singing at Bisate, and we sent our team leaders to attend the various gatherings and ceremonies around our local town and villages to represent our support for this very important annual observation.

Bisate has also had its annual facelift in the form of a mini refurbishment, which included refreshing the balustrade and wood panels on the façade of the lodge, and a lick of paint here and there. The result is a fresh, new-looking establishment that is just waiting to welcome our lovely guests. 

As the busy season starts in earnest, we look forward to the rest of the year ahead. With the second half of 2024 already approaching fast (I can’t believe it either), Bisate remains steadfast in its vigilant watch over Bisoke and Karisimbi volcanoes.

On Monday the 15th of April, Term 3 of the 2023-24 school year started at all the public schools in Rwanda.

Wilderness Rwanda’s Children in the Wilderness (CITW) scholarship programme currently sponsors a total of 177 students for six years of schooling – at Bisate Secondary School near Wilderness Bisate, Rwabiharamba Secondary School in the area just outside Akagera National Park, where Wilderness Magashi is located, and Kinihira Secondary School, close to Gishwati Forest. 

However, since the programme has been running the longest in the Bisate area, the secondary school here has the highest number of scholarship students. A total of 112 students from Bisate received the scholarship, with four students in Senior 1, 37 students in S2 and S3, and the remaining 71 students divided over 34 secondary schools for Senior 4 and Senior 5.

In Rwanda, secondary school years run from Senior 1 to Senior 6, or Grade 1 to Grade 6. When in Senior 3, or S3, all students need to sit national exams. The results of these exams determine where the student will continue their remaining S4 to S6 school years.

Depending on their exam results and study direction, many of our scholarship students are now placed in different schools in Rwanda. This means that our S4, S5 and future S6 CITW students are branching out all over the country, and of course, still flying the CITW flag high.  So, besides the seven schools that Wilderness and CITW have partnered with, we now have students in an additional 34 schools all over the country!

Before the 15th of April, CITW’s Aline and Damascene, together with the community committees, made sure that all the school fees for Term 3 were paid. The S4 and S5 students who are studying across the different schools received their fee proofs of payment from Aline and Damascene, ensuring that they started the last term with confidence and pride! In case of any questions from school administrations, the students can show that all is paid for the continuation of their last term.

We wish all our CITW scholarship students the very best for great results and the successful completion of their school year!