69 Americans pledge to serve Rwanda in health and education sectors
69 Americans have pledged to serve Rwanda as Peace Corp volunteers for the next two years where they will be working in health and education sectors.
The pledge was made during the swearing in ceremony that took place on Tuesday of December 10, 2019 at the US Embassy office in Kigali where these volunteers were officially welcomed in the team of Peace Corps.
The US ambassador to Rwanda, Peter H. Vrooman who administered the oath of service, said that this initiative is in line with the mission of the US embassy to support the country in development activities through health and education.
He said: “Among the main objectives of US Embassy in Kigali, we focus on helping the country in development activities which leave no one behind by improving the sectors of Public health and education for all. In education, they will help students and teachers improve their level of English and contribute to Rwanda’s efforts to accelerate English instruction in development across the country.”
Speaking on behalf of the government of Rwanda, Dr. Zuberi MUVUNYI, Director General of Clinical and Public Health in the Ministry of health expressed gratitude to the United States for their continuous support especially in health sector.
D. Muvunyi revealed that these volunteers will support the government of Rwanda in teaching community about the importance of first 1000 days’ program.
“We’ve been working with them since long ago and they play a big role in health services. This time we want to work with them in teaching the community the importance of children first 1000 days of life. So they will help us in collaboration with Community Health Workers and local leaders to teach people what is required so that they can live a healthy life.” Dr. Muvunyi revealed.
Among these 69 volunteers, 25 of them will serve in health sector. Dr. Keith Hackett, Peace Corps country director said that these 25 will be assigned to different health centers where they will be focusing on improving community nutrition.
He said: “We have volunteers assigned to health centers where they work with nutritionists in teaching parents how to plant a kitchen garden, so that they will be able to prepare their food in nutritious way in order to avoid malnutrition in the future.”
More than 605 Peace Corps volunteers have served with distinction in Rwanda since the program was established here in 1975. Currently Peace Corps Rwanda has 138 volunteers who will be working in all provinces of the country especially in rural communities.
