Orphans of Rwanda, Inc.

CONTACT:

16 Highland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
917-558-9019
www.orphansofrwanda.org/

Michael Brotchner, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Precisely targeted international philanthropy offers some of the most cost-beneficial opportunities for strategic donor-investors. ORI was founded in 2004 by David (“Dai”) Ellis and Oliver Rothschild, while staffmembers of the Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative, to help orphans and other socially vulnerable young Rwandans pursue university education. Rwanda has 10 million people; the genocide of 1994, and the HIV/AIDS crisis, have left 825,000 orphans, facing tremendous difficulties as they mature. Only 1 in 200 Rwandans holds a university degree; the country aspires to transition from an agriculture-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. Ellis and Rothschild decided to embark on a unique way of helping: to enable orphans to pursue university education. ORI’s program began with scholarships to 11 students. Today it provides scholarships to 164 highly selected students—the latest class of 47 students was chosen from 1475 applicants. Once chosen, however, they receive far more than full tuition. ORI provides them with housing, healthcare, language training, tutoring, and a monthly living allowance so that they can focus on their studies. It also provides them with career development services, networking opportunities, and skill-building workshops. This program is about building professional lives for those most talented, most disadvantaged survivors, in a country that cries out for professional help.

(2008: INTERNATIONAL)