A Rwandan ER Doctor Teams Up With a Teacher to Address Education and School Health Needs in Rural Rwanda

March 11, 2019

Dr. Joseph Niyonzima (on right) and Ms. Olive Nyiraneza (on left) distribute school supplies to students at Nyabirehe Primary School.

Dr. Joseph Niyonzima, an emergency medicine physician at CHUK, one of Rwanda’s largest teaching hospitals; and Ms. Olive Nyiraneza, an education activist and elementary school teacher, made choices to drive the design and implementation of innovative solutions to improve access to quality education and promote people wellbeing. In collaboration with Move Up Global, Dr. Niyonzima and Ms. Nyiraneza are developing a model to integrate hygiene and sanitation, public health messaging, and social entrepreneurship with the existing education and health systems. Their local non profit, Ireme Education for Social Impact (IESI), addresses socio-economic and school health needs. A number of projects are anderway to support students, teachers, and parents at Nyabirehe, a primary school located in rural Rwanda where Joseph and Olive went for primary education.

“Many children do not make it to higher education due poor performance associated with frequent illness, absenteeism, and lack of basic school supplies. They end up dropping out. Our ultimate goal is to instill hope in our youth and fellow teachers.”

— Ms. Nyiraneza.

Move Up Global continues to work closely with Dr. Niyonzima and Ms. Nyiraneza to test small changes that hold potential for greater impact in rural Rwanda.

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