Shyira Trust - relieving poverty in NW Rwanda
Shyira has:
And rampant poverty.
The trust has developed from work commenced by St. Luke's Church, Formby, Liverpool, and is building on their achievements. From an initial visit to Rwanda in September/October 2000 there was a developing commitment to the people of Shyira, with a promise to rebuild a maternity hospital. As the contacts developed, and we grew ever closer as two groups of Christian people it became clear that we should separate the spiritual and financial aspects of the linked parishes, for the financial work had progressed from the hospital. The Shyira Trust is therefore a charity with a Christian outlook. It continues to provide support to the people of Shyira, but through its constitution is able to work beyond Shyira. We may therefore see the poverty relief based in Shyira as extending to the surrounding communities as the depth of the poverty in Shyira is reduced. Basically, by concentrating on one community we are able to make a difference to people there and then to spread the development to others. What kind of place is Shyira? Our original commitment to Shyira was not accidental. Shyira was established by missionaries around 1931, and had a church, hospital and schools. In 2000 it had a primary school and two secondary schools, and a run down hospital. The hospital has now developed and become a district hospital with an HIV/AIDS treatment and education centre. Two additional schools have been added, a nursery school and a technical school. Shyira has few residents, but serves the people of the surrounding hill country. It does not have electricity, other than generators in the hospital and one of the schools that run for a couple of hours in the evening, and the only phones are mobiles that work when the user stands at an appropriate point on a hillside. There is a nearby river, the Giciye, that could provide sufficient hydro-electricity for Shyira and the surrounding district, without in any way affecting the people who depend on the river but the cost of £5 to 6 Million prohibits the development Financial policy We in the Shyira Trust believe that we should use all money donated for the benefit of the people of Shyira, unless we have previously stated that there is an element in a donation to be used for other purposes. As an example when someone orders an alternative gift through us they know that £1.00 will be used to cover postage, printing and card purchase costs. The trust has a membership who pay an annual membership fee. Those fees meet the day-to-day running costs of the trust. All who do work for the trust give their time freely, and anyone travelling to Shyira will meet their own travel costs. We also aim to send all tax recovered through gift aid to Shyira. Except for this website and information leaflets that are available on request we do not advertise. To contact us click here Our charity registration number is 1118979 |
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Our
purpose is to support the people of Shyira, a small community in North
West Rwanda. The countryside is beautiful - see the pictures to the
right and below left, but the people live hard lives.
The support we provide is to help the people help themselves. Our purpose
is not to provide charity, but to promote sustainable development.
Elephants in Rwanda's Akagera National Park