Dec. 27, 2008 — Nearly a year ago, I received an email from Dave Hughes.
“I’m tired of my working in real estate finance in London. I came across your website and I want to come help in Rwanda for six months. Is there anything I can do?”
I was ecstatic and told him that we could definitely use his assistance and expertise. Dave showed up in Rwanda without knowing anyone, and I’m pretty sure that by the time he left six months later, he knew more people there than I do. In addition to coordinating all matters related to the construction and renovation of the school, meeting with architects and engineers and serving as my right hand man, Dave also started coaching street children to play rugby and then played for a team in the Kigali Rugby League.
He also raised nearly $20,000 from friends and family in London and Hong Kong to buy a car for Akilah.
Dave, Placide, Maria
Maria Ersvær is from Denmark and was studying abroad at the University of Washington when I spoke there in April. I had come to Seattle for a fundraiser, and my friend Melissa Cushman arranged for a Rwandan colleague and me to speak at the University.
After hearing our presentation, Maria decided to come to Kigali for six months. She has been conducting incredible research for us that will be instrumental in shaping the curriculum and focus at Akilah. She traveled around Rwanda to interview students and directors at existing training institutes in order to assess the current opportunities and limitations.
She also has been meeting with business leaders in the hospitality, IT, and service industries to find out what the real training needs are. She continuously asked the question “What skills do you need your employees to have? What type of growth are you expecting in the coming years and how can we prepare our students to work in the rapidly developing economy?”
Both Dave and Maria have been unbelievably valuable assets to the development of the Akilah Institute, and I will be forever indebted to them for their fierce determination and commitment to this school. Our progress so far definitely would not have been possible without them.