The Maranyundo Initiative began when a Rwandan and two Bostonian women met at a conference at Harvard University in 2000. Together, with an expanded group of Rwandans and Americans, they decided to build a school for 180 talented, underserved girls in Bugesera—a region devastated by the 1994 genocide and chronically affected by drought, disease and poverty.

The Maranyundo Initiative is committed to providing rigorous, but innovative academics to the girls, training programs for Rwandan teachers and Principals and community outreach including microfinance and English language learning. This important work takes place on a campus that has classrooms, a science laboratory, computer room, library, dining hall, student dormitories and faculty housing. All surround the heart of the campus, an African oval, the traditional place for gathering, exchanging ideas, learning from the past and imagining Rwanda’s bright future.