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We are so excited to announce that all 24 Group 10 B2R Scholars have received international scholarships to some of the top universities in the world! Despite an incredibly challenging year of distance learning, Group 10 Scholars have excelled academically and maintained high ACT and TOEFL scores this year. We are excited to see what the New Year holds for the remaining five Scholars. Check out the complete list of where Scholars will be studying this fall below.

B2R Farms is excited to announce the launch of its second cohort of University of Rwanda agriculture interns. The selected 15 UR graduates come from 11 different districts in Rwanda, covering all four provinces of Rwanda and the City of Kigali. The graduates’ home towns also cover 6 distinct agro-ecological zones. For the next three months, the UR Interns will get trained in Foundations for Farming at B2R Farms demonstration farms. We hope to see these 15 young men and women accelerate the adoption of Foundations for Farming and conservation agriculture in Rwanda! 

B2R Fellows, Norris Kayitare and Chaste Niwe, have been promoted to Director of College Counseling and Director of Academic Services, respectively. In addition to leading the B2R Scholars Program, they are responsible for launching B2R’s new Isomo Academy summer boot camp program for rising S5 and S6 students and providing English and college preparatory services to educational institutions throughout the year. 

C H A S T E   N I W E
Director of Academic Services
Chaste studied Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University. As a Prep Teacher at B2R, he introduced new classes in African thought and literature and helped Scholars significantly improve their English proficiency and critical thinking skills. He played a key role in designing the Isomo Academy program model, which uniquely positions him to take on the role of Director of Academic Services. Chaste also served as a member of a task force for Rwanda’s Ministry of Education with other leaders in the country’s education sector. He is bringing with him a love for research, an avid sense of urgency, and a great love for education.

N O R R I S  K A Y I T A R E 
Director of College Counseling
After earning his undergraduate degree in Mathematical Economics from Pitzer College, Norris joined the B2R team as a College Counselor. The past three years, Norris has done an exceptional job recruiting, preparing, and guiding top students through the college search and application process. As Director of College Counseling, Norris will use his experience and leadership skills to help more talented students gain access to better universities in and outside of Rwanda. We are excited to see how his passion for students, contagious energy, and servant leadership will define the next chapter of the program.

B2R Founder & CEO, Dale Dawson, sat down for a virtual interview with Patrick Nsenga, CEO of AC Group, to discuss leadership and entrepreneurship. The event, hosted by the Kigali Foreign Affairs Council, is part of webinar series focused on educating and engaging Rwanda’s global community through conversations that inspire others to share Rwanda’s remarkable achievement over the last 26 years.

B2R Scholar, Billy Byiringiro, has become the first Rhodes Scholar from Rwanda in the 117-year history of the Rhodes Scholarship. As the world’s oldest graduate fellowship, the Rhodes Scholarship program, based at the University of Oxford, awards over a hundred fully-funded Scholarships to students with proven academic excellence, exceptional character,  and a commitment to solving the world’s greatest challenges each year.

Billy will graduate next year with a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. At Oxford, Billy intends to read for an MSc in Computer Science and a DPhil (PhD) in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems.

“I am incredibly grateful and honoured to have been selected as the Rhodes Scholar from East Africa 2021. I can’t wait to continue my further studies in AI and Computer Science, exploring ways to employ them to make a positive impact in my community.”

Three of the eight Rhodes Scholarship finalists from East Africa were Bridge2Rwanda Scholars

This month,  B2R Fellow, Denise Wanyana was appointed to an advisory role by the President’s Cabinet. Denise graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2018 and received her Master’s from the University of Global Health Equity this year. 

She has been appointed as Advisor to the Minister of State in Charge of Primary Healthcare in the Ministry of Health. We are incredibly proud of all her accomplishments and look forward to seeing the impact she has in her new role.

“I’m excited to work at the Ministry of Health as Advisor to the Minister of State in Charge of Primary Health Care because of the exposure it affords me to learn about Rwanda’s health sector extensively and the opportunity to be at the frontline of innovations happening in my country’s health field.”

– Denise Wanyana, B2R Fellow

This fall, the staff and interns at B2R Farms planted ourfirst demonstration farm on the Busogo campus of the University of Rwanda College of Agriculture. Despite a season of unusually little rainfall,  our 12 interns from the University of Rwanda are using FFF principles of mulching to retain moisture in the soil and combat weed pressure at all B2R demonstration farms. At the same time, they are learning about farm management and are pitching their one-hectare business proposals. 

“We believe that by encouraging more educated young women and men to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture, we contribute to improving this key sector of the Rwandan economy.“

– Rosine Ndayishimiye, Director of Training, B2R Farms

In 2019, B2R Scholars, Elias Kagabo (Trinity College) and Nadine Iradukunda (Ashesi University) founded Pellet Group, which seeks to increase crop yields and empower farmers by providing them with organic, affordable, and environmentally-friendly fertilizers.

Today, Elias and Nadine work alongside B2R Fellow, Larissa Isimbi Ndimbira (Hendrix College) and fellow colleagues, Eric Murwanashyaka (Earth University); Theoneste Niyomushumba (Ashesi University); and Jean Claude Nsengiyumva (Earth University), to collect organic waste from urban residences and restaurants and process them into organic fertilizer in the form of pellets. Their main objectives are to ensure that the fertilizers are produced in Rwanda, delivered on time,  affordable for farmers, and contain sufficient nutrients required for the growth of most crops grown in Rwanda.

We are excited to announce that Yves Iradukunda has been unanimously elected to the B2R Board of Directors. Yves currently serves as Rwanda’s Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Innovation and ICT, appointed by President Kagame in March 2020. With impressive educational and professional experiences, we believe his support and leadership as a board member will be invaluable to our fellowship of Scholars, Fellows and friends.

This summer, Nadine Iradukunda, a senior at Ashesi University, teamed up with fellow Mastercard Foundation Scholar, Marie Aimee Nirere, to create Healthy Us, a social venture to increase the well-being of orphans in Rwanda through a nutritional program.

The program focused on building kitchen gardens at Hope for Life orphanage to grow fruits and vegetables, including mushrooms, carrots, passion fruits, pineapples, and tomatoes, which are rich in protein and provide a balanced diet. They hope to expand the venture in the next two years to help orphanages across the country to support even more children. 

We celebrated the commissioning of our ninth cohort of B2R Scholars last month. The virtual event included speeches from Group 9 Scholars, Petra Celeste Iracanye and Christian Aime Rutwaza Tuyishime, as well as B2R Fellow and keynote speaker, Pacifique Rutamu, and other members of the B2R team. Watch the complete live stream today!

Due to COVID-19, Rwanda’s Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has confirmed that all primary and secondary schools will restart their first-term in September. This summer, B2R Scholars, Biko Iryumugaba and Bienvenu Didace Irafashahave the opportunity to intern with MINEDUC to research and develop innovative solutions to address the challenges that the new calendar change presents

With roughly half a million students repeating Primary 1 this fall and the same amount starting school this September, their team is focused on finding innovative ways to “re-think” Rwanda’s education system to accommodate every student and make reforms to the current school curriculum. 

“I am interested in decentralizing primary and secondary education systems and making them more community-based and locally contextualized. Education shapes our view of the lives we wish for. If education is to be an engine of development, it is very important that at those early stages students view their lives in the context of addressing their communities’ challenges and needs.”

– Bienvenu Didace Irafasha, Columbia University

“I am personally interested in decolonizing curriculum and this [internship] presents an opportunity to work on this idea. My hope is that I can work on it and perhaps achieve a decolonized curriculum for both primary and secondary students.”

– Biko Iryumugaba, Brown University