Chinese embassy donates desks, chairs to girls' school in Rwanda

KIGALI -- Chinese Embassy in Rwanda on Wednesday handed over 333 sets of desks and chairs to FAWE Girls' School in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, to help its students keep physical distancing so as to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and support education development in the nation.

The donation, worth 20 million Rwandan francs (about 20,800 U.S. dollars), was in response to the school's request made in late October. All along every two students of FAWE Girls' School shared one desk and the school didn't have enough classroom furniture to implement the government's recommendation to keep social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The embassy decided immediately to "try its best" to provide assistance to FAWE Girls' School after receiving the request, according to Rao Hongwei, Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda.

"Education means the future for a nation. In this tough period full of challenges, more attention should be paid to girls' education," he said at the handover ceremony held at the school in Gasabo district.

"We thank the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda for its continued support to FAWE Girls' School. We are glad to receive this classroom furniture which is going to help the school to observe social distancing as part of our efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the school's Head Teacher Eugenia Kairaba said at the ceremony.

She also expressed gratitude to the Chinese embassy for the previous donation of computers and printers, adding that the continued support by the embassy to the school is a sign of firm partnership.

District Executive Administrator of Gasabo, Pauline Umwali, hailed the embassy for its continued support.

The public boarding school enrolls students mainly from middle- and low-income families, and is considered as one of Rwanda's best girls' schools in terms of teaching standards and student performance. It has established a teaching post for Chinese language, with support from the Confucius Institute.