LEARNING FOR CHANGEBACKGROUND
In 2015 Jacques Nkinzingabo founded the initiative "Learning4change" in which he offered workshops for homeless kids in Kigali. The aim was to empower these street kids and young people he met along the way by giving them a task as social engagement, building trust and a perspective about life and being able to tell their own stories. Nkinzingabo carried out several photography workshops with some of the street-kids in order to involve them in continuous social engagement through the support of the Goethe-Institute in Rwanda. He and the street kids were able to exhibit their work at the Goethe Institute Kigali and showcased in Germany in 2016, raising funds to support the kids' living conditions. In collaboration with a Youth Center, the district office and schools in 2018, Jacques extended the program to the youth who never had any background in Photography but willing to learn and explore beyond the medium. The program offered free trainings to the youth in different communities in the Northern Province of Rwanda including Nyabihu District, focusing on different social hazards and the issues faced by these communities such as: Adolescent pregnancy, access to clean drinking water, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, drinking addictions, environmental challenges, to mention but a few. |
Learning for Change has expanded to provide photography trainings to young people in their communities and to engage the youth in the development of our country by working with communities while sharing their narratives and provide opportunities for them to grow into the art of visual story-telling Learning for change serves all kinds of generations in Rwanda. Our goal is to create educational activities involving communities in continuous social engagement. To offer opportunities to young people to share and explore their narratives, improve their way of thinking, educate and sensitize them on how to speak about social issues, self-sustain, empower and participate the communities in different ways. Immense gratitude goes to our Partners and Sponsors who have made and continue to make these projects possible for the past 7 years. Many thanks to the Goethe-Institut Kigali, AIC, RwandaOpp and a variety of patrons who have donated cameras, memory cards , hard disks, among other equipment to aid the center's programs to succeed, and improve the skills of the youth in their visual storytelling journeys. |
