L'Amade
The Burundian association FVS-AMADE BURUNDI has just been honored ahead of 400 other African organizations by winning the "Pan African Awards for Entepreneurship in Education".
Last December 1, in Durban, $15,000 was donated to AMADE Burundi by a British organization called "Teach A Man To Fish".
According to Mrs Spès Nihangaza, legal representative of the association, FVS-AMADE has been rewarded thanks to its programme that supports in particular the schooling of vulnerable children. Gathered in solidarity groups, orphans' guardians implement what is called "Nawe N'Uze", which is a community approach to savings and credit. Thanks to credits between members and the entrepreneurship training that FVS-AMADE Burundi provides, the members of the solidarity groups create and/or develop income-generating activities that enable them to finance the education of vulnerable children.
More than an honor; an encouragement
For Mrs Nihangaza, this award is an encouragement for the association. Thanks to these funds, the association will continue to develop this approach, which finances orphans and vulnerable children's studies. "We climbed mountains and descended from the valleys to distribute the school material to vulnerable children," says Nihangaza.
The legal representative of the association confirms that FVS-AMADE Burundi intends to use this sum for school-based entrepreneurship. "We are going to start activities that teach students how to start entrepreneurship from a young age." According to her, a special classroom for the practical work of entrepreneurship will be built at the Matana High School of Reference "Friend of the Children", another initiative of this association.
This is not the first time that the association FVS-AMADE has been rewarded. In 2010, Ms. Nihangaza won the International Woman of the Year Award in Italy for helping the poorest "live off their work without losing out on external assistance".
In 2011, FVS-AMADE was awarded the International Prize for Reconciliation in Germany for "contributing to social reconciliation" through its "Welcome My Child" project.
In 2014, in New Jersey, United States, the association won the Grassroots Champion Awards.
At the local level, several prizes have been awarded by civil society organizations, notably the Education Prize by Forsc.
