A total of 52 students from the University of Rwanda supported by the Mastercard Foundation have been awarded grants of up to $5,000 each to support their innovative projects.
The winning initiatives were selected from 740 projects that were submitted, all aimed at providing solutions to different challenges facing society. In total, the students received more than Rwf 400 million to help them develop and implement their ideas.
Habiyambere Teta Paula, a student at the University of Rwanda and one of the beneficiaries, said the award will help them begin implementing their project.
She explained that their project aims to address the problem of inefficient water usage, which sometimes causes people to be charged for water they did not use.
“Our project introduces a system where people will only pay for the water they actually consume,” she said.
Another student, Iragaba Eric, together with his team, developed a project designed to help people who did not attend nursery school learn basic numeracy and general knowledge in Kinyarwanda.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Rwanda, Raymond Ndikumana, encouraged the winning students to see the funding as a starting point for future growth.
“We also encourage you to participate in the trainings we provide. We have partners who will continue mentoring you, and banks that may support you with loans or other assistance. This is just the beginning, not the end,” he said.
Dr. Ndikumana added that the university will continue supporting the students to help expand and strengthen their projects.
