Giving Rwanda's smart students a chance to study in top varsities

Joy Beth is a college counsellor for the Bridge2Rwanda (B2R), a US non-profit organisation that helps to create and find opportunities for Rwandan students to obtain scholarships to study abroad. The New Times’ Kenneth Agutamba and Mary Ingabire spoke to Beth whose job entails preparing scholarship candidates with the required skills to be competitive and impress before international scholarship boards. Excerpts. What is Bridge2Rwanda about? It’s an organisation started in 2001 and is involved in a number of initiatives in the area of trade and investment promotion. Our scholarship programme can be traced from 2007 when, with support from the Clinton Foundation, Hendrix College headed by David Knight and President Tim Cloyd, formed a consortium of 18 US universities. The consortium helped expand the Rwanda Presidential Scholars programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Since 2011, B2R has helped find scholarships for over 60 students currently studying in various universities in the US. We expect the first batch to graduate in May 2016. Before students are offered scholarships, we identify candidates from the applications we receive country wide. Those chosen undergo a one-year training aimed at equipping them with the skills they need to successfully compete for scholarships. And you have over 60 students studying abroad now? We are proud to say that B2R ended last year with at least 65 scholars studying abroad at 40 universities in North America and Europe. Our 2014 gap-year class is also ongoing with 34 students being prepared for scholarships. I must say 2014 was special, the number of applicants aspiring to study abroad grew compared to previous years. We received 1,700 applications but we were only able to admit 34 to the gap-year programme. For the first time also, the 2014 gap-year class includes eight regional students from South Sudan, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. Do these scholarships cover only colleges in the United States? That’s not true because we have noticed students showing interest in other universities outside the US, such as Ghana, South Africa and the African Leadership University in Mauritius. So it’s not all about USA or Europe. College education in Rwanda has improved a lot in the last 20 years. Why then is it still important for Rwandans to study abroad? Yes, the education sector right from primary to university has significantly improved because of the good leadership. What we are saying is that Smart Rwandan students coming out of these schools should have the opportunity to enter any university in or outside Rwanda. Exposure to different cultures is good and B2R seeks to help students acquire education in North America, Europe and other parts of the world. What kind of programmes are these students admitted to especially in the US varsities? They do everything from engineering to public health, international relations, business, entrepreneurship, economics, among others. We are open to both arts or science students. Let’s expound on the philosophy behind the ‘bridge’. How easy is it for Rwandan students to get scholarships abroad? The application process in colleges abroad is a bit difficult but as a college councillor in the US, I am ready to help Rwandans go through the processes. We also connect Rwandan students to host families in the US to ensure they are taken care of emotionally, spiritually, and have their financial needs met. The host family also helps them find winter clothing and a place where they can stay during holidays. Back in Rwanda, we have a Rwandan career adviser who studied in Oklahoma and his role is to help our students find internship placements. This enables them to keep in touch with to their families and friends and eventually find jobs in Rwanda when they graduate. What have B2R found to be the biggest challenges impeding Rwandan students trying to get the scholarships abroad? Most US universities require students to take several competence tests. One of them is the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) which measures the ability of non-native speakers of English to speak and write North American English. The TOEFL test is challenging even to American citizens. In the US, students have had to take these tests for several years before they are admitted. For Rwandans, there are no preparations, so during the gap-year, we help them out on their essay preparations. We also equip them with reading and writing skills. We conduct intensive literature classes where we subject them to a lot of reading and writing. French remains popular here, then there is the mother tongue, Kinyarwanda, and then English. Doesn’t this lingual-mix affect students? At the start, students get problems especially with their grammar, spelling, and the general writing skills. In the gap-year class, we teach them how to write a proper essays. When the students are with us, we encourage them to speak English and not any other language as part of the training. Do you work with specific universities in the US or you zero down on particular universities? We do both. At the beginning, many universities had not heard about B2R but now over 25 universities visit Rwanda including prestigious ones such as Yale, Colombia, Harvard, and Brown universities. They visit secondary schools and our training centre. I would say that US universities are becoming more open to receiving Rwandan students. But at the same, students must be very committed to be admitted into universities like Harvard or Yale. Have you had luck in the past to send any of your students to top universities like Harvard? Yeah, last year we sent two to Harvard. This year, we have two admitted to Yale and one to Brown. Are these opportunities universal or they are reserved for students from affluent families that went to good schools? None of our students is considered rich, by any means. We consider students who are going to be good ambassadors of Rwanda. Since we picked our students out of the 1,600, we believe they are the best, that they all have stories to tell and that they are going to make their university compasses better places. Is it about grades or even personality and talent? We want students who will look strong in the eyes of someone on a scholarship board. Since these colleges are offering full financial funding for international students, they tend to be very selective and high grades help. But it also helps when a bright student also has other skills in sports, leadership and other virtues that make them stronger and more competitive. Besides academic, do you also prepare students to deal with cultural challenges? We cover everything, from academics, dating, and food to making friends and weather, among others. We take them through everything and their host families help. At the beginning, it’s challenging for some students but they get used. How much is the average cost on a single student? It might be between $55,000 and $65,000, all catered for by the universities. Are there strings attached to these scholarships? Yes, you must be ready to return and serve your country. But when one doesn’t want to come back, we tell them to pay for the programme. Again, when these students are there, they are representing Rwanda, so anything that they do to abuse their scholarship might compromise their scholarship benefits. Some students like working outside school hours, is it so for B2R scholars? Many universities give the students a living allowance. Besides, they get support from their host families. It’s also possible to find part-time jobs in the universities for students where they may work for four to six hours a week. Can one lose the scholarship if their grades fall? It’s possible that a student might experience some challenges that could affect their grades but when that happens, everyone involved, including the school and host family, comes in to help. None of our scholars has ever lost their benefits for that reason. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Giving Rwanda's smart students a chance to study in top varsities