The Birth of UCESCO
Kingsley Nyandika founded UCESCO Africa in 2010 in Rwanda, Gisagara District, in the Southern Province. A former English student at the National University of Rwanda, Miss Umutoniwase would recognize and invite him to visit her family; that was then being accommodated by her mother’s friend in a too small to be shared mud house. Her father had passed on, after which their in-laws had evicted them leaving them internally displaced. In Africa, poverty and a lack of knowledge have rendered most families homeless and helpless especially Widows and women-led households. Most women are stripped off all their husband’s wealth the moment they are departed; as was the case for Umutoniwase’s mother, with 5 children to cater for.
Passionate about serving the less fortunate especially the women, Mr. Kingsley was able to raise $1000 US Dollars with the help of friends and other contacts of goodwill. This he used to rent Umutoniwase’s family a better house for 3 months, bought them food and clothes and established a small hotel business to sustain them henceforth. 3 months later, Umutoniwases’s business was thriving, and her siblings had resumed school.
From the experience, Kingsley would realize that what he had considered a small gesture had made such a huge social and economic impact not only for one family, but the effect was rippling down to the community. It was for this reason that the idea of establishing an organization that would empower vulnerable women and children living in slums was born, later becoming what is today known as UCESCO Africa. https://youtu.be/8d-eK3EhKV4
