Action Recherche Enfants Sida (ARES), an association helping vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS has committed Frw25m to promote their programmes in Rwanda. The money will be provided on an annual basis. This was announced on Thursday by the visiting vice president of the association, Philippe Schneider. Philippe has spent 13 days touring the areas where they operate. The money targets meeting fees and other school requirements for about 500 pupils in four districts of Kicukiro, Rwamagana, Ngoma and Burera, according to John Gatera, the ARES Rwanda coordinator. The association started its operations in the country in 2005. The purpose of Philippe’s visit was to explore possibilities of strengthening the coordination of the local administration and discussing ways of increasing their financial base through creating income generating projects for their vulnerable children. “The visit has helped me see the way things are done here and I have met and talked to the beneficiaries mainly the vulnerable students and the local coordinators,” Philippe said. He suggested that the association will find a way of enrolling those pupils who fail to continue to secondary schools into vocational institutions to receive life skills in carpentry, tailoring, and mechanics. “It is useless for some one to leave school after primary without any basic skills that will sustain him in future. So there is really need to see that these pupils acquire these skills,” he added. Ends
