Accomplishments and Call for Support 2017
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Dear Friends/Colleagues/Partners/Collaborators,
I cannot thank you enough for the work and accomplishments and achievements we got this year. Thank you all for your contributions!
In this year, we thought it would be ideal to share with you some of our accomplishments by this means - email and website. But more importantly, knowing that we are getting close to the end of the year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
We have achieved a great deal despite of some challenges.
1. CCER - Improved Cook Stoves project:
Among the major issues that challenge the environment in Rwanda is the wide use of open firewood stoves for cooking and for boiling drinking water. Similarly, the hunting, cutting, fetching and carrying of the tree logs and branches by man primarily living in rural communities have caused increasing deforestation despite the RDIS’s forestation and tree planting efforts. While the entire process is useful to enable households to have food on table, RDIS decided to come up with a project that would enable the local communities to continue using firewood for cooking in a sustainable and ecologically friendly way. This means we had to find an innovative solution of reducing the problem while promoting peoples welfare and standards of living. The only way to go was therefore to initiate Climate Change mitigation projects. Hence the planning and implementation of this project under the name: Carbon Emission Reduction for Self-sustainable Environmental Care Project (CCER).
UEM Volunteer Linus Kühnhold from Germany, 2023/2024
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Greetings!
My name is Linus Kühnhold, a 19-year-old from Germany who served as a volunteer for RDIS from August 2023 to August 2024. This opportunity has taken me to Rwanda, where I've been immersed in various projects and involved in meetings.
During my time in RDIS, I delved into projects, witnessing how initiatives work. Among them improved cook stoves, ceramic water filters, solar panels, climate smart agriculture, tree nurseries, and construction of houses. It has been inspiring to see how these projects positively impact people's lives. When not working on field with coordinators, I assisted at my mentor Jonas's school or engage in meetings in Muhanga in the RDIS headquarter.
I am immensely thankful to the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), the Anglican Church and RDIS for this enriching year. It has not only strengthened me personally but also broadened my understanding of work in Non-Governmental Organisation´s like RDIS and in a different country.
Thank you.
UEM Volunteer Hendrik Ziemann from Germany, 2022/23
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I'm Hendrik, 21 years old, and I'm having the honour to be the volunteer of RDIS from October 2022 till August 2023.
I got sent by the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), which is a long-term partner of RDIS and the four dioceses of the Anglican Church of Rwanda: Butare, Cyangugu, Kigeme and Shyogwe. UEM has multiple volunteer and other programs. Sponsored by Engagement Global, UEM enhances young people to learn and to step in touch with different social backgrounds, which they are not familiar with from their homes. I'm the first volunteer after the global pandemic of Covid-19.
My daily activities are mainly based on office and administrative tasks. Hereby I am assisting my colleagues in their responsibilities.
I'm grateful for the opportunity, which RDIS is giving me and the different aspects where I got enabled to learn about their work and the social-economic context in which RDIS is operating.
These experiences are influencing my view on my studies (Social Science at the University of Cologne) and my personal life. The staff of RDIS aims to change the life of their beneficiaries. They have changed mine as well.
Thank you RDIS for this enriching year.
Hendrik Ziemann
International volunteer service invites young individuals, aged 18-28, to spend a year contributing to a foreign country. Working together, cultural exchange and learning from each other on a daily basis are the focus of the voluntary service.
The Rural Development Interdiocesan Service (RDIS) in Rwanda periodically provides placements for the North-South program. This forms a part of the United Evangelical Mission's (UEM) volunteer service, itself a component of the broader weltwärts program.
UEM Volunteer Ansgar Utrata from Germany, 2018/19
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My name is Ansgar Utrata, I am 19 years old and I come from Germany. I spent the last year (September 2018 to August 2019) in Rwanda working for RDIS as a volunteer. 
My sending organization is called United Evangelical Mission (UEM) where I participated in the North-South volunteer program. After my high school graduation, I wanted to do a voluntary service in order to develop as a person, get to know a new culture and make first practical experiences.
I was active in many different areas. Most of the time, I was doing office activities. For example, I helped to develop promotional material like a calendar about RDIS and a leaflet about a project. Or, when RDIS was working on a short film about the stove project, I recorded the German narrator voice. My personal highlight was to represent the organization at a booth at an international forum about the clean cooking sector in Convention Center Kigali. Often RDIS hosted international visitors, particularly from Germany. I was glad to accompany them on many interesting visits which was a nice change to everyday life. Additionally, I offered a German Class for beginners two times a week.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have spent two weeks in every of the other three zones of RDIS -Cyangugu, Butare and Kigeme. There I was working with the Field-Coordinators and we did numerous field-visits. In that way, I saw how our projects, like the improved cook stove, the ceramic water filter or the solar panel, help the rural population. Beside work, I had the chance to explore the cities.
The atmosphere in the head office was pleasant. From the beginning on, I participated in our meetings, so I felt completely integrated. I could learn a lot from my colleagues. Also, my English and French skills have improved significantly.
My voluntary service for RDIS influenced my choice of studies. I wanted to link my passion for languages with the field of management. After my return to Europe, I will study “Franco-German and International Management” in France and Germany.
Thank you RDIS for this wonderful and enriching year!
Ansgar Utrata
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https://twitter.com/RDISforRwanda/status/1165591046467792896?s=20
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