Rwanda schools join islanders for charity walk

The Virtual North Coast Challenge is set to take place from St Catherine's to Grosnez

Schools in Rwanda will join islanders in Jersey on a virtual 19-mile (30.6km) walk to raise money for girls' education in east Africa.

The Virtual North Coast Challenge is set to take place on Sunday from St Catherine's to Grosnez.

The walk is partnered with Hands Around The World Jersey, a charity which helps vulnerable people in five different countries.

Nine schools in Bugarama in Rwanda will join people in Jersey to walk a similar distance to "show their appreciation" after 12 Jersey teachers provided a summer school for 400 marginalized children earlier this year.

Hands Around The World Jersey works alongside local volunteers to help paint schools and carry out small-scale renovations.

Hands Around The World Jersey has visited Bugarama in south west Rwanda for the past 15 years and carried out school improvement projects, such as building and renovating classrooms, toilets, school kitchens and sports facilities.

The charity is currently working on a project to help girls in Rwanda with education, and money raised from the walk will go towards the project.

The charity said at least 20% of schoolgirls in Rwanda, particularly in rural areas, miss up to 50 days of school per year as they faced barriers due to menstruation.

Teams wanted to build a girls' hygiene room in nine of the schools they covered, which would provide a counselling area, bedroom with bunk beds, shower and toilet.

'Show solidarity'

They also wanted to provide sanitary products and set up training programmes for school matrons.

Mike Haden, chair of Hands Around The World said the idea of the challenge was to "show solidarity" between the walkers in Jersey and those in Rwanda.

He said: "Our friends and partners in Bugarama want to show their appreciation for the assistance they have received to improve teaching and learning conditions in their schools by joining in with us on the same day."