President Paul Kagame has emphasized the enduring importance of education in shaping Rwanda’s future, recounting his own journey from a refugee camp classroom under trees to leading a nation, during a meeting with a delegation from Hope Haven Christian School, led by its founder and president, Susan Hollern.
“Thank you—for doing what our country and our people needed,” President Kagame told the visiting delegation, acknowledging Hope Haven’s role in expanding access to education in Rwanda.
“When we began this journey, there was an urgent need for people to have access to education. That need has not gone away. Education never stops being important.”
Reflecting on his own early life, the President offered a deeply personal account of learning under extreme hardship. “As a young boy in a refugee camp, we studied under trees. We used our thighs as notebooks and dry pieces of grass as pens,” he recalled. “It was difficult—but we knew it was the right thing to do.”
He described education not only as a tool for personal growth but also as central to Rwanda’s national liberation and healing. “Later, during the struggle to liberate our country, we found ourselves once again in a different kind of school—this time, in the forests,” Kagame said.
“Every step of that journey was a lesson. The mission to liberate our country was, in many ways, a mission to discover the truth—about ourselves, our people, and our responsibilities.”
Praising the work of Hope Haven Christian School, which serves vulnerable communities by offering quality, faith-based education in Kigali, President Kagame stressed that teaching is more than imparting knowledge—it is a powerful tool of transformation.
“When you provide education, you are not just teaching—you are helping young people reach their dreams and shape the future of our country,” he said.
The meeting reaffirmed Rwanda’s commitment to investing in education as a national priority and highlighted the value of partnerships between the government and mission-driven organizations like Hope Haven.
