ORI’s core program is facilitating university education for orphans and other vulnerable young people of demonstrated academic talent and personal drive. ORI’s basic model is one of direct support to promising individuals. Ultimately, however, ORI hopes to effect change on a systemic level.

In a country as small and poor as Rwanda, a few hundred orphans graduating from university can transform the pool of intellectual capital and drive economic growth. Fewer than 1 in 200 adults in Rwanda have a college degree, and Rwanda's universities together graduate only a few thousand students each year, most of them male and wealthy. The disadvantaged students who do make it to university often must choose their field of study based on what they can afford. For instance, the high cost of nursing school has led to a dire shortage of highly trained nurses in Rwanda, crippling the country's ability to respond to the AIDS epidemic. By enabling a growing cadre of underprivileged orphans -- both female and male -- to join the ranks of Rwanda's intellectual elite, ORI will have a significant and positive impact on Rwanda's future.

Ultimately, in order to change policy in Rwanda and beyond, we must convince governments and large organizations to reexamine the assumptions that underlie most educational support. Currently, aid is directed almost exclusively at primary and secondary school children. By documenting our work, first through anecdotal evidence and later through publications based on longitudinal research, we hope to demonstrate the value of going one step farther. Armed with proof that helping the most vulnerable children in the world obtain a university education is both feasible and effective, we aim to convince policy-makers to take action.