Each year, ORI awards full university scholarships to a select group of talented and deserving students, who matriculate at the Rwandan university of their choice. ORI scholarships provide tuition, books, a living allowance, healthcare and a broad range of support programs, described below. Scholarships are tenable for four years, provided the student remains in good academic standing.

Student Selection

In June 2007, Orphans of Rwanda announced the selection of the 2008 class of students. Sixty-eight students – 34 men and 34 women – learned that that they had been selected for four years of university scholarship support. This brings the total number of students attending university through ORI to 121. The new cohort of scholarship winners will receive supplemental language training and other support services this year and will matriculate at different Rwandan universities in early 2008.

Thanks to effective outreach efforts by ORI and its partners, we received over 1,500 applications for the 68 awards – an acceptance rate of less than 5%. The selection process entailed a thorough review of the applicants’ life histories, academic record, national university entrance exam scores, written essays, and competence in English and French (the languages of university instruction). Finally, the selection committee, which included ORI’s Country Director and representatives of five partner organizations, held personal interviews with 146 individuals at seven different locations around the country. The applicant group as a whole was extremely talented and deserving, and the final decisions were particularly difficult.

The average age of the incoming class is between 22 and 23, with students as young as 19 and as old as 29. The students come from each of the nation's five provinces, with the Southern and Kigali provinces (the most populous) having the highest representation. Students will attend Rwanda's leading universities, such as the National University of Rwanda, the School of Finance and Banking, the Kigali Health Institute, and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.

Language Skills

The most common languages of instruction are English and French. To succeed, students must be competent in both languages. In effect, this means they must be trilingual (Kinyarwanda, a variant of Swahili, is the language of everyday speech) or, in some cases, quadrilingual.

To ensure its students’ academic success, ORI has developed a supplemental Language Training Program. In late 2006, 39 of ORI’s 52 scholarship holders participated in an intensive nine-week course over their winter vacation. Compared to initial exam scores, students demonstrated an average overall improvement of 32% in reading and writing skills in both English and French.

Student feedback on the program was overwhelmingly positive. As a result, the Language Training Program will be repeated in 2008 and future years, and will be required for all new students.

Career Development

ORI has recently launched a Career Development Program. All students are encouraged to attend a career speaker series, which exposes students to different career paths and connects them with potential contacts.

More ambitiously, the Career Development Program also seeks to connect students with internships at local businesses and non-profit organizations. Internships are an entirely novel concept in Rwanda, and their advantages have to be carefully explained to prospective employers. The internship initiative endeavors to provide students with transferable skills, professional resumes, and expanded employment opportunities, while also teaching the value of work experience prior to graduation.

Mentoring and Psychosocial Counseling

ORI also offers regular psychosocial support and counseling to help students overcome challenges relating to mental health. To date, ORI has conducted an assessment of student mental health and run the first of a planned series of trauma healing workshops. ORI has partnered with the Rwandan Association of Trauma Counselors (ARCT) to provide individual and group counseling for affected students.

Life Skills Training

Many ORI students are living outside an orphanage for the first time in their lives. Unlike children who grew up in intact families, few have had the opportunity to learn basic life skills. To address this need, ORI organizes monthly training sessions which deal with a variety of non-academic subjects. Student questions and group discussions are actively encouraged. 25 adult volunteers currently assist with this program, which will continue to evolve in response to perceived needs. Since June 2006, ORI has organized learning modules on money management, career development, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention, and general healthcare issues.