School Improvement Loans...

There are many private schools in Rwanda. They are small in scale and thus considered micro businesses. The school entrepreneurs are called edu-preneurs.

Some start with one or two classes and as the students advance to higher grades, they build additional classrooms. Also, they build computer labs and expand the playground by acquiring adjacent land.

All these are perfect to be eligible for UOB's school improvement loans.

Here is an example: Apaderwa School. The school started in 2006 with less than 32 students, one teacher and one leader. Today, this school has 246 students, nine teachers and one head teacher. UOB has extended a loan to this school to help the school expand its school compound, renovate classes and purchase new school supplies, such as books.

UOB has made eight loans to private schools, like Apaderwa, year to date in 2013 with an ambitious plan to scale up the program in 2014. Many of them provide Christian education as part of their regular curriculum, thus sharing the biblical truth as well as teaching them academic knowledge.

This school improvement loan is tremendously transformational because of the lasting impact on young children for their future education and holistic development as a human being. It is our desire that UOB plays a pivotal role in this process of providing significant transformational impact on these young people in Rwanda. - Jeffrey