Greetings from the Heart of Africa

A Bible College

Pastors in Rwanda often have no formal training. Often they are teaching from a Rwandan worldview in respect to scripture. This college is accredited and they can earn a diploma or a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and they teach a Biblical worldview and how God has a plan for us and Rwanda.

It costs just over $3,000 per year for the pastors to attend and it’s a three-year program. Capacity is 150 students with 50 on site in dorms and 100 living in local housing. Currently there are 124 enrolled.

The college has only existed for 4 years. In a meeting with the dean of the school it was mentioned that the 3k tuition is just a huge amount and is the limiter for attendance. We have come up with some potential concepts of a foreign exchange program where students in the US can attend one semester at ANL, get credit toward their degree, and get mission field exposure. There would be a $4,500 semester charge which is typical in US education that would cover the expense of the exchange student tuition and add a one year scholarship for a local pastor. They are excited about the new concept and our follow-up on our end will be to create the right contacts with the right people at schools here in the US. We all anticipate that with about 3-5 universities involved in this program the remaining 25 slots would be filled and 25 annual scholarships will be created.

A Bakery:

This bakery was donated by a family in Belgium. The bakery has the capacity to bake the daily bread for all the students in the closest schools. One school is too far away for delivery from this place and food is bought locally. The Bakery operates in the black yet is underutilized at least one third of the year. We are not focusing much effort at this time here because of the amount of restructuring work being done in beauty and sewing. It is next on deck to be looked at as a potential profit center and a potential trade training opportunity after we get the other two restructured.

A Sewing Center:

The sewing center is what I came to see. We had a small part in its development 8 years ago. We had a concern because of the way the accounting is done it appeared the department was operating in the red… However, we have come to see that is not the case but some serious work still has to be done. This program is barely operating at break even and we are about to make some changes to improve that. The sewing center sews 4000 uniforms for the sponsored kids. They also create products that they sell on the world stage through various fair-trade organizations. There happened to be an owner of a product line in the US who was present in Rwanda and was able to make this meeting. She currently sells products through Macy’s, Anthropology, and Whole Foods.

It was determined at this meeting that while our women are quite capable of sewing uniforms, some of the ladies are ready to go to the next level. This department will need to buy a few newer higher grade sewing machines in order to match the quality that is competing at that level. Leisha is her name and she and another lady came up with at least 3 products that look super fashionable and are going to be tested in the market for viability. In addition it was determined that the lighting conditions and work environment need some improvement. Lastly… because of the reputation of ANL in the Kigali area and the country’s heartbeat for rebuilding the country, we have identified 50 schools in close proximity to Kigali that all wear uniforms to school. Instead of the schools purchasing their uniforms from China we need to secure those contracts and build the country from within.

Thus creating jobs and more money into the local economy that can additionally fund and support further education. This appears to be low hanging fruit in this culture. There is a new lady that has been in this department for a week who has been brought in to oversee business development of this ministry department. She was very excited to hear all the ideas at the table and will have a business plan submitted for review for implementation at the commencement of 2016.

A Beauty Academy:

3 years ago a couple in Austin that own some salons had a vision to open a beauty school in Rwanda where prostitutes and at-risk women would have an opportunity to come to a one year program to learn a skill and be able to gain employment. So far 70 percent of the women who have gone through the program have in fact been able to find jobs and have been rescued from the life of prostitution. However the vision for the program was that it would be self-sustaining and to that end this project is failing.

The department is in the red over $9,000 this year alone. Remember, a year’s tuition is only 3K to put this number in perspective. We have come up with a preliminary sketch of how to restructure this in moving forward. For starters we will have an opportunity for people to support a prostitute. The monthly expense for education is about $200. This is currently a one-year program. So, for a measly $200 per month someone can personally help a person with a name and a soul out of the sex trade and literally help change someone’s life. Now I am proposing we change this into a two-year program. In the first year they receive trade training and discipleship much like they get now.

Next we open up a salon in the city center of Kigali where the graduates of the program will have a second year of residency where they are required to fulfill one year of employment in which they will continue to have discipleship training but at this stage we layer in financial education. We teach them P&L statements, personal family budget, and a savings ledger. The second year which is a guaranteed job will require the 2nd year student to sponsor one of the first year students coming in behind her.

The idea here is that these girls will be working in a full-time employment for pay and the splits will be made so they can afford to meet the obligations. Responsibility will be to tithe 10%, save 10%, then pay expenses and have a small amount of coin left over. To keep this in perspective, the average ppc is about $45. So this 2nd-year resident sponsoring the new student is not a hard target to hit, not to mention it is teaching a pay-it-forward mentality.

Lastly, we would love to find a corporate sponsor (perhaps a hair product company like Revlon) that will do a savings matching at the completion of the 2 year program. So if a woman has saved $800 over her year with training and use of her savings ledger, she will be awarded a bonus of $800 at graduation toward something of equitable gain. She then has $1600 toward a home, car, or location to open her own shop etc. We know that there are a couple of defects to iron out with the new plan and we are working on some of those numbers, such as, what about the 30% that wash out? Then 30% of the new students would not have a sponsor… With a two-year program, even though the second year earns an income, will there be an increased wash out rate? Many of these will be ironed out as this new plan outline gets written into a more comprehensive business plan.

A Medical Clinic

The medical building is under construction. This will be a specialized clinic including operating rooms, clinic rooms, and delivery rooms. They will be able to house medical missionaries and give basic care to the members of the community. This will of course be used as an outreach center to introduce people to the Great Physician. While it may appear premature at this point, it may be a good time for others like Barney to get involved with what is happening with the numbers of this clinic.

Specifically I can tell you that this project is being led by a small group of 5 physicians ( I am sure there is more to the story) and a small concern is that notoriously physicians are not typically the best businessmen. These comments were made and I am just regurgitating. I too am outclassed in respect to the economics of health care so it might just need a special person who happened to be interested in coming alongside. *Hint, wink, smile* The building is a 3-story building under construction on the same campus in Kigali. Many people are very excited about this.

A Transportation Business

It is required by the government that anyone who transports people be a registered business, so naturally when we are being shuttled to and fro we fit that category. The transportation gig does own their own vans and busses. The shuttling of people is charged to the Africa New Life organization and the cost is included in the cost of the mission trip when short term missions (STM) come to serve. This section is operating in the black at this time. While it is a possibility to expand this into tourism (also another outreach opportunity), no action steps are specifically being suggested at this time. This falls after the bakery in its priority for review.

A Guest House

The guest house where the missionaries stay is also a self-supporting element for future potential profit growth. The rent in this house is $2700 per month without utilities. STM’s are charged $50.00 per day to cover the cost of room and board through their stay. This does in fact turn a small profit and cover the cost of staffing and logistics personnel.

Future development and non-action items of discussion were, for starters, whether or not to purchase the building used as the guest house. In addition, there are some properties that could potentially be bought cheaply and rehabbed and used for renting to teachers at the bible college or full time medical personnel at the new clinics. Loans are not available for real estate in this culture but discussions did exist that a private finance investor might be able to fill that role thereby allowing the ministry to buy property on 15 year notes thereby expanding its sustainability and footprint.

A THRIVING Church

The church at Africa New Life has approximately 1000 in regular attendance. The church is self-sustaining off of member giving. It is in the black and the congregation is in strong support and devotion to their pastoral leadership. It is a beautiful thing.