Brick-by-Brick

The difference between Juliana Andrea and the other success stories we have shared with you is that we didn’t have a direct hand in helping Juliana accomplish her dreams of graduating from college with a Nursing Assistants degree.

Juliana isn’t one of 97 children who we have pledged to support through all levels of their education. She didn’t grow up at the Rift Valley Children’s Village where we encourage each child to dream big and chase their passions. Instead, Juliana is a product of what happens when you put hope back into a community. When you show people that there is another way. When you provide a generation of children with a quality education.

With less than 3% of girls in Tanzania ever enrolling in higher education, for most of her life, Juliana believed a college diploma was out of reach. But when we began our work 15 years ago, things started to change in the Oldeani region of Tanzania. Suddenly, Juliana’s dreams of becoming a nurse were reignited with a renewed sense of determination as she watched more and more of her neighbors reach new heights that once seemed impossible.

Three years ago, after her Form Four graduation, we gave Juliana a job as a housekeeper so she could earn the money she needed for school fees. This year, we proudly welcomed Juliana back to RVCV, not as a housekeeper, but as a Nursing Assistant. Armed with the degree and knowledge she needs to support our on-site Registered Nurse in providing free, quality healthcare to more than 6,000 patients last year.

Stories like Juliana’s are the result of 15 years of investing in brighter futures. They are the outcomes of working with our community of 10,000 to tear down the walls built by extreme, generational poverty year-by-year, brick-by-brick.