This program will take students on a transformative journey through Rwanda, exploring themes of equality, resilience, reconciliation, and women’s empowerment. Through meaningful conversations, community visits, cultural experiences, and hands-on learning, students will engage with people and organizations working to shape a more inclusive future. By connecting Rwanda’s history with its present-day leadership in community rebuilding and gender equity, this program helps students better understand what empowerment can look like in practice.
What do equality and empowerment mean for women around the world?
Day 1–3: Arrival in Kigali and First Encounters
After a long journey to Rwanda, students arrive in Kigali and begin settling into their new surroundings.
Their first full day introduces them to Rwanda’s history and cultural context. Students begin with an orientation to local customs and language before visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where they reflect on one of the most significant chapters in Rwanda’s past.
Later, they visit a women’s cooperative and take part in a weaving workshop, learning how craft, entrepreneurship, and community support can create meaningful opportunities for women. This first day sets the tone for a program grounded in both reflection and hope.
Day 4: Memory, Reconciliation, and Community Healing
Students continue to deepen their understanding of Rwanda’s history with a visit to the Ntarama Genocide Memorial, where they learn from a historian about the events of the genocide and their lasting impact.
Later, they visit a Reconciliation Village, where survivors and perpetrators live side by side as part of an intentional effort to rebuild trust and community. Hearing personal testimonies and stories of forgiveness offers students a powerful perspective on healing, accountability, and what reconciliation can look like in real life.
Day 5: Women in Business and Economic Empowerment
Students explore the role of entrepreneurship in advancing women’s empowerment through a visit with an organization that supports local business owners.
They learn how training, mentorship, and access to financing can help women grow businesses and strengthen their communities. By meeting women leaders and visiting a successful business, students see how empowerment can be built through practical opportunity, confidence, and long-term support.
Day 6: Gender Justice, Leadership, and Opportunity
Students take part in a workshop with an organization focused on gender equality and social change, exploring how both men and women can contribute to a more just society.
Later, they visit Handspun Hope, where they learn about an organization that supports women facing medical and social barriers to employment. Through a hands-on wool workshop, students see how dignity, healthcare, childcare, and economic opportunity can work together to create lasting empowerment.
The day also includes cultural experiences that highlight how communities are building sustainable futures through local leadership and innovation.
Day 7: Conservation, Community, and Women-Led Initiatives
Students begin the day with a guided trek in Volcanoes National Park, where they learn about conservation efforts and Rwanda’s protection of its natural environment.
They then visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to better understand the connection between research, conservation, and education. Later, students spend time with the Kinigi Women’s Cooperative, where they hear directly from women whose work contributes to both family livelihoods and community wellbeing.
This day brings together themes of environmental stewardship, local leadership, and women’s roles in shaping the future.
Day 8: Girls’ Education and New Possibilities
Students visit Grace Girls’ Coalition to learn how the organization supports girls from rural communities through skills training and empowerment initiatives.
This experience encourages students to think about the importance of access, opportunity, and mentorship in shaping young women’s futures. It also offers a chance to reflect on how empowerment begins early, and how communities can invest in girls’ confidence and leadership.
Later, the group travels onward to Akagera National Park.
Day 9: Exploring Rwanda’s Natural Landscapes
In Akagera National Park, students experience another side of Rwanda through a safari across its diverse landscapes.
As they observe wildlife and learn about conservation, students are encouraged to think about the relationship between environmental protection, tourism, and national development. The day offers space to reflect on the many dimensions of Rwanda’s identity, from its communities and history to its landscapes and biodiversity.
Day 10: Art, Reflection, and Farewell
On the final full day, students begin with a boat safari before returning to Kigali.
There, they visit Inema Arts Centre, where they learn how art has played a role in healing and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. This final experience helps students consider the power of creativity, storytelling, and expression in rebuilding both individuals and communities.
The program concludes with a final reflection and farewell dinner, offering students time to look back on all they have learned and experienced together.
Students depart Rwanda with new perspectives on equality, resilience, and the many forms empowerment can take.
Day 11: Home
Students arrive home having engaged with women leaders, entrepreneurs, community members, and changemakers whose stories challenge and inspire deeper thinking about justice, opportunity, and global citizenship.
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