Rwanda Student Education Tours
Our team at Intore Expeditions has fallen in love with providing Rwanda student educational tours in Africa for both students and student educators.
We have had the incredible opportunity to host groups of educators and students. Two of our favorite Rwanda student education tours have been with the Seattle Holocaust Center for Humanity and The Seattle Country Day School. We have linked the itineraries we used for these tours and a base for you to have an idea of what we have done. We would love to help you build either a student or an educator’s tour.
The itineraries below are foundations that are easily altered for your group. We suggest group size be a minimum of five participants.
The focus of our Rwanda student educational tours has been to educate students and educators alike about Genocide and reconciliation, history and culture, conservation, and wildlife.
How young is too young – With the groups of middle school students we have found that 7th graders and maybe some six graders are highly capable of managing this trip well. The students are curious and ask hard an meaningful questions. They also understand about building bridges and are interested ins working with the Rwandan students.
We understand that this can be an emotional trip so we work with the school before coming to offer our team as a safe space for sharing thoughts and feelings. I have been repeatedly impressed by the young students we have hosted to ask hard and thoughtful questions and their ability to express their feelings.
Seattle Country Day School brought fifteen 7th and 8th graders to Rwanda. To find out one student’s impression and how our youth educations program engaged this amazing group of students.
Some Sample Rwanda Student Education Tours
Below is a sample tour with ideas based on tours we’ve provided in the past. Student education tours will be designed uniquely for our guests’ educational requirements and age groups ranging from Middle School through College Level. Please Contact us at Intore Expeditions Rwanda Today to learn more.
DAY 1:
Arrive at Kigali International Airport.
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – arrival snack and welcome at Gorilla Golf Hotel
Activities – Kigali, Gisozi, downtown, craft market and US Embassy
DAY 2:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – All breakfasts at hotel, Lunch local buffet, Dinner at hotel or out
Activities – Gisozi Memorial, Belgian memorial, U.S. Embassy visit, Craft market and Kigali Tour
Suggested Departure time – 8:30-9AM
DAY 3:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – Lunch buffet at Palast Hotel (spelling) Dinner suggestion Indian Khazana. (Indian)
Activities – Nyamata School or other local school
Within the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday timeline we will arrange for a visit to the local memorials and Miracle Corners) Please share your contact with us so we can work with them on timing for your schedule and drive times along with activity times.
Suggested Departure time – We need to find out when school starts it is usually 7ish
DAY 4:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – Lunch buffet at Palast Hotel (spelling) Dinner suggestion New Cactus (American/Euro)
Activities – Nyamata School or other local school
Suggested Departure time
We need to find out when school starts it is usually 7ish
DAY 5:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – Lunch buffet at Palast Hotel (spelling) Dinner suggestion – Sakai (Mixed Asian)
Activities – Nyamata School or other local school
Suggested Departure time – We need to find out when school starts it is usually 7ish
DAY 6:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – Lunch Picnics provided (not from the park) Dinner suggestion Gorilla Golf or out –lets discuss time
Activities – Akagera National Park
Hopefully with Nyamata kids
DAY 7:
Lodging – Gorilla Golf Hotel
Meals – Lunch Picnic in the bus on the way back. Dinner suggestion Heaven
Activities – visit Azizi life for shopping – dinner – departure 11PM
Suggested Departure time – Start time about 9AM
Rwanda Insights Educators' Tour
We designed this tour for Seattle’s Holocaust Center for Humanity, with educators that are teaching about Genocide and Rwanda. Keeping that in mind there are so many more insights to be made from this group experience. While we found this itinerary gave the group many opportunities as always, we are always happy to listen to your interests and make the itinerary fit your learning goals. Please Contact us at Intore Expeditions Rwanda today to learn more.
Arrival Day: Arrive in Kigali — Exchange money and settle in. Intore Expeditions will provide transportation from the airport to the hotel.
DAY 1:
We will begin by visiting the Gisozi Genocide Memorial. This memorial will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of, The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the history which lead up to it. After lunch we will see the Belgium memorial for another glimpse at what was happening on the ground in Kigali 1994. We will end our touring time at the first public library in Rwanda. The Kigali Public Library took nearly a decade to build and open. Its official opening was in the summer of 2012, with its ribbon cutting ceremony on October 5th, 2012.
DAY 2:
We will spend most of the day at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. This village was modeled after the Yemen Orde Youth Village in Israel. Not only will we see this great project in action, we will also share lunch with over 500 students and staff. You are encouraged to sit and speak with them over a typical Rwandan school lunch. After lunch, we hope to visit the village’s hospitality and/or environment club and walk along their nature park path.
DAY 3:
Today will be one of our longest travel days. We will leave Kigali early in the morning and drive to Murambi Memorial. This is one of the most poignant and visually explicit memorials in Rwanda. Like the Gisozi memorial in Kigali, it was designed by the Aegis Trust. After our visit to Murambi, we will stop at the National Museum of Rwanda. If time allows, we will also stop by Nyanza ancient lifestyles of Rwanda, as well as the Palace from the 1950s.
DAY 4:
We will meet with the Rwanda Genocide Commission. This is a wonderful opportunity to ask questions. We will later travel just outside of Kigali, where we will visit three memorials: Jardin Du Memory, Nyamata, and Ntarama. These are key to understanding the reach of the 1994 Genocide. Before returning to Kigali, our final stop will be to the Miracle Corners Community Center. This center has been built with the guidance and vision of survivor, Jacqueline Murektete.
DAY 5:
As an outcome of the genocide, there are many projects that are aimed to help Rwanda and its citizens. Today, we will visit a Batwa village that has been transforming their way of life with help from Seattle. The Batwa are also known as the pygmies of Rwanda and are by far the most marginalized group of Rwandans.
The next stop at Gardens for Health. This is a fantastic program that is changing the lives and health of children and aiding in the reduction of childhood malnutrition.
We will also visit the home of the former President Habyarimana. Just over the side of the compound walls you will see the engine of the plane he was in when it crashed.
Tonight’s dinner will be on your own.
DAY 6:
Umuganda — Contribution Day — Location to be determined. Today we will donate our time to help clear and clean the grounds of a selected community area. This can be dirty work but is a wonderful way to engage with and support the local community. We will have lunch, then drive to Akagera National Park. This will be our one night as a group out of Kigali. For those who want time to relax poolside, we should have time. Others may wish to add an additional expedition of a nighttime game drive.
DAY 7:
Have you ever wondered how all those animals get along and support the whole system together? Today, you will have the chance to see the amazing cooperative nature of animals and plants sustaining each other in Rwanda’s one and only Savannah Park. You may see lion, Rhino, Leopard, zebra, giraffe, cape buffalo, Topi, and maybe an elephant or two! It may be possible, if there is group consensus, to also take a boat tour on Lake Ihema to see more birds and crocodiles.
DAY 8:
A Look at NGO work — We will visit some of our preferred NGO projects in Kigali, one of which is the global project, Women for Women. We-Actx is a small NGO based in Rwanda which was designed specifically for women who are HIV+. They have started a small cooperative of sewers called Ineza. Here, you will be able to see women at work and purchase their many creatively designed bags and crafts. Finally, we will meet with the women running the Gardens for Health project. This project was designed for Rwanda and those who suffer from HIV. Their premise is to help survivors to feed themselves with a healthier diet which, in turn, gives them better health so that the HIV cocktail may be better tolerated. These projects will also give you an opportunity to purchase local crafts, such as bags, baskets, and paper beads. All proceeds support the individual projects.
DAY 9:
In the past, we have tried on this day to include a visit to an orphanage. However, Rwanda has disbanded orphanages and replaced them with a foster care system. We are engaging with authorities to secure a meeting about the change and the current state of education in Rwanda.
DAY 10:
Final shopping and sightseeing. Craft market or other city activities. Transfers to airport three hours prior to departure.
*Please note that this itinerary is subject to change. We are always looking for new groups to collaborate with and as our connections in the country grow, we may find that there are additions we see fit to include. All visits to memorials, the Genocide commission, Akagera National Park, the Public Library and Agahozo-Shalom will remain on the itinerary.
Interested in staying longer?
Additional day(s) may be added for an additional fee. Those who are interested in trekking gorillas will need to commit at a minimum of 4-6 months in advance to secure the permits. Other activities can also be arranged for those interested in either arriving early or staying on after. Please be in touch with Shelly for more information and pricing.
Suggested add-on activities include: Gorilla Trekking, Golden Monkey trek, Hike to the cemetery of Dian Fosse and Mountain Gorillas, Hike in the Volcano’s National Park, Travel to Nyungwe National Park, Chimpanzee trek, Colobus Monkey, Lake Kivu at either Gisenyi or Kibuye.
~ For different tour options and inclusions, longer Safari’s Please Contact Our Office. Our team’s primary goal is that you will have the experience that appeals to you the most and the African trip of a life time. ~