When we play rugby everyone smiles..
FoRR partnered with Umuri Foundation and their founder Jimmy Mulisa to provide a celebration of International Women’s Day in Kayonza District in March 2022. We hope this can be a regular fixture in our calendar.
The last three months have been almost normal with our RDOs working full time in schools delivering coaching sessions. Our final newsletter for 2021 is full of photos and information about what the team has been up to.
FoRR-Newsletter-Issue-9-November-Dec-2021Two of our trustees, Mary and Glyn Watkins travelled to Rwanda for a 17 day trip around the country visit our RDOs who were finally allowed back into schools to coach.
Find out how they got on in our Special Edition Newsletter.
FoRR-Newsletter-Special-Edition-Trustee-trip-2021As the schools reopened on October 11th for the new academic year the RDOs all started to visit schools and to arrange trainings. It has been a busy couple of weeks.
We are delighted we had enough news to fill a newsletter. Hope you enjoy reading our news!
FoRR-Newsletter-Issue-8-September-Oct-2021Although schools reopened in Rwanda in 2021, team sports were not allowed so it has not been possible for our RDOs to coach in schools.
In May there was some relaxation of the rules for those schools with facilities within the school grounds.
Both the RDOs and the children were delighted to be able to take part in some organised physical activity even though the passing of the ball was not allowed in some schools!
In these difficult times we are delighted to announce that we have received sponsorship for an RDO from a welsh charity, Heb Ffin. Many thanks to them.
Check out our latest newsletter:
FoRR-Newsletter-Issue-7-Jan-Jun-2021In November 2020 schools in Rwanda opened up for the first time since March when they had all been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our RDOs are still unable to run coaching sessions as the schools are currently not open to outside agencies and organised sporting events but we are hopeful that we will be able to restart our coaching programme soon.
All secondary schools have opened and primary schools are opening in a phased way. Currently only the upper primary classes are open (P5 and P6) and the plan is that in January the younger children will also start back to school.
It has been a tough few months and we were happy that as a result of our separate fundraiser “Bringing back the smiles” we raised over £1500 which helped over 120 families in 12 districts across Rwanda. It was also good for our RDOs to be doing something productive in their communities and helping their rugby families.
The RDOs have also been busy working remotely as a team to produce a handbook written by RDOs for RDOs. We are confident this will be a very useful resource for sharing good practice and especially for the new RDOs we are hoping to employ in 2021.
It has been difficult to produce a newsletter in the past few months but Issue 6 is a compilation for the past 8 months.
FoRR-Newsletter-Issue-6-April-November-2020
In mid March Rwanda reported its first case of Covid19 and the country went into immediate lockdown. All schools were closed and people were told to stay home.
Our RDOs have been unable to coach either at schools or with their community groups and clubs.
As many Rwandans live on a daily wage – the money they make doing a small job today is spent on food tomorrow – the lockdown has caused serious problems with people facing hunger.
We have set up a separate fundraiser to help
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/raising-money-to-bring-back-the-smiles
We are raising money that our RDOs are using to buy food for the most vulnerable children and their families within the rugby community. Within the first few days we raised £800 which was sent straight out to Kamanda our programme manager who did a great job of coordinating the aid. Each RDO selected 5 families that were in most need. As well as our RDOs we also allocated some funding for two groups of street kids (in Kigali and Huye) and also three voluntary RDOs who teach rugby in other parts of Rwanda.
The £800 we have sent has supported 74 families plus the street kids groups. The RDOs bought the food and distributed to the children and their parents. They were careful to select food that was cheap and long lasting. Maize flour and dried beans are cheap, filling and non perishable. 1 kg of maize flour ( 50p) will make enough ugali for three people.
Thank you so much to all those who donated. We are continuing to raise money and hope to send another donation next week. Our RDOs have been so happy to be involved in helping their communities and it is a great way of sharing the ethos and community spirit of rugby.
The Rwandan Rugby Federation have released their calendar of events for 2020. You can see what they are planning by following this link
It has been an exciting year – check out our final newsletter for 2019
FoRR-Newsletter-Issue-4-Oct-Dec-2019Friends of Rwandan Rugby were delighted to be nominated for the Rhino Grass Roots Rugby Award.
FoRR were runners up to Khelo Rugby who do great work in India but it is fantastic to have the work done by our charity in developing rugby in Rwanda recognised.
Big thanks to Rhino who have been such an important supporter over the years
You can find out more about the award here https://rhino.direct/blogs/the-locker-room-blog/khelo-rugby-wins-rhino-grassroots-award-2019
Our very first Players’/coaches’ tour to Rwanda took place from October 30- Nov 7th 2019.
When we heard that the Rwandan Silverbacks were going to be playing their first ever Rugby World Cup qualifier match for the 2023 RWC against Ivory Coast in November 2019, we decided it would be a great opportunity for FoRR to send some experts out to help with the training.
We joined the team’s national coach, Claude Ezoua, who has great experience of the Ivory Coast as he is from there and was their coach for the World Cup in 1995.
We were delighted that despite having a very short amount of time to organise the trip we had an excellent group of coaches/players from Wales, England, Scotland, South Africa and France. The tour was led by our trustees Matt Phillips, Mike Jones and Mary Watkins.
Our team and coaching shirts were sponsored by Beddow Partnership
We took 30 large bags of kit with us (around 600kg) thanks to the generous baggage allowance from RwandAir. All of the kit was donated from local rugby clubs, Connect to Africa and SOSKitAid.
Read our newsletter below to see how the week went. We were also delighted to feature in ITV’s footage about the RWC.
FoRR-Newsletter-Players-tour-Nov-2019-Special-Edition| Friends of Rwandan Rugby charity continues to support the sport in Rwanda |
| Friends of Rwandan Rugby (FoRR) says that rugby is built on values and camaraderie and it is these values that are making a difference to the lives of the children in Rwanda |
| Friends of Rwandan Rugby a small, innovative charity based in the United Kingdom has continued to support the Rwandan Rugby Federation (RRF) (www.RwandaRugby.com), through training coaches, as well as children and donating rugby equipment to help build trust, friendships, and foster shared experiences on the field and have fun! This week, ten coaches from Scotland, Wales, England, France, and South Africa were in Kigali conducting training sessions to boost the national rugby team, the Silverbacks ,ahead of the Africa Rugby Cup game against Ivory Coast on November 23, 2019. In an interview, Matthew Phillips says that as a charity they have come to Rwanda every year to develop rugby around the country in primary and secondary schools to get kids to play the sport to become better people in social life. FoRR says that rugby is built on values and camaraderie and it is these values that are making a difference to the lives of the children in Rwanda. Allowing them to express themselves and play together will addvalue to their lives for years to come. “This year’s occasion,” he pointed out, “The Rwandan Rugby Federation President Tharcisse Kamanda asked us [FoRR) to come here this year to help train with the national team the Silverbacks in preparation for the World Cup qualifier against Ivory Coast. Matt believes that the Rwandan national team has improved massively in terms of standards since he started coming to Rwanda in 2013 though, he noted that what needs to be done is for the people to get behind them in terms of sponsorship financially from Government and business so that federation can help rugby to the next level. This year, FoRR donated over a ton of rugby equipment including playing kits, shoes, and balls, last year they donated over 400 balls to RRF. FoRR will be back in Rwanda as promised by Matt to deliver training to children in districts next year. For the last 12 years, FoRR volunteers have spent time with Rwandan rugby development officers visiting schools, clubs, and colleges meeting the team and engaging with children and young adults who are passionate about the sport. To conclude the week-long training program, FoRR organized a friendly match on Wednesday at Amahoro Stadium between the Silverback vs International invitational select team, the game concluded 11-8 in favor of Silverbacks. Both sides embraced each after an entertaining and an exciting game that drew the attention of a few rugby admirers before heading for a refreshment chat. Having watched South Africa make history by defeating England to lift the third World Rugby Cup, Kamanda the President of RRF who recently returned from Japan is already confident the Silverbacks are on the right footing. “The team is ready to battle Ivory Coast, we believe we can defeat them, looking forward to a positive outcome though we have seen a few injuries which the team doctor will have to look at to make sure they are fine,” he mentioned. He further pointed out that the scrum position, in particular, is still short of a few strapping and good players to move the ball forward but promised the head coach Claude Ezoua has set plans to fill the gap. If the Silverbacks win they will progress to the next round to face a formidable and experienced Kenyan both home and away. The team will depart Kigali on November 20th to face Ivory Coast. |
We have created a Fantasy League for the RWC. Details below:
FoRR-Fantasy-League-flyer-2News worth celebrating – we are delighted to announce that we are planning three tours to Rwanda from the UK over the next 10 months.
October 2019 – Journey to the World Cup Starts Here
Just as the World Cup 2019 ends the next one will start. And the very first qualifier for the 2023 tournament will be played by Rwanda! How exciting is that – their first ever qualifier for the World Cup.
They will be playing Ivory Coast on November 23rd. It will be a tough game as Ivory Coast are ranked well above the Silverbacks.
To help them be competitive we are sending a group of players and coaches led by Trustee and coach extraordinaire Matt Phillips. The purpose of the visit will be to coach and train with the Silverbacks to help prepare for them for the big game.
The tour will run from October 29th – November 7th 2019. We have had lots of interest but there is room for more players to join us. Email us at info@friendsofrwandanrugby.org.uk for more information or to book a place.
May 2020 – The Journey to the World Cup Continues
In May we are sending another group of players out to train with the Silverbacks and to continue with the work that was started in October’s trip. This trip will culminate in a game against the Silverbacks. We need a full squad of players for this trip. There are limited places remaining for this very exciting opportunity.
The trip will run from 21st – 31st May 2020
May 2020 – Rugby Foundations
Running at the same time as the above trip, Rugby Foundations is a trip to help develop the very beginnings of rugby by working with children from schools that have never seen a rugby ball before. Tourists will work alongside our RDOs to deliver tag rugby coaching in primary schools and also contact rugby training with secondary schools. The tour culminates in a very exciting Tag rugby tournament. There will also be time to return to Kigali at the end to watch the Silverbacks game mentioned above.
Suitable for coaches, teachers and enthusiasts.
Dates 21st – 31st May (with an additional departure date on 23rd May to allow teachers to fit the trip into the half term holiday.
For any other details, please contact us on info@friendsofrwandanrugby.org.uk
Here is a selection of pictures from an amazing week in Nyamasheke where FoRR took rugby to four schools in Rwanda that had never before seen a rugby ball. Thanks to the UK coaches and rugby enthusiasts who joined us and helped make the experience so very positive for all concerned. Get in touch with us if you want to get involved in next years tour.
