In October 2025, we were thrilled to visit and welcome the Irerero School in Rwanda as Mona Foundation's newest grassroots partner. Closely collaborating with Pygmy Survival Alliance (PSA) in the United States and Health Development Initiative (HDI), a Rwandan nonprofit, Irerero supports the educational needs of the people historically referred to as "Batwa" or Pygmies.

The Batwa are an Indigenous forest-dwelling people of Central Africa. In Rwanda, they number roughly 33,000. Displaced from their ancestral lands decades ago by conservation and agricultural expansion, the Batwa were left landless and marginalized. Today, they remain among Rwanda’s most vulnerable communities. Only 16% of Batwa children complete primary school, just 3% reach secondary school, and adult illiteracy exceeds 50%.

A Community Defines Its Reality

The Irerero School's story begins many years ago when Dr. Karl Weyrauch happened to visit a small Batwa village outside Kigali, Rwanda.

Historically marginalized, living in extreme poverty, and on the brink of extinction, he asked about their greatest daily challenges. They answered plainly:

“We have no food, and we are hungry.”
“We have no roofs over our heads to protect us from the rain, and our children cry at night when they are wet and cold.”
“We have no clothes to wear and when we leave the forest, people living nearby say that we are naked and dirty like animals.”

The absence of life’s most basic necessities was stark and heartbreaking.

Karl then asked a second question: What resources do you have to help face these challenges?  After consulting together, the villagers answered:

“We have life,” one elder said. “We are not all dead yet.”

“We have health. That is, we are all not sick with disease and we have our strength and humanity.”

And after a pause, “Happiness. We have happiness.”

In a place with almost no material wealth—and where discrimination against the Batwa runs deep—this response was both humbling and profound. It was not a denial of hardship, but a powerful affirmation of humanity and hope. A reminder that dignity is not defined by possessions, but by the unyielding strength of the human spirit.

That answer marked a turning point. Karl founded Pygmy Survival Alliance (PSA) and, in partnership with Rwandan nonprofit Health Development Initiative (HDI), began walking alongside this community toward a better future.

The transformative power of partnership and education

As the people were empowered to address basic needs and conditions improved, the mothers said, “Before, many of our children were dying … Now, so many are surviving, we need a nursery school where they can go.”  In response to their request, local development leader Claude Bizimana, founded Irerero School in 2015 as a nonprofit Early Childhood Development center.

Over the years, Irerero has grown to now serve hundreds of Batwa children, youth, and adults across three villages -- including one youth who is the first from the village to attend university. Programs include early childhood education, academic support, scholarships, skills training, girls empowerment, and development and cultural programs—all shaped by the community itself.

During Mona's visit to the school this past fall, it was deeply moving to seeing how far the school and the community have come—and how the people's original foundation of values has been further strengthened through education and long-term partnership.

Poverty remains visible—but so do pride, resilience, and progress.

With PSA and HDI's empowering support, Irerero  has developed a community-led model where local leaders, teachers, parents, and youth work hand-in-hand to create lasting educational opportunity. Children are succeeding in school. Youth are developing skills. Women have formed business collectives. Together, the community is shaping its own future.

Mona Foundation is honored to now be a part of their extraordinary journey.