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Our Work in Rwanda
The unique component of the SageView Foundation is that in addition to partnering with organizations whose initiatives are in line with their mission statement, the foundation also runs their own projects on the ground in Rwanda.
The unique component of the SageView Foundation is that in addition to partnering with organizations whose initiatives are in line with their mission statement, the foundation also runs their own projects on the ground in Rwanda.
The Long’s love for Rwanda and its people led them to begin to invest in the Bugesera District in 2013, where they felt a need to contribute to the extraordinary development that has been taking place since the 1994 Genocide. This area had been especially impacted and more resources were needed in specific communities. They began contributing to specific initiatives that supported women and children in crisis at this time. This included providing homes for widows and education for children.
Initially, Sunripe Farms Rwanda was started to provide agricultural training and employment for the segment of the population the foundation was helping.
Sunripe Farms Rwanda is a for profit agriculture farm specializing in growing high-value vegetables for the urban Kigali market as well as for export. We provide high quality produce that exceeds customer expectations, we practice proper land stewardship, and have a dedicated training center.
The main mission for the farm is to provide a platform for education through hands-on skills to create a sustainable economic change for the locals we employ. The farm now employs 100 staff and laborers. Those employees, living in this rural community, have had consistent employment for over five years now. The farm continued to provide work and emergency food, not only to the farm workers, but also to other families in the community even during Co-vid.
We are also committed to serve those in the surrounding communities to help increase their own agricultural production, link them to markets, participate in educational trainings organized at farm level to prompt a sense of Community. This has been done through education by farm staff and in partnerships with Women for Women International.
Over time it became clear that we also had a responsibility to meet basic needs of hunger and education for the families that the farm employed. Sage Community Foundation in Rwanda was formed to be a vehicle to meet specific needs as they arose.
Every day over 100 farm workers are fed from the farm kitchen, totaling more than 600 meals a week. SCF has also paid for the children of the farm workers, including daily laborers, to attend Nyamata Primary School and Nyamata High School. There are 80 children that receive a full scholarship, two meals a day and uniforms. Three of the students have graduated and gone on to attend college in Kigali. Two farm employees have received scholarships to attend professional schools for advanced certificates.
To date Sage Community Foundation has also given to Hope International, Akilah/Davis College, Edify, Acts4Rwanda, and Women for Women International in Rwanda. We have also met government requests for help with building homes for the poor and feeding those in need during COVID.
We have hired a country director for the Foundation that enables us to continue to support the people of Rwanda. The country director is actively involved with the farm and serves as a liaison between SageView Foundation, Sunripe Farms and the community.
