There is a immense need for early childhood education in this region. 90% of these children come from extremely poor families who live under $1 a day. The only existing preschools in Nyamata are for the middle class or the wealthy. NCV wishes to educate the poor children who cannot afford school either for financial struggles or for issues related to long distances between schools and the children’s homes. NCV started an early childhood program in 2017, a model preschool for the poor, in Kanazi, Nyamata, a town of approximately 35,000 people. We provide a feeding program, qualified teachers, integrated curriculums and involve families. We have 53 children in our preschool program. We feed the children two nutritious meals a day to boost their stunted growth (estimated at 4%).

We are now building dedicated classrooms for the pre-primary program. In September 2023 the first group will enter their room for Grade 1, according to the school calendar 2023-2024. Following years they will grow further to Grade 2 while a new group will start Grade 1.