Woman’s dream to build a school in Rwanda captured the heart of a Kent Tourist

“I believe in Miracles” Art sale in Kent will raise funds to finish building and employ teachers –

An extraordinary story of one man’s commitment to help build a school for impoverished children in Rwanda has led to an art sale being organised in Kent.

When Tunbridge Wells art gallery owner Nick Hills went on holiday to Rwanda with his Dutch wife Machteld last year he thought meeting mountain gorillas would be the highlight of his trip. Then he had a chance encounter which has changed his life.

Retired opera singer Nick, aged 61, met Faith Uwantege, a local woman with a dream to start a school in her community of Kinigi. She had heard that Nick and his wife had brought a bag of clothes to donate to local children and sought them out to discuss her vision.

Nick, who has run the Redleaf Gallery in Castle Street for nearly 20 years and lives in The Pantiles, takes up the story.

“Faith emerged from the darkness one evening while we were having supper. Her   opening pitch was: ‘I believe in miracles.’ Then she began the long, gentle explanation of how she had come so far. She was running a school in temporary accommodation but had a dream of building a school. I have never seen a more determined person.”

Nick visited the temporary school the next day. “Seeing her standing with the children, it didn’t seem outlandish to let them have a bit of money — seed money, I suppose — to help them get going. I was pretty sure I could trust Faith. Sometimes one just has to give without conditions to see if someone will take what’s offered and run with it.”

Nick provided Faith with the money to buy the land and now a large and rocky field full of potatoes has been transformed into a beautiful new school which opens in January.

“The whole thing has been an enormous community venture, built almost entirely by hand and relying on resources from abroad not drying up. The fact that every penny of every pound contributed is put to use building is also a real spur to me,” says Nick.

“The heart of the matter lies in the children of Kinigi. It’s simply getting a local child into school because it’s no exaggeration to say that Faith’s school will be life-changing for those who go there. Rwanda’s past troubles are well-known but Faith is working across tribal divides to create a real sense of community. By giving work to local people it means that many parents can look at the school and say ‘I had a hand in building this’.

“To me this is nothing short of miraculous!” adds Nick.

So a year after meeting Faith on that dark African night, how does Nick feel about his role as a key donor and supporter? “I suppose at the time I hadn’t fully taken into account the degree of onward involvement which a little help inevitably entailed. But when you hear quite how much one’s support has meant to the almost destitute it makes one a little more committed to the cause!” he says.

Faith’s story…

To create her own foundation and begin building a school in her community in Rwanda, Faith Uwantege’s motivation was simply the thought of one child’s life transformed.

Faith says: “Giving an education to a child changes him or her. You can see a difference immediately. Children thrive in an atmosphere of peace and respect.”

Faith worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as an interpreter in the refugee camps. “I met so many homeless people with their children, often HIV positive; I remember many nights lying awake crying for those children. But it was in Kinigi that I realised that the desperate are not just in refugee camps.

“It started with a family, a really poor family, living near my work. I dropped in daily just to make sure that they had something to eat. News spread, and there they were — so many hungry families with none of their children at school, doomed to begging on the roads. I could do a little, one child per family, perhaps give a basic education. I rented a house, got a teacher and a cook. Before I knew it, numbers grew to 160.”

After pouring all her own money into the project, the next step in Faith’s strategy was to win financial support from benefactors. She approached anyone she thought would share her vision. A Canadian church gave generously, and then she met Nick Hills. Using donations from Nick and others, Faith bought a plot of land, designed a school to be built in three phases, organised her labourers, and now building is progressing well.

Challenges have included the price of materials, water supply and insuring her workforce. The latter has been an issue because this is an entirely Rwandan project with a Rwandan vision, staffed exclusively by locals. This is in contrast to similar projects, which are led by European or US money and have a foreigner in charge.

From the beginning, Faith has been determined to make it a community venture in which everyone can share. Rather than pay the high costs of a building plant, teams of workers have dug the foundations by hand, and manhandled the larger stones, even hand-cutting the smaller stones. Dozens of locals have built the school, largely parents of the children. In a community that has such a high rate of unemployment, the fact that the Faith Foundation has created jobs has been a huge bonus.

For more information about the Faith Foundation visit www.faithfoundation.rw

The art sale…

More than 140 paintings will be offered for sale at reduced prices on Monday 19 September. The sale is being organised by Grand Auctions, one of Kent’s premier auction houses. For details contact Jonathan Riley at Grand Auctions on 01303 220440, email [email protected] or visit www.grandauctions.co.uk

ART SALE IN KENT GIVES YOU THE CHANCE TO HELP BUILD A SCHOOL IN RWANDA

An art sale in Kent will give people a unique opportunity to play their part in building a school for impoverished children in Rwanda. The sale of more than 140 paintings is being organised by Grand Auctions on Monday 19 September.

The paintings have been donated by Tunbridge Wells art gallery owner Nick Hills who has been supporting the school project ever since he went on holiday to Rwanda with his Dutch wife Machteld last year to see mountain gorillas. Nick met Faith Uwantege, a local woman with a dream to start a school. She had heard that Nick and his wife had brought a bag of clothes to donate to children and sought them out.

Nick, who has run the Redleaf Gallery in Castle Street for nearly 20 years and lives in The Pantiles, says: “Her opening pitch was: ‘I believe in miracles.’ She was running a school in temporary accommodation but had a dream of building a school.”

With donations from Nick and others, Faith’s project has gone from a large and rocky field to a new school which opens in January, built by local people. Now more help is needed to finish the building and employ teachers. “I’ve accumulated a selection of works which for one reason or another have not sold. Faith’s project continues to need support so this sale seems the answer,” adds Nick.

Jonathan Riley of Grand Auctions says he and his team immediately and enthusiastically agreed to get involved when they heard of Nick’s dedication to helping Faith to turn the dream of building a school into a reality.

“We are determined to do everything we can to make the sale a success and have waived our usual sellers charges.

“I would urge anyone who has been touched by this story to play their part in raising money for this school. Rather than just give a donation you can buy a painting as a lasting reminder of this heart-warming tale. They are all offered at a reduced price.

“There’s something here to suit most tastes, from works by 17^th Century artists to the present day. And you can buy a painting safe in the knowledge that profits go straight to Faith’s school without any intermediaries taking a cut,” says Jonathan.

Among the notable paintings is one by Andrew Vicari, which had previously been put up for sale by Christie’s in Dubai in 2006 at an estimated value of $25,000 to $35,000. In 2006 Vicari appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of £92 million, which made him Britain’s richest living painter.

An Italian restaurant owner’s son, the 78-year-old Vicari became known as ‘the king of painters and painter of kings’ after gaining lucrative commissions to paint heads of state and royals. His sitters have included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sophia Loren, Mao Tse-tung, Francois Mitterrand, Jonathan Aitken and Prince Rainier.

For more details about the sale contact Jonathan Riley at Grand Auctions on 01303 220440 or email [email protected] or visit www.grandauctions.co.uk