Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico) is a UK registered charity that works to support and empower vulnerable young people in Rwanda. We do this through Centre Marembo, our youth resource in Kigali which supports young people who have been orphaned, neglected or left in very difficult conditions for a variety of reasons.
rYico also works in the UK to increase social and cultural understanding about Rwanda.
Latest news
On May 8th 2013 a volunteer team of architects from the University of Brighton, will present their new design for Umungongo House for boys to rYico. One year ago a team from the Architectural Department took on the ambitious project to design a new building that will house up to 32 former street children.
The presentation event is the culmination of their efforts and the team, headed by Luis Diaz, will formally present rYico with their architectural plans. They will then be sent to the construction company in Kigali, Rwanda and we hope to start laying the first bricks in June 2013!
We will also be premiering a short animation about the boys at Umugongo House, by British Film Institute winner, Sasha Langfood have music from Mvula Mandondo and delicious Rwandan food.
We hope you can come and support this event.
Saturday, 4 May 2013 – 12:00 until 14:30
rYico invites you to join us at Richmix in Bethnal Green, London for the launch of our project ‘Keeping Memories:The Rwandan Community in the UK.
The event starts at 12:00, with live Rwandese music, Rwandese food, guest speakers and an opportunity to view the exhibition. The project is an interactive multimedia exhibition commemorating the past and celebrating the future for Rwanda through the personal stories of the Rwandan Diaspora in the UK.
Speaking will be Viv Mugunga (rYico’s director), Dan Godshaw (project coordinator), project participants Bosco, Georgia, and Patrice (project artist and chairman of the London Rwandese Community Association), David Russell (Survivors Fund), Kati Whitaker (Freelance Journalist), and Williams Nkurunziza (Rwandan Ambassador to the UK)
The event is free and all are welcome!
If you cant make the launch event the project will be exhibiting at Richmix from 2nd – 31st may and open to the public.
Friday, 3 May 2013 – 20:00 until 02:00
AfroConnect is back with another fun filled night of Afrobeat, Dub and Reggae!!
Split over two floors and featuring the amazing………………..
As always we will have henna, facepainting, a great raffle and lots of shop4rwanda goodies!
Tickets are £8 or £6 with a Student Card, and available here
All proceeds will go to rYico’s Keeping Memories project, currently travelling around the UK!!
rYico are proud to present: AFRO CONNECT II – World Music and Dub Fundraiser!!!
25th May 2012, The Loft, Ship Street, Brighton. 9pm – 3am. £7 on the door, £6 with a student card.
All proceeds go to rYico and our project Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the UK.
Following the raging success of our last Afro Connect fundraisers, we’re back again for a night of inspiring tunes and good times! We have a sensational line-up :
Kasai Masai http://www.myspace.com/kasaimasai
Linos Wengara and Zimbaremabwe Band http://www.zimbaremabwe.org/
Maracatu Cruzeiro do Sul http://www.myspace.com/maracatucruzeirodosul
Dubconscious http://soundcloud.com/steppinrizla
Selecta Scruffi http://www.myspace.com/selectascruffi
The night is part of our event series in preparation for an exhibition of our latest project: Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the UK which will be held at the Jubilee Library from the 6th of June -8th of July 2012.
We hope to see you there!
rYico launches interactive multimedia exhibition for Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the UK
6th June – 8th July 2012, Jubilee Library, Brighton
Taking place during usual library opening hours - Admission Free
The Rwandan diaspora tell their own stories and engage the public in innovative ways in rYico’s new exhibition. Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the U.K combines audio, text, photographs and paintings to commemorate the Rwandan past and celebrate the future.
The exhibition is part of our two-year Heritage Lottery funded project. Over several months, trained volunteers conducted life story interviews with members of the Rwandan community. The interviews were then developed into an exhibition creatively drawing upon a range of media to best convey the unique perspective of each story.
According to rYico Director Vivenie Mugunga, the exhibition is a rare opportunity for Rwandans to tell their stories in their own way: “Members of the Rwandan community in the U.K often feel that there is a great amount of misinformation and misrepresentation about Rwanda and Rwandans out there”. For Mugunga the exhibition is a source of empowerment for the community: “the Rwandan diaspora are given a role to play in telling and keeping their own history as well as representing themselves in the way they would like. Who could tell your story better than yourself?”
In telling their stories, participants aim to promote a better understanding of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and preserve the memories of the Rwandan diaspora. The exhibition also explores broader themes of prejudice, ignorance, forgiveness and reconciliation ? encouraging visitors to think deeply about the past as it relates to the present.
Andy Boyd returns to Centre Marembo – May 2012
Andy Boyd and his wife Viv Bowra spent 3 months in 2007 working at Centre Marembo supporting the developmentof the centre and running activities with groups of young people. Andy will be returning this May to carry out the monitoring and evaluation element of a new project that is underway supporting vulnerable girls and young women. You can visit Andy’s Justgiving page to read more about the project and to make a dontion to support the project: http://www.justgiving.com/Andy-Viv-Boyd-Bowra.
rYico successful in Comic Relief Application – Feb 2012
We are thrilled to announce that rYico has been awarded a grant by Comic Relief develop a project for girls and women at Centre Marembo. Details are still to be finalised and more information will be posted here shortly.
rYico successful in Heritage Lottery Application – Dec 2011
We are pleased to announce that rYico has been awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver a 2 year project in the UK, named ‘Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the UK’.
For more information about the project, please visit our projects page. For latest news and updates, visit our news page.
Shop4Rwanda is rYico’s online shop through which rYico sells products made at Centre Marembo in Kigali. To visit the shop, click here.
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