Transforming Communities through Hope, Service and Empowerment
During February, the women’s quilting class continued with renewed enthusiasm, as three new women were accepted into the program. After just 2 weeks with the new ladies, it was observed that they are determined, resourceful and dedicated to the task of improving their sewing skills. As with the Intermediate class, it is a constant exercise [...]
We continued with our development of a national Taekwondo team and a Taekwondo federation for Rwanda this month. We were able to host four practices at the Belgian School and trained the clubs from Kigali as well as Butare. They continue to work on their registrations with the Ministry of Sports and after [...]
ATN began preparations for the upcoming youth football tournament. We met with school officials, coaches, and others to prepare for a kids football tournament which will launch in May. The tournament will be called the ATN Peace Cup and will help promote peace and unity among the people of Rwanda.
In addition, ATN coordinated a sports [...]
The work of ATN with the Rwandan Taekwondo Athletes continued in the month of January with three training sessions held at Ecole Belge with an average of ten athletes attending each session. Martin Koonce was able to implement the training techniques used by the Ugandan Taekwondo Federation in beginning the preparation for the athletes [...]
The Intermediate Level Quilting Course has now opened, with the same women who successfully completed the 2009 Beginning Quilting Course. This time, the women are busy making placemats and table runners so they can show their skills and produce an attractive marketable product. This takes time, and with a program that only runs [...]
ATN hosted two free sports camps for the youth in Kicukiro District. We conducted a week off football training for 4 hours a day and conducted a week of basketball training for 2 hours a day. Our program served approximately 150 student athletes, boys and girls, in our district, from the ages of 10-18 years.
December was an exciting month for Taekwondo in Rwanda as two master coaches and the women’s national champion arrived for a weekend of training at Ecole Belge for the top Taekwondo athletes of Rwanda. The athletes trained for a total of eight hours from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. Training, technical movements, and preparation [...]
This month Martin Koonce held another training session, attended by twenty of Rwanda’s top Taekwondo athletes where we discussed the proper steps for registration with the ministry of sports; the steps required to begin the Taekwondo Federation of Rwanda; and new techniques learned by Martin while in Uganda. There was great excitement generated in [...]
During the month of November, ATN spent a great amount of time planning and preparing for our youth and sports camps in December. We met with school officials at St. Josephs and St. Patricks, hired coaches, we advertised and talked with kids and their families about our programs and bought equipment to prepare for December.
During a leadership training weekend with church leaders in Rutare, ATN also worked with over 100 kids from the village and surrounding areas. We taught them songs in English, we shared stories from the Bible and we played games together. On Saturday evening, the children were invited. along with the rest of the community, to [...]