Help Lift 229 Rwandan Families out of Extreme Poverty
Raising $100,000 has fully unlocked our $100,000 match fund for residents of Bikereri. And with $289,685 total, GiveDirectly has been able to deliver life-changing cash transfers to all 229 families in the village.
Life in Bikereri, Rwanda
Bikereri, a remote village of 950 people near the northern border of Rwanda, is one of the poorest villages in the district. Here, most residents can’t afford electricity, and the only available water source is shared with other villages and often runs dry. In order to access important services, or even public transport in nearby towns, residents have to walk at least 6 kilometers (~4 miles).
Most people in this village earn just $1 a day, far below the $2.15 poverty line, struggling for essentials like food, shelter, healthcare, and education. Despite these difficulties, the village residents remain resilient and hopeful for a better future.
The Life You Can Save and GiveDirectly
The Life You Can Save is partnering with GiveDirectly to deliver your donations directly to families in Bikereri. This program will empower every eligible household in Bikereri by providing them with a $1,100 unconditional cash transfer. Giving cash works because it gives families the agency to meet their individual needs and decide how to build their own futures. Many academic studies show families use cash to increase earnings, health, education, and much more.
Villagers already have some ideas about how they would spend donations to overcome their current struggles:
- Bicycle/motorbike: for market trips to sell goods, saving them the ~$20 they currently have to pay for a moto-taxi. These would allow easier travel, even during adverse weather.
- Water pumps: residents currently share one water access point with 2 other villages; with ~$200, families could install water pumps in their homes.
- School: due to ~$19 semester fees that most parents struggle to cover for their children.
- Safe housing: given frequent heavy floods that damage families’ mud- and stick-based homes.
- Food: as residents typically don’t eat more than 1 meal per day, usually limited to local crops like beans, corn, and potatoes.
First $100,000 donated was matched!
Families funded: 192
Frequently Asked Questions
All donations through this page will be matched (1:1, or 2X) until the campaign ends or $100K in match funds is used. This is a true match, so any match funds not claimed will “expire” and not be delivered to recipients.
Any excess funds will help us deliver cash to more people in Bikereri, with the goal of funding all 229 families in the village with ~$290,000 total. GiveDirectly is planning to allocate internal funds to make up the gap between our fundraising and the total needed to ensure every family receives funds. No matter what, your donations will end up in the hands of families in extreme poverty.
We expect that 85 cents of every dollar will be delivered directly to Bikereri residents. The other costs of delivering transfers are those required to deliver the funds themselves, prevent fraud, and provide customer service to recipients via GiveDirectly staff in Rwanda.
GiveDirectly is a nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest, no strings attached. In the last decade, they’ve delivered cash to 1.5 million people across 15 countries.
Anyone can donate, but only donations from residents of the United States will be tax-deductible.
You can donate via credit card here or use the form on this page to donate by bank transfer.
