The WFWP Ohio chapter has a special relationship with the WFWP school in Rwanda, a tiny nation in East Africa. We had been aware of the genocide that had taken place there in the mid-90s, and had felt drawn to contribute support, to help the desperate situation there.

One night, Mrs. Gwenn Bair, the WFWP Ohio chairwoman in 2009, had one of the clearest dreams in her life. "I found myself in the doorway of a hut in a field, carrying a blood-drenched baby in my arms and said, 'Oh my God, this is Rwanda!'" The next day she attended a meeting, and the woman beside her mentioned that she was from Rwanda. "When she told me that, I looked into her face and the feeling of my dream rushed in and I started sobbing loudly, uncontrollably. We embraced. I had also heard of a movement of forgiveness and cooperation taking place after the genocide. There was no question in our minds here in Columbus that this was the nation we wanted to support."

WFWP Ohio also continues to be in contact with Mrs. Marie Nozaki, a WFWP member from Japan who worked in Rwanda and helped start the school there. Through her, we have a deeper connection to what our donations are actually doing to help students get an education and change their lives through attending the school.

Members of our chapter have become close friends with another Rwandan genocide survivor, Ms. Norah Bagirinka. Ms. Bagirinka is also the co-founder, with Mrs. Tatiana Adams, of Rwanda Women in Action (www.rwia.org), a nonprofit organization helping Rwandan refugee women get their bearings in a new country and environment. She has shared her story with us and everywhere else she is asked to speak. A Columbus local newspaper wrote up her story, and we included the news article in our WFWP Approach Book.

The WFWP chapter in Ohio is in the process of raising funds to cover the tuition costs for students to go to that school. On Sunday, April 20, our ladies held a seafood sale at the Unification Church in Columbus. Everyone worked hard to get the word out, handing out fliers and making announcements. The chapter raised $701 on that day and has additional donations available to send to the school. It was heartwarming and was a testimony of how our work and investment of time and heart are multiplying.

In 2009, our chapter had sponsored four students in Rwanda and we will continue to raise money to sponsor as many students as possible for the next school year. Tuition for the hairdressing and catering course costs $236 a year, and the dressmaking course tuition is about $184 a year.

Students have practice and theory in each class every day, two hours of English and French each week, and moral education once or twice a month. Of the 173 students that were there in 2009, the tuition for 57 of them was paid through WFWP scholarships, and the rest of the students were able to pay for themselves. Any students, who were orphaned in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 get recognition by local authorities, and the tuition is paid by a government organization called FARG.

We received photos of three of the four students we sponsored in 2009. They wrote us personal letters to thank us for our kindness. By now they should have graduated, and we hope they are doing well. Their names are: Valerie, Cloriose, Monique, and Olive.

We will have another fundraising event in October to raise additional funds and also to tell people about the school and what is being planned with the donations.