In Buhonga, the CREATABLE project is transforming education and communities

As part of the CREATABLE project, which aims to foster innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship among adolescents in school, particularly students in grades 7 and 8 of the fourth cycle of basic education, we visited Buhonga IV Basic School to observe the project’s real-life impact on students and their community.

Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by the school’s management team, who praised UNICEF's support through this initiative. We then met Rosette Nijimbere, a 36-year-old teacher at the school. She teaches science and technology to 7th-grade students and entrepreneurship to 9th-grade students. Rosette was one of the 10 teachers (3 women and 7 men) trained during the project's first phase. These teachers later trained 36 additional colleagues (8 women and 28 men) across 24 schools during the second phase.

Rosette enthusiastically showed us some of the teaching prototypes developed at the school: innovative systems that teach students how to grow vegetables in small spaces, such as sacks, while ensuring abundant harvests. She also showcased improved cookstoves that significantly reduce firewood consumption, allowing for faster and more efficient cooking.

She explained how beneficial the training has been, not only for her professionally, but also for her students and her community, highlighting her new role as a source of inspiration. “Before the CREATABLE project, I used to grow vegetables the traditional way. But after the training, I now harvest so many that my family alone can’t consume them all. Even my neighbors are motivated. Some of them even come to me for help starting their own gardens,” she shared.

She added that the project came at a crucial time: students have come to realize that their financial needs cannot always be met by their parents. This school project stimulates their creativity and initiative, which in turn encourages them to think about starting small businesses, especially for those planning to pursue vocational training.

“Students today understand they can't rely solely on their parents for everything, nor can they assume a job is guaranteed after graduation. Now, they feel empowered to act, to create, and to generate income, and this is thanks to the CREATABLE project,” she emphasized.

We also spoke with Don Divin Ntirampeba, a 16-year-old grade 7 student at Buhonga IV Basic School, who lives just a few meters from campus. After carefully following the training at school, Divin decided to put what he had learned into practice at home by building an improved cookstove. He shared what motivated him and the impact it had on his family: “At home, we used a lot of wood for cooking, and it was hard to find because we had to go to the forest. Fortunately, we recently learned at school how to build improved cookstoves that use less wood. Cooking is now faster, and we use less firewood.”

Divin also shared that his initiative is beginning to make a difference in his community. Some parents have approached him to help them build similar stoves at their homes, and several classmates have asked him to teach them the method. He plans to assist them after exams.

The CREATABLE project, implemented since 2020 by the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research (MNESR), with support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), is designed to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of young people in Burundi. It directly contributes to the broader objective of basic education reform: to ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education, with a focus on developing essential life and work-related skills.

The project also aligns with Burundi’s national development goals and international commitments—particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.