Social Work in Rwanda

I had the opportunity to visit the National University of Rwanda; Faculty of Arts, Media and Social Sciences; Department of Social Work. The school is located in Butare, Rwanda which is the original capital city.

I met with the Dean of the Faculty, the Chair of the Social Work Department, several of the Lecturers (professors) and discussed social education and practice in Rwanda. Social Work education and profession are not on an even playing field. Social Work is new to Rwanda and most people as well as the government do not even know what it is. Currently most of the professors in the department are trained in sociology. However, several of them are working on their Masters in Social Work.

I had an opportunity to speak with the students in the Bachelors of Social Work program. There is not a Masters Program in the country but there are two other Bachelors programs at Catholic University of Rwanda and Institute Polytechnique Byumba.

I have offered to be a Guest Lecturer at the NUR Department of Social Work on a monthly. If things work out it will be my first community activity outside of work.