The UMH Headquarters in Rwanda Chair has received the Radio Elche Cadena Ser Award in the category of international cooperation for being “one of the most emblematic and consolidated projects” at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH). Even though the chair was created in 2016 to channel UMH activities within the African country, university support for infrastructure, health, and education in Rwandan institutions dates back to 2002.

While speaking about this recognition, UMH rector, Juan José Ruiz Martínez, stated that the UMH activity in Rwanda is a “project we are very excited about” and that it “involves many levels.” By this, he was referring not only to the joint university efforts with that country’s health and educational institutions in terms of providing materials, improving infrastructure, and training and research projects, but also to the UMH volunteer program in Rwanda, a well-established activity that has already enabled hundreds of volunteers from the UMH community to travel to Rwanda to conduct activities in the areas of education, social health, and culture.

Recently, the UMH strategy in Rwanda has focused on maintaining and consolidating relationships with schools and health centers in the Northern Province in conjunction with local authorities there, and on strengthening synergies with Rwandan universities and committing to providing livelihoods that are sustainable over time and have a positive impact on communities in the medium and long term. In this sense, one of the projects in which the UMH has been involved is the training for a group of young single mothers from low socioeconomic backgrounds who live near the border with Uganda. “We are going to support the provision of training in sewing and hairdressing so these teenage mothers can become independent in the future—with very little here, through private donations and patronage, we can foster major social projects in Rwanda,” summarizes Vicente Micol Molina, Vice Rector for Internationalization and Cooperation at the UMH.

The award ceremony took place at the Elche Congress Centre. UMH representatives in attendance in addition to Vicente Micol Molina included Francisco Javier Gimeno and Lis Gaibar, the chair director and co-director, respectively; Juana Aznar, Director of Development Cooperation and Volunteerism; Inmaculada Blaya Salvador, Director of the Service of International Relations and Cooperation; and development cooperation technicians, Laura Parrilla and Luis Torrús.