Trip to Ruli in autumn 2024

Former professional footballer Arne Friedrich supports children in Rwanda with the Bad Oeynhausen-based organisation IKIRARO e. V.. He has now been on site with his former teacher Werner Eyßer.

The first joint projects are already underway: new rooms are being built for the primary school in Ruli with the help of the Arne Friedrich Foundation and an important water pipeline is being laid.

Arne Friedrich has known his former school’s project since the very beginning: in 1995, one year after the genocide in Rwanda, eighth-graders from Realschule Süd in Bad Oeynhausen decided to help children in the Rwandan mountain village of Ruli.

What began as an emergency aid programme developed into a sustainable partnership. A major milestone was the construction of the primary school in Ruli in the early 2000s. Arne Friedrich was already committed to the project back then – including when he took part in a sponsored run in 2002 in favour of building the school.

A lot has happened since then: The school partnership, which later became the IKIRARO e. V. association, has supported various educational projects in Ruli. In addition to the primary school, a secondary school and a vocational school were also supported. Numerous (orphaned) children and young people were enabled to attend secondary schools and universities. And time and again, pupils from Bad Oeynhausen have travelled to Rwanda.

The contact between Arne Friedrich and Werner Eyßer, who initiated the project with his class at the time, has continued over the years. Today, Friedrich and his foundation are committed to promoting equal education and opportunities for children. With the ‘Diversity wins’ project, he supports primary school children in socially disadvantaged parts of Berlin. ‘It is important to us to create encounters between children of different origins and backgrounds and thus promote empathy and intercultural understanding,’ explains Friedrich.

When the idea of expanding ‘Diversity Wins’ internationally came up, the collaboration with IKIRARO e. V. was an obvious choice. Arne Friedrich: ‘We attach great importance to personal contact with ourpartners and want to get to know the local people and projects ourselves,’ says Arne Friedrich. Together with Hermann Dörner, a friend and colleague from his time at Hertha BSC and now active in the Arne Friedrich Foundation, he accompanied Werner Eyßer to Rwanda.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to Ruli Primary School, where a total of 1,000 children are taught in two shifts. Despite being on holiday, the majority of them were there for the reception. ‘It was impressive to see what Werner and the pupils from Bad Oeynhausen and Hausberge have achieved over time and the motivation with which the children go to school there,’ reports Arne Friedrich. ‘A great experience and an incredibly warm welcome,’ confirms Hermann Dörner. ‘We gained important insights into how the school works and learns – and were able to see for ourselves how we as a foundation can provide meaningful support.’

First results of the trip: The Arne Friedrich Foundation is currently enabling the school to build a ‘girls’ room’ and a food storage room for school meals.

Background: Girls’ rooms offer schoolgirls safe and quiet retreats – for example in the event of period or health problems. Rwandan schools are obliged to provide these rooms, but are often unable to finance them. A new water pipe is also being laid for the school. Werner Eyßer is delighted about this: ‘IKIRARO built new toilets here five years ago. But during the dry period, there were always problems with the water supply, which can now be resolved with the new connection.’

Further project ideas for the future came up during the trip: One of the plans is to set up a Girls Club at the primary school – a working group to empower and educate girls.

‘We have a strong partner on board for this. Delphine Uwomahoro, who we supported as a pupil, is now successful with her own organisation. With ‘Our Sisters’ Opportunity’ (OSO), she is primarily involved in business programmes for girls and women to combat poverty in her own country – now with the support of major international donors,’ says Werner Eyßer.

In 2025, the partnership will celebrate its 30th anniversary. It is fairly certain that there will also be joint celebrations on site.

Arne Friedrich will be there, at least in his thoughts. In his living room in Berlin, a special souvenir reminds him of the formative journey: Next to the football with which he scored his World Cup goal against Argentina in 2010, there is now a ball made from plastic bags. ‘I swapped it for a leather football with Rwandan children. And now it reminds me every day that children all over the world play the same games and have very similar dreams and goals – but completely different chances of achieving them. The thought confirms my desire to promote dialogue between the world’s children and help the poorer ones.’