Community Schools

The Rwenzori Sustainable Trade Center (RSTC) is dedicated to empowering parents in 12 communities to ensure that their children not only attend school but also stay and complete their education.

Through the trade in cocoa, coffee, cotton, and crafts, supported by RSTC, these parents have significantly increased their incomes, making it possible for their children to access education—an opportunity that might otherwise have been out of reach.

Several RSTC-supported cooperatives have achieved Fairtrade certification, allowing them to reinvest a portion of their trade social premiums into developing community schools and funding other essential community initiatives.

As a result, school enrollment in these communities has risen, and the negative effects of illiteracy—such as early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and delinquency—have notably decreased. More boys and girls are now enrolling in school, staying through their education, and successfully completing their primary schooling, paving the way for brighter futures.