Introduction

Upon finishing University, At the dusk of covid 19, I embarked on the journey of soul searching and stumbled upon the Effective Altruism (EA) community, through a post from @Damilola Fasoranti which started my exciting journey into the community.

Having been a part of EA for about one year, here is my perspective on the EA movement's outlook in the Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) case of Rwanda, exploring my journey, potential, and challenges for EA.

Effective Altruism in simple words is a movement, partly a research field aiming to identify the world's most pressing problems and best solutions to them and it's a practical community aiming to use these findings to do good.

My journey into EA

At an early age, I always postponed long-term planning and career path to when I graduate from University, I thought I will have everything figured out by then. well, After my undergraduate studies, I did not have a clue, except for doing something related to Economics and my plan was to continue with a master's degree ( I really enjoyed Economics) and maybe, just maybe, by the end of it, I will have a much clear plan. So I applied to a variety of Universities for a master in economics targeting scholarships for African students in European Universities.

To my surprise, many intakes available were to start Early next year ( we had to wait for some academic documents and other application processes which would take even more time), and we were still in the middle of the year 2022, So I had plenty of free time. Well, I took the time to venture into fitness, meditation, reading, and most importantly on the internet finding opportunities and staying updated in a post-pandemic world. It was during these times on the internet I discovered the EA community through a Twitter post. I got in touch and was invited for an induction call shortly after. We had the call with the organizer, @Damilola Fasoranti and @Rachael Arowolo whereby in a few minutes it lasted, we learned the mission and vision of the movement. I left the first call really thrilled, I have to say, it really resonated with me so much that immediately after the call, I spent the whole of the next day, learning about anything about EA that I could find online, I registered on the forum, and was looking forward to the next call.

EA Virtual programs

 I have to say this was one of the breakthrough moments for my journey, it really helped clear out everything and challenged my thinking, and strengthened me on this journey.

So I registered for the program in December 2023 and was enrolled in the Introductory EA Program [Feb-Mar 2023], our mentor was @Aakashraj who really helped open our eyes to what doing good could really mean, took us through the idea for the movement, from its foundation, cause areas, enormous organizations aligned with EA and much more. In short, it was like discovering a whole new world. My initial reaction was" Oh my goodness, how come I had never heard about this all this time? Upon completion, I was really a transformed person, I had a much better idea of how to do the most good with my limited resources and understood the mission and perspective of many EA-aligned organizations among others.

Being raised a Christian and having a background in Economics, I devised plans to not only give back more from what I was making but also dedicated time to volunteer, where my time and limited resources would have a much bigger positive impact. I got more involved by joining Slack channels and subscribing to the newsletter, I always checked out different topics on the forum although this is my first time writing a post myself.

I really encourage anyone just joining this community to first and foremost enroll in these programs, they guide and inform you on this exciting journey. 

Potential and challenges for EA 

I see a massive potential for EA in Rwanda in terms of the impact it can have on Rwandan society. There are many Rwandans out there who would greatly benefit from the Introductory programs, fellowships, job and research opportunities. I believe we really want to explore how even with our limited resources, can be used to generate more good in society, and how to volunteer for the most effective causes and organizations. Rwanda can be a good field to carry out projects in areas of poverty alleviation, health initiatives and so much more given favorable government initiatives, peace, and security, and a large population that could greatly benefit from these initiatives.

In terms of challenges, the EA community is still not known to many Rwandans, the local EA group, still has less than 10 members ( although growing fast.) Furthermore, in terms of doing good, A considerable number of Rwandans are still struggling with little if any to give back in which case they could contribute by giving their time to volunteer.

EA Rwanda Overview

The local community for EA in Rwanda started much earlier but formally started in November 2022. there was a touch base with EA Global on 4th November 2022. the first meeting was held virtually on December 19th, 2022. thereafter, we held the second, third, and fourth meetings on January 17th, 2023, February 19th, 2023, and August 6th, 2023 respectively. with new members joining, the meetings have been really induction sessions onboarding new members and guiding them on joining the community, and soon they are planning a strategy retreat to work on the action plan for the EA Rwanda and thereby decide on the way forward. we are also looking to work with other EA groups in neighboring countries, learn from them, and if possible work together to spread Effective Altruism and empower members to have a positive impact.

Conclusion

To summarize, I am really humbled to have come across Effective Altruism, it has been almost a year, and through interacting in the community, I have greatly expanded my skills and knowledge in terms of doing good through different programs, fellowships, online sessions, I have connected with like-minded individuals making a positive impact in their communities, and with all this, I still feel like there is even much more to be gained. I am very optimistic in terms of what this community can achieve in LMICs, especially Rwanda, and really look forward and count on all of us to make it happen.