Rising Above the Storms - RAS

Rising Above the Storms - RAS Rising Above the Storms is on a mission to transform lives of vulnerable children, one at a time.

RAS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to Inspire & Encourage, Advocate for Orphans globally, and Empower youth-at-risk through Education.

๐ŸŽ’ 60 new students are joining RAS next month. โค๏ธEach one brings a different story, different strengths, and different dr...
08/27/2026

๐ŸŽ’ 60 new students are joining RAS next month. โค๏ธ

Each one brings a different story, different strengths, and different dreams. Our job is to help make sure opportunity is not the thing standing in their way.

From school support and supplies to technology, meals, mentorship, and more, we are getting ready to welcome our newest cohort.

โค๏ธ Support our Back to School campaign:
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/rising-above-the-storms/empowering-dreams-one-student-at-a-time-2026

Education doesnโ€™t stop when the school day ends.For our students in Rwanda, having someone who knows their story, unders...
08/25/2026

Education doesnโ€™t stop when the school day ends.

For our students in Rwanda, having someone who knows their story, understands their challenges, and is there when circumstances change can make a lasting difference.

Our local team works alongside students, families, and schools to identify challenges early and connect students with the support they need, from counseling and family outreach to regular check-ins and follow-up.

Itโ€™s not just about keeping students in school. Itโ€™s about making sure they have a strong support system around them as they grow.

This is what whole - child support looks like at RAS. โค๏ธ
Learn more: www.risingabovethestorms.org

Just $5 can help give someone access to health coverage for an entire year. โค๏ธโ€๐ŸฉนAt Rising Above the Storms, supporting a...
08/20/2026

Just $5 can help give someone access to health coverage for an entire year. โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน

At Rising Above the Storms, supporting a student means supporting the family around them. Today, RAS provides community health insurance for 146 peopleโ€”more than 30 students and their families.

This year, our goal is to extend coverage to 50 more students and their householdsโ€”approximately 250 people.

A small gift can help build healthier families and give students a stronger foundation to learn and thrive.

Help us expand health coverage:
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/rising-above-the-storms/ras-immersion-trip-to-rwanda-2026

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ What a journey. What a welcome. What a reminder of why we do this work. โค๏ธThis yearโ€™s Rising Above the Storms Immersi...
08/18/2026

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ What a journey. What a welcome. What a reminder of why we do this work. โค๏ธ

This yearโ€™s Rising Above the Storms Immersion Trip to Rwanda has come to an end, and weโ€™re returning home with full hearts and so many unforgettable memories.

We spent time with our students, staff, and community - learning together, sharing experiences, celebrating, and seeing firsthand the impact of the programs and resources our supporters help make possible.

From delivering much-needed supplies and learning tools to connecting face-to-face with the people at the heart of RAS, every moment made this trip incredibly special.

To everyone who donated, supported, encouraged, and helped bring this experience to life: Thank you. You were part of this journey, too.

These photos capture just a few of the moments weโ€™ll carry with us. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผโค๏ธ

โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐œ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ž๐ญ.At Rising Above the Storms, we can count school fees pai...
08/14/2026

โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐œ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ž๐ญ.

At Rising Above the Storms, we can count school fees paid, meals served, students enrolled, laptops provided, and young people progressing through school.

๐‘ป๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’Ž๐’ƒ๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’•๐’•๐’†๐’“.

๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’• ๐’”๐’ ๐’…๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’…๐’†๐’“ ๐’•๐’ ๐’’๐’–๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’‡๐’š.

๐Ÿ˜Š Laughter with friends.
โšฝ Teamwork and discipline on the soccer field.
๐Ÿ’ƒ๐Ÿพ The confidence to perform.
๐ŸŽจ The freedom to create, play, and discover.
๐Ÿค Friendships, connection, and a sense of belonging.

๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐œ๐ญ, ๐ญ๐จ๐จ.

Our Center is more than a place where needs are met. It is a place where students learn, build confidence, discover their abilities, form friendshipsโ€”and have space to simply enjoy being young. ๐Ÿ’›

Because growth is not only reflected in a grade or an exam result.

๐’๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ. โค๏ธ

And we believe our students deserve space for all of it.

โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐€๐’ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž.๐ŸŒฟ We closed our j...
08/11/2026

โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐€๐’ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž.

๐ŸŒฟ We closed our journey at Ishobe, a cultural farm outside Kigali where ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ซ ๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ž๐.

๐ŸŒพ Our group experienced how earlier generations prepared food and worked the landโ€”grinding sorghum by hand, preparing cassava flour with a traditional mortar and pestle, learning how bananas were ripened and made into juice, and watching traditional cow milking. We even helped cut a bunch of bananas that later became part of our lunch.

โ™ป๏ธ We loved seeing how everything on the farm connectsโ€”cattle, crops, food, and natural fertilizer all supporting one another. ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ.

๐Ÿฅ Young Intore (traditional Rwandan dancers) and drummers brought incredible energy before we gathered for a traditional lunch of plantains, beans, cassava, potatoes, cassava leaves, fresh banana juice, and banana beer for those who wanted to try it.

๐Ÿค It was a beautiful way to close a week that took us through Rwandaโ€™s history and culture, into the homes of our students, alongside our staff, and into relationships none of us could have fully anticipated.

โœˆ๏ธ Then came the bittersweet goodbyes. Some members of our group headed to the airport while others continued exploring Rwanda.

๐Ÿ™๐Ÿพ To our inaugural group: thank you for traveling thousands of miles, giving your time and resources, opening yourselves to our students, families, staff, culture, and storiesโ€”and for trusting this vision.โค๏ธ

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐€๐’ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ. And we have a feeling this is only the beginning. โœจ

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ’ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐งโ€”and our final day with the studentsโ€”gave us so many reasons to celebrate. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผโšฝ We started...
08/10/2026

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ’ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐งโ€”and our final day with the studentsโ€”gave us so many reasons to celebrate. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ

โšฝ We started on the soccer field with our team from the RAS street-connected program. They won 6โ€“4, and our group cheered with pride, but what impressed us most was their discipline, teamwork, and respect.

For some of these young people, that represents tremendous growth. When an opposing player had a minor injury, one of our boys immediately went over and embraced him. ๐“๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐œ๐ก ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿพ

๐Ÿ’ƒ Back at the Center, our students shared an incredible dance performance before we moved into a storytelling session.

Students and guests exchanged stories of successes, failures, lessons learned, and perseverance. The questions, laughter, and openness made the room come alive.

โœ๐Ÿพ To keep our students practicing, we launched a storytelling contest, with awards for the top five stories. We want them to become confident in telling their own storiesโ€”in their own voices.

โค๏ธ And then came the goodbyes.

We talked, hugged, took endless photos, and lingered far longer than planned. There were tears on both sides. In just three days together, our students and guests formed connections far deeper than we could have imagined.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ž๐ง๐๐ž๐. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ€™๐ญ.

What an extraordinary three days with our students. We are deeply grateful to everyone who made them possible. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผโค๏ธ

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ‘ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซโ€”and deeper into the lives, resilience, and dreams of our students. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ๐Ÿก We began by vis...
08/09/2026

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ‘ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซโ€”and deeper into the lives, resilience, and dreams of our students. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ

๐Ÿก We began by visiting three families in their homes. We listened, learned, delivered food, and saw firsthand why the support surrounding each student matters.

One message came through repeatedly: our Rwanda staff have become trusted listeners, mentors, and an extension of these families.

๐ŸŽจ Our guests also rolled up their sleeves to help paint the home of siblings in our program whom RAS continues to support with groceries and other needs.

๐Ÿ’ผ The afternoon shifted toward the future. Our Grade 10 through university students joined our guests for candid career conversations about education, mentors, interviewing, responsible AI, showcasing their skills, knowing their values, persevering through discouragement, and refusing to be defined by their circumstances.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒโ€”๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐›๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ . โค๏ธ

We are deeply grateful to our guests for showing up with their time, experience, compassion, and willingness to listen.

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌโ€”๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผNearly 40 RAS students, from ...
08/08/2026

๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌโ€”๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ

Nearly 40 RAS students, from fourth grade through university, joined us at the Center for a day intentionally built around connection.

๐ŸŽจ Through icebreakers, LEGO, origami, puzzles, games, and conversation, our students and guests quickly connected. Christy designed and led the activities, while Idrissaโ€”our first college graduate and one of our earliest studentsโ€”stepped in to translate and support others. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿพ

๐Ÿ“ธ By the end, no one seemed ready to leave. Students and guests lingered for photos, laughter, and more conversation.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ.

โ˜• We capped the day with our first ๐’๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ž ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐‘๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐๐š, joined by Cisco employees around the world and special guest Fran Katsoudas, โ€™s Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer.

Fran shared powerful lessons on resilience, leadership, knowing your values, taking ownership of your future, and using success to create opportunities for others. Our students also had the opportunity to ask her questions directly.

โšก Even a brief power outage couldnโ€™t stop the momentumโ€”we adapted and kept going.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ. โค๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ

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