A proposed Lick-Wilmerding Global Program · Summer 2027
What if ten days could change how a student sees the world, and their place in it?
A proposed immersive program in Rwanda built around social entrepreneurship, peer-to-peer learning, and the power of hope and agency, in partnership with gold Youth Development Agency.
gold-youth peer educators at work across Africa.
The Idea
Why Rwanda, why now
This program carries Lick-Wilmerding's mission of learning, compassion, and craft ten thousand miles into partnership.
Learn
The youngest continent.
Africa has the youngest population on Earth, and Rwanda is one of its most dynamic, forward-looking countries. Students will see a story of rebuilding, ambition, and entrepreneurship that rarely reaches an American classroom.
Partner
Learning through partnership, not charity.
This program is built on gold-youth's peer education model: students learn with Rwandan youth, not about them. Co-creation, cultural humility, and mutual service are the core of every day.
Build
Entrepreneurship as hope.
From Kigali's Norrsken House, East Africa's leading startup hub, to village microbusinesses in Musanze, students will work alongside Rwandan entrepreneurs and learn how enterprise creates agency and shared prosperity.
Our Partner
gold Youth Development Agency
This program stands on the shoulders of a proven, established pan-African youth development organization.
trained peer educators
peers and children reached
facilitator internships created
job placements since 2015
gold-youth runs peer-education and changemaker programs across Africa, developing young leaders with character and integrity. On the ground in Rwanda, gold-youth provides program facilitation, trained local facilitators, vetted transport, and site coordination.
Learn more at goldyouth.org“Imagine if each young person believed that their life has purpose and value.”
The Journey
Ten days, July 19–29, 2027 (tentative)
Day 1 · July 19 (tentative)
Arrive in Kigali
Welcome dinner, orientation, and group norms.
Day 2 · July 20 (tentative)
Kigali orientation
Kimironko market and the Kigali Genocide Memorial, with a guided context and history session.
Day 3 · July 21 (tentative)
Norrsken House Kigali
Meet local social entrepreneurs and run an active problem-solving workshop inside East Africa's leading startup hub.
Day 4 · July 22 (tentative)
Into the hills
Travel to the Musanze/Burera region, community welcome, and village walk.
Day 5 · July 23 (tentative)
Community showcase
Meet gold-youth peer educators and visit local social enterprises.
Day 6 · July 24 (tentative)
Microbusiness workshops
Problem-solving sessions with local small businesses, plus mutual service sessions where students teach and are taught.
Day 7 · July 25 (tentative)
Break day
Optional volcano hike and village visits.
Day 8 · July 26 (tentative)
Return to Kigali
Dinner with the gold team and the start of final reflections.
Day 9 · July 27 (tentative)
Final reflections
Open learning day with the gold-youth team.
Day 10 · July 29 (tentative)
Closing circle
Graduation breakfast and departure.
Student Voice
This began with one student.
In the summer of 2025, Lexi Chu, now a junior at Lick-Wilmerding, traveled to Africa and spent two weeks piloting a gold-youth program about the importance of entrepreneurship for the future of youth in Africa. She came home determined that other Lick students should have the same experience.
“I expected to help. Instead I learned what hope looks like when young people believe their lives have purpose. I want every Lick student to feel that.”
Mission alignment
Built on Lick-Wilmerding's mission
“A private school with public purpose, Lick-Wilmerding High School develops the intellect, compassion, and capability of highly motivated students from all walks of life, inspiring them to become lifelong learners who contribute to the world with confidence and compassion.”
Civic engagement
Students practice citizenship beyond borders, examining how young people build institutions and shape their own communities.
Cultural humility
Every day begins from listening: Rwandan youth set the agenda, and students learn to hold their assumptions lightly.
Leadership development
Facilitating workshops alongside trained peer educators asks students to lead publicly, and to share credit.
Ethical service
Work is mutual and locally defined, measured by what partners actually need rather than by what visitors feel.
This program extends Lick-Wilmerding's commitment to global citizenship: preparing students to understand the world by engaging it with humility, curiosity, and purpose. Students return with a final project that translates what they learned into action on campus.
Safety and care
Anticipating the questions families ask first.
Rwanda is widely regarded as one of the safest and most stable countries in Africa.
A 1:4 adult-to-student ratio: two Lick-Wilmerding faculty chaperones plus gold-youth facilitators on the ground.
Two LWHS faculty members are scouting the full route in 2026, one year ahead of the program.
Vetted local transport with dedicated drivers, established accommodations, comprehensive travel insurance including medical evacuation, and pre-trip health and cultural preparation.
Five to eight mandatory pre-trip meetings covering cultural orientation, ethics, safety, and project planning.
Making it possible
A program like this should be within reach of every admitted student, regardless of family means. Philanthropic partnership is what turns a proposal like this one into a defining educational experience, and what makes global education at Lick-Wilmerding accessible to all.
The full proposal