The need for more high quality preschool options is high in Rwanda. Without early childhood education, early learners enter school unprepared and have lower lifelong learning outcomes. Play-based learning at a young age can have a big impact on school readiness and the evidence on Montessori style early learning is significant. 

Happy Hearts increases access to quality—Montessori style—early childhood education in Rwanda. They offer structured mentorship for teachers and volunteers, and give them a play-based curriculum. Students also benefit from two nutritious meals a day. With volunteers in the classroom, the student-to-teacher ratio radically drops, so that every child gets more personalized attention. And it’s all done through a public private partnership — the government pays the teachers, provides buildings, and sets the curriculum.

Lydie Hakizimana is an education entrepreneur through and through. Before founding Happy Hearts, she started a publishing house two decades ago that became one of the biggest local publishers of textbooks in Rwanda. She was also the CEO of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Africa’s first and biggest pan-African network of centers of excellence in mathematical sciences. Lydie holds a master’s degree from Harvard Kennedy School and is a certified Montessori teacher. She’s also a proud mom of three and started lifting weights at 40.