By Hannah Shultz
The Workcamp Ministry of the Church of the Brethren has made the decision to postpone the Rwanda workcamp until May 2021. This decision was made based on current coronavirus trends, recommendations from the CDC, and travel advisories from the State Department that suggest that international travel will not be safe in the coming weeks. Rwanda has taken extreme precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country by greatly limiting air and land travel and implementing nation-wide stay-at-home orders.
Health and safety are our top priorities at workcamps, and we feel that this is the best decision for everyone involved. We plan to offer Rwanda as the international workcamp location for the summer of 2021 and look forward to serving alongside the Rwanda Brethren at that time.
Workcamp registration closed on April 1 and we are cancelling the We Are Able and Miami workcamps due to low registration numbers. We often have a few workcamps to cancel in April due to low registration, these cancellations are not related to COVID-19.
We continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Rwanda, for those around the globe who are ill from COVID-19, and for everyone who is working tirelessly to provide care during this time.
— Hannah Shultz is coordinator of short-term service for Brethren Volunteer Service and heads up the Workcamp Ministry.