Dreaming for Change was founded in 2018 by Janvier Manirakiza with a simple belief: lasting change begins when communities have the opportunity, support, and leadership to shape their own future.

Janvier’s commitment to this work grew from his own experience growing up in Burundi during the civil war, where he witnessed poverty, violence, and the challenges families faced. These experiences shaped his belief that education, compassion, and opportunity could help communities build a different future.

After completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship at Appalachian State University in 2017, Janvier returned to Burundi determined to put that belief into action.

In January 2018, he founded Dreaming for Change with no funding, no staff, and no donor support, only a commitment to listen to communities and work alongside them.

Starting by listening

Janvier began by travelling to Butanuka and sitting with families to understand their everyday experiences. He met children affected by malnutrition, mothers struggling to provide for their households, and girls leaving school too soon. He also met parents determined to create better opportunities for their children and young people eager to learn.

The first response was simple: a porridge programme for 50 children experiencing malnutrition.

With a small group of local volunteers, the programme began to grow. Friends and mentors from Boone provided encouragement, guidance, and prayer. Reaching families often meant long walks, and there was little infrastructure or funding. But the community kept showing up.

The programme soon expanded from 50 children to hundreds.

Along the way, we soon realized that challenges families face are connected.

A child’s ability to learn is connected to their health. A family’s health is connected to food and income. A girl’s education is connected to her future. And lasting progress depends on communities having the leadership and resources to sustain it.

That understanding became the foundation for how Dreaming for Change works today, connecting education, health, livelihoods, and community leadership to help families thrive and communities lead lasting change.

• 2017Janvier completes the Mandela Washington Fellowship at Appalachian State University
• 2018Dreaming for Change is registered; the porridge programme begins for 50 children in Butanuka
• 2020Butanuka Community Preschool opens with U.S. Department of State support, the first early childhood programme in rural Mpanda
• 2024Savings-group women complete “She Rises for Change” soap-making and business training; Janvier returns to Appalachian State as Mandela Washington Fellow-in-Residence
• 2025Four new primary classrooms open; our first home-based early learning shelter opens in Tura village; the first farming-school cohort graduates
• 2026Our campus hosts Imago Dei Fund’s first peer-learning visit for its Burundian partners