Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda educates the country’s most talented girls in science and technology, preparing them for college, and empowering them to become future leaders. In 2013, they graduated their pioneer class.

Girls of Gashora documents the days prior to this celebration.

Rwanda proudly boasts one of the highest levels of girls’ attendance in schools, yet many girls still struggle for access. One senior, Enatha, walked to school daily without shoes, with only one torn dress to her name. Others laughed at her. They mocked her poverty. Undeterred, she scored highest in her district on the national entrance exams.

These are the stories of Gashora. Here are girls who have faced seemingly enormous obstacles in order to receive a first-class education and the hope of making their families, and their country, proud.

The goal of this film was twofold: first, to illustrate the high caliber of students at Gashora Girls School as well as their collective desire to not only obtain higher education but to ultimately use that knowledge to contribute to the betterment of their fellow citizens.

Second, the Girls of Gashora was created as a fundraising tool to be used on the web and by the founders for their annual fundraising drive.

There were two primary challenges in producing this documentary.

First, Director of Photography, Travis Fox, spent a week in Gashora. He conducted more than a dozen interviews with students, educators, and the founders that covered a breadth of topics. In order to complete the project on time, it would be necessary to wrestle so much material into a manageable system.

Second, numerous key interviews were conducted in Kinyarwanda, a language no one on the production team spoke.

Distilling hours of footage into a twelve minute piece required extensive use of the MediaStorm post-production workflow. Each interview was transcribed and then high-level selections were made of the best material.

Hashtag metadata was added to the transcription of each sound bite. Each topic was then organized with similar topics across all of the interviews. Each of themes “themes” was then condensed to its essence. Finally, a structure was built by arranging the themes according to dramatic impact.

To conquer the language barrier in Rwanda, Director of Photography Travis Fox asked questions to his local fixer who in turn asked the interview subjects in their native Kinyarwanda. The answers were then translated back to Fox.

In order to achieve better accuracy in post-production we sought the skills of a professional translator. Each sentence was given a timestamp that corresponded to an audio file so that when subtitling, the producer was able to be precise in associating the spoken word with the written subtitle.

This film was a collaboration with Harbers Studio and the Rwanda Girls Initiative.

Harbers Studios turbocharges the efforts of charitable entrepreneurs by helping them tell their stories. Our goal is to help them articulate and share the value of the work they do so they can inspire others to help them do it. Working with some of the best filmmaking talent in the world, we create compelling visual narratives that enhance the endeavors of organizations working to make the world a better place.

Rwanda Girls Initiative believes access to education is the fundamental right for all and not just a privilege for those who can afford it. RGI aims to provide a high quality secondary school education for girls in Rwanda, supporting the ‘whole girl’ through a boarding school environment. Rwanda Girls Initiative intends to develop a community of learners, which includes students, teachers and parents.

RGI supports an environment of academic excellence, ensuring that graduates will become inspired young leaders filled with confidence, a love of learning and a sense of economic empowerment to strengthen their communities and foster Rwanda’s growth.

Rwanda Girls Initiative will develop a new model for investing in the education of girls in Rwanda which will be rooted in connections to the local community, strengthened by national and international partnerships, and supported by diverse and sustainable sources of income.