About AquaSolve Rwanda

A Rwandan-led venture, rooted in a real connection to Gashora.

AquaSolve Rwanda is an early-stage water venture. It began with Sonia's three years as a boarding student at Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology, in Gashora. As a mechanical engineering student at the University of Rochester, she turned that connection into a venture with a clear goal: solar-powered community water kiosks that make water already available near communities safe for everyday use.

Partner with AquaSolve Explore the Gashora pilot

Project lead

Sonia Irakoze

Location

Gashora, Bugesera

2026

Gashora pilot

Funding

Davis Projects for Peace

The moment I could not forget

Two children beside shallow water in Gashora, one drinking brown, dirty water from a plastic bottle, while a man washes a bicycle nearby. — Two children drink brown, dirty water from a plastic bottle while a man washes his bicycle nearby in Gashora. Photograph by Nadine Uwizeyimana; published with permission.

“This photograph was taken by my colleague Nadine Uwizeyimana during a visit to Gashora. Two children were drinking brown, dirty water they had collected in a plastic bottle. A few steps behind them, a man was washing his bicycle in the same shallow water. What stayed with me was how ordinary the moment appeared: children, a bicycle, and water within reach. Yet that water had not been verified or treated for drinking.
I kept returning to this photograph because it made the problem impossible for me to treat as an abstract engineering exercise. Water was present. What was missing was a safe and dependable system for using it. That moment became part of the responsibility I carried forward into AquaSolve Rwanda.”
Sonia Irakoze, Founder & Project Lead

Sonia's story

Three formative years in Gashora—and a commitment to build responsibly.

I came to Gashora as a boarding student at GGAST and spent three formative years there. Gashora became more than the location of my school; it became a community that shaped how I think about responsibility, engineering, and service. Returning through AquaSolve is personal. We are building responsibly: working with residents, measuring the source, and engineering the system with local and technical partners.

To me, water is one of nature's greatest gifts. When it exists near a community, I believe it should become an asset that strengthens local health, dignity, and opportunity. AquaSolve is working with residents and local institutions to turn that possibility into a safe, locally operated water service.

Sonia Irakoze, founder and project lead of AquaSolve Rwanda

The journey

From GGAST student to engineer in training.

Sonia's water work began while she was still a student. Through the TechGirls program she created community water-conservation materials and led a first water-safety and hygiene workshop in Gashora. Mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester and a Ugandan Water Project internship then turned that early education work into an engineering direction.

GGAST (three years) · TechGirls workshop in Gashora · University of Rochester · Ugandan Water Project.

Team

Two people leading the 2026 Gashora pilot.

The team is intentionally concrete: who leads the project, how they support the work, and where reviewers or partners can verify their profiles.

Sonia Irakoze

Founder & Project Lead

Rwandan mechanical engineering student at the University of Rochester and 2026 Davis Projects for Peace recipient. Former Ugandan Water Project development intern; connected to Gashora through three years as a boarding student at GGAST.

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Nadine Uwizeyimana

Technical Lead & Local Coordinator

Water and sanitation engineer at RICA, supporting AquaSolve's technical coordination, local stakeholder engagement, and site-level planning. Any formal institutional role for RICA would be defined separately.

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Funding & collaborators

Clear about who is confirmed, and who is not yet.

Confirmed collaborator

Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology (GGAST)

Confirmed workshop partner for the 2026 Gashora phase

Team & founder affiliations

University of Rochester

Sonia's institution (mechanical engineering)

Davis Projects for Peace

2026 grant supporting the Gashora phase (via University of Rochester)

TechGirls

U.S. State Department program · Sonia (founder background)

TechWomen

U.S. State Department program · Nadine (background)

Ugandan Water Project

Where Sonia interned in clean-water development

RICA

Where Nadine works as a water and sanitation engineer (not a confirmed AquaSolve partner)

Priority stakeholders & prospective partners (not yet confirmed)

Bugesera District & Gashora Sector

Technical review, service-area data, siting guidance, pilot-MOU pathway

WASAC & relevant regulators

Standards alignment and a route into formal water-service systems

Engineering, laboratory & GIS partners

Water testing, hydrogeology, hydraulic and site engineering, treatment design, monitoring

Institutional users & catalytic funders

Demand validation and pilot-to-construction funding

Ways to advance AquaSolve.

Partner with AquaSolve, support the Gashora pilot, provide technical expertise, or connect institutional users. Reach the team directly and we will follow up.

Contact the team Explore the Gashora pilot