Containers of Hope
- a Visit to Rwanda
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Containers of Hope |
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In September I visited Rwanda & Burundi together with 3 others to see the projects that we support. Rwanda is a small very densely populated country in the centre of Africa, a land the size of Wales with a population of 8 million. It is a land ‘of a thousand hills’ with deep red soil even on the tops of the hills. The capital Kigali with a population of 1 million lies at about 4,500ft with an airport on the top of one of the hills! There is no railway and less than 10 tarmac roads – their petrol has to come from the east coast with a round trip of 8+ days, so there is very little industry and most people are subsistence farmers. They cultivate everything by hand and their water is carried up the hillsides in jerricans perched on bikes. Bananas are everywhere and very sweet they are too. The valley bottoms grow rice & sugar cane and on the hillsides they grow sweet potato (they call them Irish potato!!), cassava, beans, sorghum, groundnuts and even wheat on the higher, cooler hilltops. Most ‘roads’ are bumpy dirt tracks lined with tin roofed shacks plus a plot of land that most of the population call home. Travel is slow on these ‘roads’ and the children shouted Muzungu (meaning white person) and waved furiously as we passed. No one seemed to be starving but food is never plentiful. Primary school is free but they pay for books, meals etc but secondary school must be paid for, so not many have a full education.
Containers of Hope have been supporting several projects in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide when 1 million were massacred in 3 months of ethnic madness (the UN stood by and watched it happen). In Shyogwe we support some of their church secondary school pupils in a remote diocese, there are 1000 primary as well as about 130 secondary children. English and French are vital parts of the curriculum. The secondary pupils come from a distance so need to stay in dormitories. We heard that they were desperately short of mosquito netting and after finding that each one costs £1.50 we gave them $US to buy 110 so that each pupil could have one. The children are desperate to learn and improve not only themselves but also their fellow countrymen.
In Kabuka district 15 miles outside Kigali, we are funding the building of 47 houses in a new village called Ayabaraya for ‘child lead families’. These are orphan families lead by the oldest child (now 14 – 23yrs) whose parents and relations were massacred in the 1994 genocide. Their stories are painful to them with one boy telling us how his family were sheltering in the church with all the local villagers when the rebel militia burst in and took out all their own Hutu people. The pastor then managed to lock the church, but the rebels demanded access, he refused so they shot him dead and burst in killing most of the Tutsis inside with guns and machetes. After watching his parents being hacked to death this boy managed to escape and lived rough for many months. These children have been looked after since by local families supported financially by the church. We found them gathered in a new church building singing about how Jesus has taken their burden from them and now they are filled with joy. It is amazing how they are able to forgive others for the atrocities committed. Eventually the diocese will also build a school, clinic and church on the adjacent land. Wages are very poor by our standards at £2 per day for skilled workman with the unskilled carrying water etc up the hill to make cement getting £1, but this is average for Rwanda and is probably the only paid employment around.
We flew down to Bujumbura the capital of Burundi (a small neighbouring country) with the same ethnic mix as Rwanda but not the genocide, however the tensions remain with rebels still massacring people in the country. We visited an ARM (Africa Revival Ministries) church to see their work among the orphans and abandoned street children. The ‘church’ was amazing – a tin shack covering about 1 acre (the size of a football pitch) with a regular Sunday congregation of about 7,000 people and services lasting at least 2 hours. They have a prayer time every morning 6-7am with 1,000 attending. Their Christian witness is very strong which overflows into practical help in community, which is where we help in sponsoring some of their children in the homes they have set up. One such home was run by Pastor Ruben looking after 46 children with the assistance of 6 full time female church workers who each act as ‘mother’ to 8 children in a dormitory. One 15 year old girl described how her family were massacred only 1 year ago leaving her wounded in the leg with no-one left to look after her.
The city itself resembles a ‘wild west’ town where the sand & dirt have piled up at the road edge and over onto the pavement, the low buildings/shops were run down and people hanging about everywhere. A midnight curfew was still in force - not a safe place for a stranger. Our flight back was cancelled because an airport tractor hit our plane so we were lucky to get on the next one which was fully booked with 20 passengers but fortunately 4 of them cancelled or failed to turn up!!
I was very sad to leave having met so many lovely and generous people. We have a lot to learn from them in terms of attitudes to life and each other. Their Christian faith was very real to them and they expressed this in their community by looking after the most vulnerable. If it had been us in the same situation I wonder how many would be looking after No 1 and demanding ‘our rights’? They do not seem to expect help but are so grateful of it when offered. Containers of Hope always asks the local churches what they need whether it be goods in a container or financial help with projects and sponsored children – because only they know what is needed.
Last updated 2nd November, 2005