Helping in Byumba (part 2)

On Sunday we woke to heavy rain. Rachel duly arrived in town, but it was too wet to walk to the church service, as planned, so she came by cab to join me and meet D & V. Eventually the rain eased and we set off to meet the little group with whom she had worked during the end of year school holiday. The report of that work can be read at ealingquakers.org.uk/rwanda. My purpose now was to meet the children and take some pictures.

Two girls and two boys, aged between 10 and 12, came to meet with us; the teenager who leads the group had another obligation. What a small beginning, I thought, compared with training whole classes of teachers. And how small is Growing Together compared with VSO International, or even VSO in Rwanda.

However, for these children we are able to start a process that should be able to continue without reliance on continued handouts. There is no question of their need. All are small for their age. One of the girls has the moon face and pot belly indicative of malnutrition – Rachel will make a point of visiting her home.

They tell me they need money for food, for school fees, for uniform. I tell them that the people providing the money to get them started on this project will be particularly happy if they begin to grow and eat vegetables: if they do well thy will have some to sell. We go immediately to look at the place where they might start some sacks and Rachel briefs the neighbours.

Accompanied by Francois-Xavier, the pastor whose smallholding I have admired over a couple of years, we set off to see the rabbits. The children collect fresh food for them every other day. They are a good breed, F-X tells me. They look healthy and the three females are pregnant, so there should soon be something to sell. Pictures are taken. The children with Rachel and the rabbits...

...and this time with Francois-Xavier and me

Yvette-Marcelline greets me with the closest, warmest hug I have yet had in Rwanda. Her vegetable garden continues to be productive, with a mixture of sacks, raised beds and various containers. I love it here. But there is nothing to detain us. The children leave and we walk up to the bus stop.

Ten minutes pass with animated conversation between Rachel and Francois-Xavier and halting French between Marcelline and me. Then I ask Rachel to translate. M hopes I will visit again. She would like money to buy goats – not for herself, I think, but for the children and perhaps others.

Byumba is where the army of invasion/liberation was held back from advancing by UN forces, for three years before the genocide. Their behaviour was far from exemplary, with large numbers of men killed and women raped. But all that is supposed to be in the past now.

Orphans from the war are now adults, though interruptions to their education mean some of Dorothy's students, for example, are far older than the teenagers one might expect from their educational stage. Clearly there are many households struggling to survive and many children desperate for support. Handouts are not the answer, especially if they arrive out of the blue without the recipients being involved in setting goals and priorities. But these children know what they need. I trust Rachel to work holistically with them. Firm Foundations for Future Families (5F) is the title of her project – rather grand, perhaps, but certainly work I am happy to support.

Waiting for the bus with Yvette-Marcelline



Pastor and wife make farewells and we settle onto the bus back to Kigali. I've said I won't work here again. I think, though, I may pay one last visit.