Our work in Rwanda

We work in four areas of Rwanda – two in the capital, Kigali, and in the rural areas of Gikongoro and Nyamata. In collaboration with Community Development Councils, we support families who are living in abject poverty – child-headed households, those headed by grandparents, and lone parent households in which the parent is HIV positive.

Our support provides these families with the basic essentials of a home - household utensils, food and clothing. We also provide fees for both primary and secondary schooling, and for associated costs such as books and uniforms. We ensure that they have access to health care, and provide health insurance where necessary.

Each family has access to a social worker, who gives advice, encouragement and counselling, to help them recover from the trauma they have experienced. We also ensure that lawyers are available to children who need legal support and advice.

Our aim is for these families to become self-sufficient, so we provide financial and material support to enable them to become economically independent. Those who can make a living from their land are given seeds, tools and costs to help with labour, and those who wish to set up a small enterprise – such as market trading or bicycle deliveries - are provided with training and cash grants.

For children who have suffered the loss of a parent, or are living with a very sick adult, their needs are not only material. In 2005 we introduced the Wise People scheme – a unique volunteer initiative for providing mentors for child–headed families. Wise People are chosen by the children themselves, and they provide day-to-day support, ranging from moral guidance to helping with homework, or teaching practical skills.

More recently, as part of our work to strengthen communities, we have established three Community Hubs. They are there for young children who would otherwise be left alone while their parents or carers are at work, and children who are heads of their households are able to visit in the afternoon. The Hubs are regularly visited by a nurse, and the children are given a nutritious cooked meal.

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