The densely populated area of Northern Rwanda around the provincial centre, Byumba, has a high concentration of orphaned children. The Byumba area suffered four years of war leading up to and including the 1994 genocide. During this period, many widows were raped, a high proportion died after contracting HIV/AIDS, leaving orphaned children, many of whom themselves infected with HIV/AIDS. Since the genocide, many parents have died from HIV/AIDS or other causes, creating many more orphans.
In the past, help came traditionally from the extended family, but following the displacement of whole communities, the dislocation of families and the extreme poverty which followed the genocide and its aftermath, extended families have generally been unwilling to take on the additional burden of accepting orphaned children under their own roofs, limiting their involvement to supervision, hoping that others (often international aid agencies) would take responsibility for them.
The Anglican diocese of Byumba has had a particular ministry for widows and orphans since the genocide. From the beginning, their emphasis has been on providing psychological and practical support to widows and orphaned children within their own home environment. This approach is now being widely supported by the aid agencies, NGOs and the Rwandan government, who all recognise the advantages of enabling children to become self-supporting in the environment they know.
Nevertheless, until recently, few coordinated programmes have been established to adopt such an approach in a holistic manner.
Hannah Ministry, an autonomous organisation under the umbrella of the diocese of Byumba, has put in place structures and practical support (largely drawing upon the volunteers within the distributed parishes across the area) aimed at fully equipping orphaned children for an independent future within a family unit made up of their own siblings.
The child-headed family support programme takes its inspiration from the Kinyarwanda word, 'tumurere' embedded in Rwanda culture -'let us combine our efforts to care and bring up children'.
Among the many things Hannah Ministry provides is a sponsorship programme to support child-led households. With a gift of just $20, a month a child will get education, food, shelter, manpower on a child field, health care counseling and close follow up on his state.
For more detailed information about the many programmes of Hannah Ministry and information about sponsorship, download the Hannah Ministry Report from the EGR website or on the Friends of Byumba website (www.friendsofbyumbaorg).
Who are these child-led households. Here are but two of many examples.
Here is a picture Seraphine with her siblings taken at their home. There is need for proper sharing for a child-led household to get support. How many times do they go to bed without supper?
Sponsors are encouraged to pray for the families and for the Hannah Ministry and its important work, and to encourage friends and other family members to become sponsors. All details can be found on the website or obtained from me by email at jomuja@yahoo.fr.
Josephine Mujawiyera runs "Hannah Ministries," a Christian organization in Byumba, Rwanda working with at-risk children (orphans, children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, children living in a child led household, and street children). It is a local initiave born to respond to the needs of children living in child-led households.works with people living with HIV/AIDS. Jospehine also does general post-genocide reconciliation work (among MANY other things) in Byumba, where she lives with her husband, who is bishop of that diocese.
