Civil war started in Rwanda in 1990 at which point it was forbidden to go outside the area of Kigali without permission. Up to that point the church had been engaging in rural evangelism in various areas, showing the “Jesus” film, and seeing many come to faith in Jesus Christ. Attention was thus transferred to urban evangelism with the setting up of Bible study groups in homes in the residential areas close to the church.
It soon became apparent that many families were involved in the tragedy of AIDS with people sick and dying and others bereft of family members. One of our church widows, Venancia, needed help to take her sister to the hospital. Her sister’s husband had already died and Venancia was concerned as to who would be able to care for her nephew and nieces. The sister died in hospital and it fell to Venancia to take care of the children. This was difficult as the youngest was very small and Venancia worked in the market each day.
It was this dilemma of how to support those “left holding the baby” that was the inspiration for the Rwanda Orphans Project. The extended family in Rwanda was usually willing to care for the orphans but the burden on grandparents, aunts and uncles, older siblings, neighbours and friends was too great in a country without the benefit of support from the government in the form of pensions and social security.
We were very keen to avoid institutional care of the orphans as care within a family setting is emotionally much better for the child’s development. We also felt that the cost of supporting families to look after their own children would be much less than were they cared for in an orphanage. Thus the Rwanda Orphans Project was born.