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Rwanda: September 21 – October 2, 2006

Lodging: Iris Hotel/Guest House & Chez Lando, Kigali

Field Partners: Pastor Norman Desire, Christ for the Nations Ministry
Pastor Hope Mutesi Gakwayak, Seed of Hope

Local area: Kigali

Primary languages: Kinyarwanda, French

Abbreviations

• PWLA – People Living with AIDs
• OVC – Orphans & vulnerable children
• CHH – Child headed household
• RF – Rwanda Francs

Purpose

• Provide a volunteer experience that educates and expands the knowledge of Rwanda, poverty in Africa and the effects of HIV/AIDs in communities.
• Assist and support our field partners in their work to serve the poor, needy, orphans, widows and people living with HIV/AIDs

Team Trip Activities & Projects

• Skills Training: The team prepared and provided skills training to the Agape Group, which is a community of people living with HIV/AIDs. Over 50 participants volunteered to be involved in the training day where the team provided one-on-one and group instruction on how to crochet.  We also provided supplies (crochet hooks, yarn, pattern books, fabric paint, sample products) for the group to learn and to begin a micro-enterprise initiative.
  
  The Agape Group has continued to use this training and has established a 15-week instructional course within the Agape community to learn how to crochet, enabling members to gain a marketable skills, be able to make blankets, clothing etc for themselves as well as products to take to market which include blankets, sweaters, table decorations, etc.
• Construction: The team provided construction supplies and labor working with the people to build a community center.  This one-day project resulting in the building of the center’s foundation and outside walls.  Each team member spend the time working along side community members mixing cement, carrying bricks, laying bricks, etc.
• Crafts & School Supplies: The team has 2 opportunities to teach crafts to young children from nursery school age to 14 years old in various communities.  Bringing joy to the children of these communities by simply providing colored papers, streamers, crayons, Playdough, etc.  One community learned how to make windsocks the children could play with, paper bag puppets and more.  Volunteers had the opportunity to spend group and one-on-one time with children caring for them through these fun activities.  The team and donors also provided extensive school supplies that could be donated to schools and communities for the betterment of the children and students.
• Project Follow-Up: The team also had an opportunity to spend a day with a community of people living with HIV/AIDs that have benefited from their partnership with VOC and other various organizations. Thirty-five members of the community were involved in a 6-month seamstress-training program that has provided them with marketable skills to support themselves, their families and their community.  The team was privileged to make lunch for the graduates and community and participate in the graduation festivities for the students.
• Cultural Education & Social Awareness: The team had the opportunity to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial that honors the memory of those slain and affected by the horrors of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.  They learned about the political and historical background of the country, problems that contributed to the conflict and the stories of survivors about their experiences.
  
  Additionally, the team visited a home for street boys.  This home was established for boys who lived through the genocide and fled their home and towns heading to the big city in hopes of a better chance.  Each of the boys quickly fell into trouble with the law, drugs, and alcohol and misguiding influences.  The home and its director have provided a stable environment for the boys, who now are mostly in their early 20’s.  The home gives them responsibilities to each other, the house, and opportunities for skills training and basic education needs, food, shelter and ministry about the Christian faith.

Notables

Met and had dinner with Immaculee Ilibigiza’s brother Amiable and learned about his and Immaculee’s experience during the genocide.

Learn more about our partners:
Christ for the Nations Ministry
Seed of Hope

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