New Job, Kabuga, Sponsoring a University Student and Trip to the Beach

Photo: some sposored orphans from Kabuga

This week was relatively uneventful except for a few things. I (Ian) was offered free lodging and a small stipend in return for an increase in my work load at Solace. Instead of just doing two evaluations I will do one more and write a new 5-year strategic plan for the organization. The director liked the evaluation plan I wrote for Kabuga so much that he apparently thought I could do all of these other things too.

We went to Kabuga this week to pass out surveys to widows and a few child-headed households that have children in the sponsorship program. I was very impressed by how these genocide survivors have rallied together to support each other and provide for each other. The community organization is made up of widows and genocide orphans (13 - 31 years old now) and Solace basically came along side this group to help with what they were already doing for each other. There is a great difference in the prosperity of this group compared to Gasabo where Solace is hoping to expand the child sponsorship program. Part of this is due to the proximity to Kigali but some is also a testimony to the success of these survivors.

Despite the success of the sponsorship program for children under 12 who are the children of survivors, Becky has noted that the actual orphans of the genocide are receiving less and less assistance. An actual orphan of the genocide will be over 13 today. Many are about our age but spent the time of their lives when they would normally get an education raising siblings and/or other genocide survivors. Now they are too old to be sponsored and have few practical skills that could help them improve their own livelihoods. Becky and I discussed trying to help develop a program whereby some of this "kids" can receive at least some sort of skills training. It seems a small thing to do for some amazing self-sacrificial people who gave up so much of themselves to provide for others.

Today I conducted my first interview for my personal research. I've decided to interview Tutsis (since those are who Solace works with) who are returnees to Rwanda. I thought it would be interesting to get a sample of different returnees who had fled at different periods in Rwanda's history and then returned. 1959, 1973 and 1994 are three years where a lot of Tutsis had to flee due to persecution and massacres. I want to get an idea of how governments and aid organizations reintegrate groups of people.

Anyway, the woman we interviewed today is actually a 28-year old genocide orphan. Her immediate family was massacred and through a miraculous series of events she was able to make it to Goma in what was then Zaire (now Dem Rep of Congo). She was repatriated in 1999 after having completed secondary school in the DRC. Her goal when she returned was to go to University. Though her extended family had the means they refused to pay for her and still horribly mistreat her. They forced her to sign away her father's land to them or else they would kill her. The government programs meant to help survivors also turned her down for assistance. Through the help of others and her own very hard work she has managed to finish two years of a four year degree. However, the man who has been helping her has had to stop paying because his wife is now going to university and he cannot afford both. This man is actually the one who set the interview up for me. Before we started interviewing her (Becky was my translator in French) we had already decided that we would at least like to pay for her two remaining trimesters for this year. I am considering sponsoring her for the last six trimesters but wanted to ask any of you if you would like to help this sharp woman finish her studies. Send me an email at idezalia@clarku.edu if you are interested. It would be pretty informal as we are sending the money to the man who had been supporting her and they are paying her. No IRS tax break on this one for those of you who care.

As the title of this post suggests, Becky and I will be taking a trip to the beaches of lake Kivu with another American this weekend. Our bus leaves early tomorrow (Saturday) morning and if everything goes right we will be laying on the beach by noon. The city we are going to is called Gisenyi which is just across the border from Goma, DRC. We may take a day trip into Goma but haven't decided yet. It should be a good little trip and there will be plenty of work waiting for us when we return.