With
practicing the saying “no orphans in our community” and neighbors taking in
other people children’s if needed, simply as part of the culture, Rwandan
orphanages were virtually unheard of before the Rwandan Genocide. As a result
of the 1994 travesty, when at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus
died over a 100-day period, many privately run children’s homes were
proliferated. This immense change can be illustrated through the comparison of
the only four in the country before and the 30 orphanages in the small East
African country today. As Claudine Nyinawagaga, the Rwanda country director for
Hope and Homes for Children, a non-government organization, “After the genocide
there were many orphans and children separated from their parents. The
government had to deal with many issues - almost everyone in the country was
either a victim of, or participated in the genocide - [the government] had to
rebuild the country, so children were a low priority.”
However, the Rwandan government has
stated that they want to see all orphanages closed by 2020, an initiative that
Hope for Homes supports. One may think that these orphanages were healthy
scapegoats, which during the Genocide may have been true, but these orphanages
are not like the ones in Westernized societies. Near the border with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the Noel Orphanage still stands, until recently housing
about 100 children and disabled adults. Toddlers
sleep in rows of storage bins as one blind infant rocks herself repeatedly, in
order to simulate the affection of a parent. In the rooms, the floor is made of
concrete, consisting of no toys and the smell of a farmhouse. Outside resembles
a stable, with mud strewn everywhere, leaving the inhabitants to stay in the
same room constantly. The manager of Noel refused to talk, but a worker who did
not want to be identified said: "Some here are just waiting to die. In
fact some would be better off dead". Whether it be because children are
now left in orphanages because their parents say they cannot afford them or
because they are disabled and too expensive, the main problem is rooted in
poverty. Rwanda may have one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, but almost
half the population, especially those in rural areas, live below the poverty
line. In addition, to add to this dilemma, according to Ms Nyinawagaga, for
every $100 donated to organizations running orphanages, only about $40 goes
towards caring for the child.
In conclusion, the hope is that the
Noel Orphanage will be closed by April, with children placed with either their
birth families or alternative family-based. In place of the orphanages, the
Rwanda government has set up building community hubs to support parents going
to work. Over the last four years, eight have been established around the
country built by NGOs; and as the article states, “If Rwanda is successful in
closing all its orphanages by 2020, it will become the first African country to
do so, something Ms Nyinawagaga hopes will help move the country "from the
negative of the genocide to a positive future".”
I think the concept of this article
is really important to consider, especially in comparison to my other blogs.
This article accentuates the effect a genocide not only can have on a country
and its economy, but its children and families. With understanding the
unscrupulous conditions of the current orphanage systems in Rwanda, I strongly
agree and support the initiative to deplete them by 2020 and strongly empathize
for the ones who are most directly affected.
Jordanna Gisser
March 15, 2015
6:09 PM
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