Children in Rwanda: Information about children living in poverty in Rwanda and the sponsorship of children in Rwanda, a country
devastated by a mass genocide in 1994.
It is difficult to contemplate how any country could sink so far into
genocide that over three million of its own children are left orphaned or
vulnerable, however that is exactly what happened in Rwanda in 1994.
A former German colony, Rwanda became under the control of Belgium after the
First World War and became independent in 1962. As with other emerging
independent African nations politics was divided into tribal factions and
following the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994 mass slaughter led
to the killing of an estimated half to one million Rwandans, the equivalent of
one in five of the entire population. Despite this bloodbath, Rwanda is now
respected as one of the most stable African nations. Yet the mass genocide of
the early 1990s has deeply scarred the nation.
Today in this country that has ninety per cent of its population engaged in
agriculture and with few natural resources, there are still around one hundred
thousand children working on the land to achieve some form of living without
adults around them to guide and assist or free them up so they can attend any
form of education, so vital to their future.
Aid programs for children in Rwanda are focussed on providing these children
with educational resources as well as training, education and counselling.
Counselling as many young people were forced to commit atrocities during the
genocide and witnessed events that no child should ever have to see as well as
suffering from imprisonment.
The government of Rwanda is now committed to a peaceful existence and is
working with other countries and organisations to build a better future, however
there is still much to do, and most of it can only be achieved with external
aid. You can make a difference by helping one of the many charities listed bellow
who are working with children in Rwanda.
