Rwandan Aegis Student Francine Uwamahoro explains how Aegis Students has helped support Rwanda’s orphans

Last week I went see how the children were doing at Gisimba orphanage. Aegis Trust and Aegis Students has helped Gisimba orphanage by donating beds from Aegis Students Discover Rwanda summer trip.

Many of the orphans began attending secondary school in 2009 and so the donations of 20 beds and linen, bed covers and pillows came at much needed time. Damas, who helps run the orphanage, called it a “gift from heaven.”

The Gisimba orphanage currently houses over 187 children. Fourteen years ago almost all were genocide victims but many of the newer arrivals have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Even worse, because many of their parents were HIV+ a number of them are also infected.

During the genocide the orphanage sheltered over 400 children and adults from the interahamwe [the Hutu paramilitary squads that carried out much of the genocide]. Though the orphanage was repeatedly menaced Damas and his colleagues held their ground and did not give in to the genocidaires
 
The Gisimba orphanage, Aegis Students and the Kigali Memorial Centre are working together to support orphan survivors of the Rwandan genocide and give them a reason to hope for a better future.
 
Francine Uwamahoro

Francine is a Rwandan Aegis Student and ran the Aegis Social Programme from the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda. You can help support the Social Programme through Fund4Rwanda.