RWANDA: ESTER’S AID

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

Global Education Fund partnered with Esther’s Aid a Rwandan NGO to complete a project that delivered a shipment of clothing to women and children who were infected with HIV/AIDS. The program was initiated and funded by members of Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Women in Power 2003 to support their fellow member, Rose Kabuye in her struggle to assist the women and children of her country. Rwanda emerged from a period of mass displacement, war and genocide to face a problem that further threatens survival—the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Rwanda’s population of 8.2 million people has an annual HIV/AIDS growth rate of -0.7%, suggesting a well established epidemic.

Rose Kabuye and the women of Rwanda

Maj. Rose Kabuye became part of the Tutsi-led liberation army that ousted the Hutu militia and ended the genocide in which 85% of the Tutsi population were murdered. The remaining, mostly women and children, were victims of unspeakable crimes. They were brutally and systematically raped, maimed, psychologically devastated, and left with HIV/AIDS to pass to future generations.

Soon after the fighting ended Maj. Kabuye became the first female Colonel in the Rwandan army and the Mayor of the capital city, Kigali, where over 400,000 refugees were returning. “It was difficult,” recalls Rose, “People were sick, hungry. We didn’t have water, electricity. Slowly, slowly, things picked up. Rwanda’s women have been working together. We don’t just look out for ourselves.”

Rose is only one of the many remarkable women of Rwanda who brought their sisters together for healing and to begin the transformation of their lives from victims to self-sufficiency and empowerment. These women changed their own lives by organizing individual support groups in homes, creating non-governmental organizations to address housing, medical care, education, AIDS awareness, counseling, needs of children and orphans, legal rights, business training, etc. They are also directing the government’s attention to the needs of women, where 17 of the 74 seats in the parliament and four of the 22 ministries of the presidential cabinet are women, as are the directors of the national development bank and insurance office. A gender task force in parliament systematically reviews past and pending legislation to see whether the needs of women are being reflected.

Women and children bore the brunt of the genocide and HIV/AIDS:

• 300,000 children are orphaned by HIV.
• 80,000 children are HIV positive
• Over one third of all households are headed by women with no adult males present
• Some 130,000 children under five are carriers of the HIV virus
• 30% of women carry the disease and pass it to their children
• Women and children represent 90% of those living with HIV.
• By 2012, without an effective prevention program, the number of children with HIV virus is projected at over 165,000.

Ester’s Aid and other Partner Organization

Esther’s Aid is a non profit organization founded in New Rochelle, NY by Rwandan, Claire Effiong, to aid needy and abandoned children. In 2000 Esther’s Aid received NGO status in Rwanda with a “Certificat d’Enregistement N° 40”. Their current work is with the orphaned street children, youth and vulnerable young girls. Esther’s Aid provides housing and develops programs to strengthen, educate and train children with a capacity to create a sustainable future. They work with a variety of organizations in Rwanda to provide social services, including service to HIV/AIDS victims, as well as to help facilitate the shipment of humanitarian supplies for that country.

 Other Rwandan NGO Partners

The most needy women and children throughout Rwanda infected with HIV/AIDS were the recipients of the clothing donation. These beneficiaries were represented by 78 organizations, who work with Esther’s Aid and the Kigali City Commission on HIV/AIDS Control. Following are profiles of only a few of the recipient organizations:

• Rwandan Women’s Network, (Mary Balikungeri, Executive Director) is a national humanitarian NGO and grassroots women’s group whose vision is for a healthy, empowered and peaceful Rwandan society. Their mission is to work towards improvement of the social-economic welfare of women in Rwanda through enhancing efforts to meet basic needs. They have also established a Village of Hope providing homes for widows of the genocide.

• Polyclinic of Hope is a center for women survivors of gender-based violence during the genocide. Women receive trauma counseling, legal assistance, medical care, training in health care and HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, care, and support.

• Anthanasie Kankazi Support Group meets in the house where Kankazi was raped around the clock for months — her own home — by 200 soldiers. Now it is a place of healing where as many as 60 genocide and rape survivors talk, share, and support each other in order to find their own personal freedom.

• AVEGA, founded and presided over by Jeanne d’Arc Mukamusoni, began six years ago as a weekly meeting of widows to cry and grieve together. Now it operates as a quasi-social service agency responding to needs largely unmet by the government.

 Project

At the request of Rose Kubuye, Global Education Fund facilitated the shipment to Rwanda of a 40’container filled with appropriate clothing for women and children. Clothing is purchased through International Distribution System (IDS), an organization based in Oklahoma City that makes humanitarian supplies available at a reduced rate to NGOs and individuals working with organizations in the developing world and with people of poverty. From IDS warehouse inventory and with input from Rose Kabuye and the women in Rwanda, merchandise was chosen via the IDS website to be certain appropriate clothing was sent. IDS filled the container and prepare it for shipment to Rwanda.

Counterpart International, Washington DC, sent the shipment to Rwanda from the IDS location in Oklahoma City. Once in Rwanda, distribution was facilitated by Esther’s Aid and Kigali City Commission of HIV/AIDS Control. Following customs clearance by Esther’s Aid, goods were delivered to and secured in Esther’s Aid warehouse in Kigali. From there, goods were distributed throughout the country to 78 participating organizations that work with HIV/AIDS victims. Distribution, monitoring of distribution, and reporting will be handled by Esther’s Aid office in Rwanda.

Expenses involved with storage and distribution were provided by Global Education Fund and their project donors, members of Women in Power, Class of 2003.

 Needs of AIDS victims in Rwanda

AIDS is an epidemic disease that has affected 13.5% of Rwandans. Fifty six percent of the 8.2 million population are women who, along with their children, are most affected because of their vulnerable and inability to meet medical expenses. Esther’s Aid assists this segment of the population with food and health services through a one-to-one health system called “Mutual de Santé”. As with the other basic necessities of life – food and shelter – clothing in Rwanda was difficult to obtain especially in the quantities needed. It is also expensive, far exceeding the means of local people; and most NGOs target their resources to other needs. As Pastor Amani told us, “Clothes are one of the basic needs of life and we feel that it is very important to support the vulnerable people living with HIV in this way, especially children and women.”

MOZAMBIQUE: CERCI

SERVING DEVELOPMENTALLY DISADVANTAGED YOUNG PEOPLE IN MOZAMBIQUE

Other schools enjoyed better facilities than CERCI; GEF support has changed that!

Mozambique located in southeast Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. Less than 50 percent of children complete primary school. State and local authorities are unable to provide adequate services for “normal” school children, much less disabled children.

CIRCI, The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of Handicapped Citizens – known by it Portuguese acronym – is a non-profit organization created by Mozambican parents and professionals in 2002 to operate a day school in the capital of Maputo for 36 children and young adults with developmental disabilities.  These young people, who cannot be accommodated by Mozambique’s public education system, receive support services for themselves and their families.

Ten percent of CERCI’s students have severe physical handicaps in addition to their developmental disabilities. CERCI’s programs are funded by tuition and fees paid by the parents, supplemented by donations from individuals and charitable foundations.

CERCI goal is to serve all who seek its services regardless of ability to pay. It assists those from low-income households who are unable to pay the full tuition to find a sponsor and never turns down an application if there are vacancies. The Board of Directors includes parents, staff, and professionals in related fields. A strong partnership has developed between parents and professionals.

CERCI’s mission is to not only provide educational and support services to developmentally disabled persons and their families but to engender public awareness of the strengths and needs of the disabled, and promote and defend their rights. CERCI’s vision is to become a center of excellence and a resource center to advocate for and support the identification and diagnosis of developmental disabilities and to establish special education and employment opportunities for the disabled in Mozambique.

There are approximately 25,000 developmentally disabled children and adolescents under age 20 in Maputo. While those with mild disabilities can be accommodated by regular schools, a large percentage of students need special educational and therapeutic services that cannot be provided by the underfunded public schools.

Currently five schools in the metropolitan area (operated by a variety of organizations) offer care and services for developmentally disabled children and adolescents, but together they serve only about 250 young people; there is a huge unmet need to cover the remaining disabled students.

CERCI is remarkable for the quality of its program and the strong involvement of parents and professionals. CERCI; it is unique in its vision of serving the entire community of disabled persons as a national advocacy and resource center. The large majority of CERCI’s clients are native African Mozambicans but the program is open to persons of all races, as are employment opportunities and internships.

The school has moved several times in an attempt to serve the youth: originally housed in a two-room annex of the Ministry of Health to the current small rented house. The friends and parents of CERCI began planning and raising funds for a permanent building several years ago to fill their many needs. Efforts were enhanced when Mozambique’s First Lady stepped in to help raise awareness of the needs of the disabled. Now their dream will become a reality in the near future. The city of Maputo gave CERCI land for a new permanent school.

Cost of the proposed building project is expected to be about US$600,000. To date, CERCI has collected or received pledges for US$200,000 from individuals, businesses and private foundations both within and outside Mozambique.

Construction will be carried out in two phases as the capital campaign continues. The Phase 1 facility, on which construction is expected to begin in 2011, will enable CERCI to accommodate 40 developmentally disabled children aged 3 to 14 in the day school and expand occupational and workplace support services for adolescents up to 25 years old. In addition, CERCI plans to initiate an early intervention program for infants and toddlers and inaugurate its role as a national resource center. Phase 2 will enable CERCI to serve a total of 60 children and expand its outreach programs.