“Eat your vegetables! There are children in Africa who are starving.” If I heard that once, I heard it a hundred times as a child. And I would think, “No child would want to eat these peas I’m trying to hide under my plate!”

I was wrong. I now know what a starving child in Africa looks like. And it’s sobering to realize an impoverished child may have one meal a day, if they’re lucky. But it’s very possible they won’t get to eat this day at all.

Children should not suffer due to man’s mistakes and evils. The children in Rwanda live daily with the results of man’s inability to live in peace. And we cannot idly stand by.

I had never seen so many children that I knew were living in substandard conditions. They are gentle and loving and have never known excess, except possibly of hunger and sadness.

The children’s effect on me was one of the strongest of everything I saw, felt or heard. Because they are the innocent ones. And they deserve our protection and concern, even from so far away.

There was a young boy who was left alone with his two younger siblings after both parents died. He wanted to keep his family together and so he did whatever he could to bring in money, but it was not enough. Some days he would have his little brothers lie very still and not move all day so that they didn’t expend any energy and not be as hungry.

World Vision stepped in and gave him support and now he is able to keep his family alive and together.

The mission of World Vision reads in part, “…to help children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. We serve the world’s poor – regardless of a person’s religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.”

By the end of the genocide in 1994, 95,000 children had been orphaned. By 2001, an estimated 264,000 children had lost one or both parents to AIDS, representing 43% of all orphans. This figure is expected to grow over 350,000 by 2010. The statistics get grimmer: more than 400,000 children are out of school. 1 in 5 Rwandan children die before their fifth birthday. (source: unicefusa.org)


So what do these statistics “look” like? Simply the faces of beautiful little children. Wherever we went, there were children. They gathered quickly whenever we stopped. And they were very dear. We would take their pictures and then show them the digital photographs on the camera.

They crowded around to see: their little hands all over my hands and arms, gently trying to see the photos. So many more children than adults.

I was struck by the lack of toys. There were no pre-made toys in sight. Homemade toys: cans on a string, rags tightly knotted to make a soccer ball. All wooden bikes.

The older children danced and sang and acted typical of all children: in turn inquisitive, shy, bold, self conscious, and gloriously unrestrained.

I wondered how many were very sick and would die within the year. There is a high risk of bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and malaria. And the poorest children, with their lack of nutrition, medicine and fresh running water are highly susceptible to these diseases. HIV/AID is also taking a devastating toll on the children.

At times, it was absolutely overwhelming. Without organizations such as World Vision, it’s frightening. But these organizations are not giving up.

I’d often heard about the child sponsorship programs but was skeptical that you really were getting a “real” child. But it’s true.
I now understand that all the faces of children that we see in the pictures are not to get our sympathy. They are to cause action.
When you sponsor a child, it is the child you see in the picture. And sponsoring a child saves their life. It provides food, clothing, and education.

Education is not provided for free and everyone who attends must buy a uniform. Without funds, there is no education. And education is part of the solution to end poverty. Without our assistance, many hundreds of thousands of children will never experience the joy of learning.

Vision Finance, the micro loan program for which we raised money and that I came to support, offers real hope and solutions to the adults who can then care for their children and the orphans they take in.

It is nothing for a widow to be raising her own 5 or 6 children plus 4 or 5 orphans and to be running a business sponsored through the loans of Vision Finance. These businesses are truly life giving.

In the towns and villages I met these women. They face incredible odds and are succeeding. Children’s lives are being saved.

It’s funny; I thought the piece I journaled about the genocide was a bit depressing. Well, as I read what I’ve written I see that this piece isn’t exactly lightness and laughter! But that’s ok. I promised to write what I felt and saw. And I wasn’t visiting with the wealthy and well off of Rwanda. I was there to serve the poor. And their situation deserves honesty.

What are the solutions? I have a few thoughts. Please give it some thought on your own as well:
1. Take good care of the children in your life. Cherish them. Thank God that in America they will never face many of the challenges that are a daily threat to children elsewhere.
2. Teach your children how to care for others. Show compassion and help them learn the same through your example.
3. If you are so moved, sponsor a child through World Vision or another reputable relief agency.
4. Believe that your actions, however small you might think they are, make a huge difference, especially
to the child you affect.
5. Give money to organizations that go directly to the front lines so that they may do this work with love
and purpose.
6. Pray for those who need God’s protection.
The staff I met at World Vision and Vision Finance are some of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met. This work, which I have barely begun, is their daily walk. These are Rwandans helping their own and know that this cycle of poverty can be stopped.

It was so uplifting to meet with the staff in the main offices in Kigali and then in the branch offices out in the countryside. Amazing brave men and women who have faith and hope that their work will change lives.

It is truly an honor to support Rita Ngarambe and her team.

On our last night, we had a wonderful dinner with some of the staff. Richard Nyirinkwaya wrote a poem in our honor. But it really is about the Vision Finance Staff and the empowerment they feel. Lives are saved and changed because of this work.

Our efforts are not wasted.