The Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Rwanda focuses on rebuilding schools and funding education for orphans and children unable to afford basic education.
As Rwanda begins a week-long commemoration of the 1994 genocide, in which more than 500,000 people were slain, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Rwanda focuses on rebuilding schools and funding education for orphans and children unable to afford basic education.
To comprehend the experiences of the many survivors that ADRA Rwanda now serves, staff visited genocide memorials in Nyamata and Ntarama, about an hour south of Kigali. Both sites are now still and quiet, suspended in time, a contrast to the calamity that occurred in 1994. Throughout Rwanda, programs are being broadcast over radio and television to remind the public of the massacre that lasted three months. Across the country, authorities have organized discussions about how to remember what led to the genocide and how to rebuild a sense of community.
Last year ADRA Rwanda directed more than $2 million into projects involving education, infrastructure development, water, and agriculture. Current plans call for more than $3.5 million to fund additional school rehabilitation, agricultural programs, clean water projects, completion of nearly 300 houses for people who fled the genocide, and the building of a medical clinic.
Rwanda is the most densely populated nation in Africa. It is a poor country, ranking 168 out of 174 in the Human Development Index according to the United Nations Human Development Report for 2000. The gross domestic product (GDP) in 1997 was $240 per person. The adult literacy rate is 40 percent, and life expectancy for men is 42 and 45 for women.
