Rwanda to Close Largest Orphanage to Children Over Age Three

Noel Nyundo Orphanage will be placing 450 children over the age of three with families. Known relatives would be the first choice. The teenaged orphans are concerned that they will not be taken care of by “strangers.”

“After the announcement, the teens looked pensive. At the Noel, children have food, shelter, friends and the chance to go to school. For orphans in one of the world’s poorest countries, this is a lot to lose.

The officials sat down, giving the children a chance to speak. One by one, the teens stood up and expressed their fears. Officials listened carefully, taking notes.

One boy said in families they will not be treated like sons or daughters – they will be treated like servants. A girl pointed out that her family abandoned her. She said they will have to be forced to take her back.

Another boy stood up and said when he tried to go home and take back his family’s land he was attacked and blinded. A girl said she was threatened. In Africa’s most densely populated country, orphans returning to villages to claim their family’s old land are not normally welcomed.

Several teens asked about school – they are afraid they will be forced to drop out. The teens applauded when one boy suggested that everyone stay put until they finish school.

But officials say the teens have nothing to fear.

Gradual downsize

Benilde Uwababyeyi specializes in child protection at the Rwandan Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion. She says the downsizing of the orphanage will be gradual, and all of the children will be placed carefully. The poorest families who take in orphans, she says, will get money to help pay for food, clothes and school fees.

“We will not reintegrate that child, even though she or he has family, without the acceptance of that family. If it refuses, we will not bring that child to the family,” Uwababyeyi said.

She says the downsizing of the Noel orphanage is part of a larger plan to phase orphanages out of Rwanda altogether. Seventeen years after genocide and civil war devastated the country, leaving millions dead and hundreds of thousands of parentless children she says Rwanda can take care for its children without orphanages.”

Read more at  Rwanda’s Orphanage Free Plan Leaves Children Fearful
[Voice of America 8/25/11 by Heather Murdock]

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