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Rwanda

Liberate Muhagihana, widowed in the genocide, counsels Colette Nusaburasoni who lost all of her children [Annie Bungeroth]

Rwanda's recent history is dominated by genocide, which has left a legacy of trauma

Long-standing tensions between the majority ethnic Hutu group and the Tutsi minority, which were fuelled by colonialism, have manifested themselves in violent clashes over many decades, leading to the 1994 genocide in which Hutu militias massacred 800,000 Tutsi civilians.

CAFOD spent £219,000 in Rwanda in 2006-07

The future still seems bleak for the survivors, not just because Rwanda is still a very poor country, but because many survivors are only just starting to deal with their trauma and mourn their loved ones years later.

Key challenges

Trauma: the genocide left deep psychological scars. Many children were born as a result of rape, some discovering many years later that they are HIV-positive.

Other children have grown up looking after young siblings while suffering a high level of trauma, because they still do not know if their loved ones were killed or where they are buried.

Conflict: the genocide caused two million Hutus to flee the country in fear of Tutsi revenge. Most have now returned, but in a country where 70 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, establishing a livelihood is hard, and ethnic tensions within Rwanda and with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo create uncertainty. Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa.

CAFOD supports the Great Lakes Trauma Programme Project, which helps trauma sufferers through counselling and brings together a number of organisations

Rebuilding livelihoods

Uyisenga helps heads of households to deal with their past experiences and to rebuild their livelihoods.

Supporting child heads of households

HHC provides housing and support for child heads of households.

Therese Kandindi (in white) is a member of a support group from AVEGA Rwamagama. She has three daughters. [Annie Bungeroth]

Supporting widows

AVEGA supports women widowed in the genocide.

Conflict and forgiveness in Rwanda (203.46 kB)

KS3 Downloadable story: A mother-of-six explains how she wants to forgive those who abused her during the war so her children can learn to love other people

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Community meeting in Gambiza, Zimbabwe, held as part of a seed distribution project supported by CAFOD [Alessandra Magri]

Bishops fear genocide

CAFOD calls for peace with an end to all violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe and demands urgent action from the UN as bishops spoke of their fear of genocide

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Gabriel Murwa and his wife with their last remaining cow from a herd of 100. The others have all died. [Richard Wainwright]

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