Esperance Kampirwa could not hide her smile when she received iron sheets to construct a new house after what she owned was destroyed by landslides that hit Gakenke District and other parts of the country last month.

It left Kampirwa homeless as her house was swept away and lost relatives and neighbours as a result of heavy rains.

"We were very grieved. When it happened, I woke up to find my house partly destroyed, we rushed to save our children and went to the neighbors which is a bit far from my home,” she said

"Since then, we realised the whole house was destroyed, our relatives and neighbors became the victims of the landslides. With the grievance, I started a homeless life, luckily I was hosted by a friend up to now, life was hard as both families were congested in a very small house,” she added

Kampirwa says that since the disasters they have been blessed with the support from government, NGOs, churches among other well wishers who provided food and other basics.

"We were given everything as regards to basics, we were given food stuff such as Maize, beans, blankets, mats, while others got tents to erect a temporary shelter while waiting to rebuild their own houses,” she said. 

The landslides left 49 dead including 35 from 12 families in Gakenke alone. All in allm, 460 houses were destroyed while scores of others were weakened in the process.

The landslides also destroyed 1250 hectares of farms and some feeder roads in the district.

Kampirwa, a mother of seven and a resident of Gakenke sector, Gakenke district, along with 1000 others affected by landslides on Thursday received the iron sheets from the World Vision. 45,000 iron sheets worth Rwf256 million.

"I am very happy; I had never thought I could own a house again after the disaster. I thought I was going to live a homeless life forever, this is a blessing to me, I am thankful for the government and World Vision for this support,” said Kampirwa.

"I am going to complete my house in the next few days, I am a hard working woman and now that I will get shelter, nothing can prevent me from moving forward,” she stressed.

Daniel Habakurama, another beneficiary from Muzo sector, said:"This is a blessing from God. I will be able to build a better house compared to what I had, I am really thankful for the support”.  

Residents were supported to get safer land to relocate from high risk zones where they lived. Some exchanged the land, others sold off theirs while the government has helped the most vulnerable to secure the land, according to local leaders.

They added that the affected residents were helped to set up new buildings through community work (Umuganda) and what remained were to get iron sheets to complete the houses.

"This is a good sign of better partnership between the government and World Vision. The support we got today will help over 1000 who were left homeless by the landslide. We are thankful for World Vision’s support today and other support they have been providing over the past years,” said Catherine Uwimana, Gakenke District Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs.

George Gitau, the World Vision National Director said it was a privilege to extend the support to the needy people 

"We were here today to express our love and our support in partnership with government of Rwanda. Apart from the iron sheets, we are also engaged with local community in order to better their lives,” said Gitau.

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