A local project has put smiles on the faces of 33 Genocide orphans by providing them with money to get school supplies.

The Small Cash Holder and Crops Export Development Project (PDCRE) over the weekend gave Frw3 million to Petites Sœurs de Jésus, an orphanage taking care of 33 Genocide orphans.

The project staff said the donation was aimed at enabling the orphans report to school on time. Primary and secondary schools re-open today for the second term.

Alfred Mutebwa, the coordinator of PDCRE, said that the grant to the Kicukiro-based orphanage was raised by the project staff (Frw1 million) and friends and sympathizers (Frw2 million).

He aid that they thought of giving the money to the orphanage because students were now going back to school. The official said the beneficiaries would use the money according to their priorities.

Mutebwa said that he came to know about the orphanage from some Rwandans in the Diaspora who assist orphans in the country.

He added that a report by the orphanage showed that the orphanage struggled to get school fees, forcing most of the orphans to go to poor quality schools even after brilliant academic performances.

"I had a feeling that they (sponsors) might delay in sending the money yet the children are soon going back to school. I shared the idea with my colleagues and we tried to raise some money that would help in the period before their sponsors send their money," he said.

The orphanage head, Eugenia Kubwimana, said that the children in the orphanage lost their parents during the Genocide, and were being assisted to rebuild their future and encouraged to live positively.

"These young ones survived after their parents were killed. Rwandans should be characterized by the spirit of compassion," she said, adding that a parent, before dying in the Genocide, had beseeched some nuns to create an orphanage for children who would survive.

Kubwimana added that after the Genocide, some nuns decided to bring together some orphans, thereby bringing to life the idea of a parent whose life was not spared by extremists.

"We never send away any children. They all remain with us even when they get to the university. One only leaves after getting a job," she explained.

The orphanage head thanked PDCRE for the grant and urged all Rwandans to help such disadvantaged groups.

The orphanage also takes care of another 27 children who live in child-headed families, bringing the number of all the children it supports to 60.

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