Orphans reunited after receiving a house

EASTERN PROVINCE Vestine Musabyeyezu, is an orphaned student at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) hailing from Rwamagana District. She had for long wanted to live with her sister and two paternal cousins who were also orphaned by the genocide, but it seemed far from reality without having a family home. This dream came true recently after the inauguration of 39 houses constructed by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) for the vulnerable residents in Kayonza and Rwamagana districts. “Compared to the situation my family and I were living before getting a house, I now see a big step forward to decent living,” the girl now aged 25 said after receiving a house. At 11, Musabyeyezu lost her parents during the Genocide. She was left head of her family who included her siblings and two cousins. But, since they did not have a family house, they were separated with each of them staying with a relative, where many dropped out of school. Now, the two cousins aged 16 and 14 are in Primary five. She observes that although they were not mistreated within the foster families where they have been staying, some orphaned girls in the country are sexually abused by those who adopt them. “We had not faced such problems, but I know very well that there are orphans in secondary schools who now board at school for fear of staying with their care takers,” she said. Mary Mukantwari, another beneficiary of the newly constructed houses was born in 1965. A mother of six she recalls how she lived as a homeless mother. “Somehow, someone could offer me accommodation and I could live in a particular place for a short while, and leave after sometime ,” she says. Mukantwari’s husband reportedly died in the liberation war. In desperation, she started to sell Irish potatoes and tomatoes but she did not earn enough to afford renting a house. “I am now contented, I have a home and my children have a permanent place to spend their holidays’, she added. She noted that women are more vulnerable and they need permanent housing compared to their male counterparts. According to her, desperate women can be offered free houses by men with sinister motives, a condition likely to lead to vices such as rape incidences. “After the death of my husband, especially in 2000 I faced many challenges but I kept on solving one by one. However, the problem of accommodation was more pressing as people kept sending me out of their houses even when children were about to come for holidays,” Mukantwari narrated. Gilbert Kaboyi aged 34 was all praises and said the house offered to him will change his lifestyle. Ends