A Village Turns its Back World AIDS Day is December 1, 2005.
The children have been on their own since their parents died of AIDS in 2000. Their father was the first to go. In keeping with local tradition, his widow, Cecile Nyiramana, did not inherit his property, which went to his surviving family.
The in-laws chased away Cecile and her four children. With nowhere else to go, she and the children moved in with her family. But even there they experienced stigma and discrimination. People in their small Rwandan community, Ruhango, were afraid of AIDS and shunned them.
Finally Kwizera's uncle gave them a small two-room house to live in. But the community still kept them at arm's length — even Kwizera's grandmother refused to stay with her own daughter. Cecile became sicker and died six months later, leaving her four children alone. After her death her brother turned the house into a stable for two cows. He suspected the children were HIV-positive and told them that, as orphans, they should die. The children suffered much from their community's rejection and discrimination.
When the CARE project NIPS (Nkundabana Initiative for Psychosocial Support) arrived in the area, Kwizera and his family were identified by the community as a household in need of support. CARE helps provide a Nkundabana, or mentor (the term means "I love children") to child-headed households — the children themselves are involved in electing them.
CARE-trained volunteers started advocating for Kwizera and his siblings and educating the people of Ruhango about the realities of HIV/AIDS. With knowledge, superstition and stigma decreased, and community members and local authorities started to reach out to their young neighbors. The children received a plot where villagers built a house — CARE offered the roofing, doors and windows. Soon, they will move into their new house, and leave the old one to the cows.
All four children are receiving education support from the project — Kwizera is learning to read and write for the first time. Christine and Rose are training to work as tailors. And Schadrack is enrolled in primary school.
Life is still very hard for Kwizera and his siblings, but they finally have the acceptance and support of their community members, and a chance for a better future. But millions of children like them face a future without parents. This World AIDS Day, let's hope they all can get a second chance.
- Read CARE President and CEO Peter D. Bell's World AIDS Day letter
- Find out more about CARE and how we're empowering people to fight AIDS
- Visit CARE's AIDS Info Center
- Read CARE staff member Elizabeth Owuor-Oyugi's first-hand account of AIDS and its effect on her family
- Find out what CARE is doing to promote reproductive health around the world
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