Welcome! Today is . The local time is . DETAILS OF PROJECTS and other info. Avega,Gisenyi Remera Academy Community Development Workers Email: 70374.416@compuserve.com		Rwanda Development Trust Rwanda has been helped by Comic Relief and the National Lottery Charities Board (now Community Fund) but children still need sponsorship and groups like AVEGA and Barakabaho Foundation in Rwanda need more funds to maintain reliable development projects. Email: 70374.416@compuserve.com Phone number: +44 (0)20 8290 5103 Fax number: +44 (0)20 8289 5060 RWANDA DEVELOPMENT TRUST (RDT) PO Box 566, Bromley, Kent, BR1 3WZ FACTS The Rwanda Development Trust is constituted by Deed of Trust and is a registered charity, no. 1043237. It is established for the benefit of Rwandese people and is intended to relieve hardship and distress. The trustees' policy is to assist development projects initiated inside Rwanda by people who have been prepared to plan for their future whilst under immense stress. Special regard is given to the development of education and health by the expansion and encouragement of self-help activities. The charity is dependent on donations made by members of the public and on grants made by other organisations in order to further the charity's objectives. If you can contribute or assist in fund-raising, please contact us. Work only proceeds with your help. BACKGROUND The RDT was set up in 1994 after the disastrous events which occurred in central Africa that year. Although considerable aid was being given to Rwandese refugees in Goma (Congo DR) and other places outside Rwanda during 1994, not much at all was being done to help the 5 million or so who remained inside their country and whose original treatment and considerable suffering was being overlooked. The trustees felt that a channel was needed which would allow people to contribute towards Rwanda's reconstruction and development. AIMS The Trust assists projects which are considered to be of lasting benefit to Rwandese communities. It never initiates projects itself but relies upon local Rwandese planning and participation. Its main aim is to support self-help activities which can overcome problems caused by ethnic tension, poverty and the resulting instability. The financial assistance given by the Trust ranges from the purchasing of necessary medical equipment for use in hospitals through to sponsoring development schemes such as income generating projects which have been carefully planned by the intended beneficiaries themselves. The Trust takes a long term view of the consequences of its activities. Successful applications to the trust are those involving projects which are considered to have good potential for: a) encouraging a reforming of destroyed family units, b) stabilising community relationships and c) producing incentives for individuals to maintain development. DETAILS OF PROJECTS Click here for these (& for other info.) Since 1994, the Trust has been directly involved with many organizations based in Rwanda. One of these is: AVEGA (The Association of Widows of the Genocide of April 1994) In 1997, a grant was made to RDT by the National Lottery Charities Board in order to help with medical fees for the 'Widows of Genocide'. This was in addition to the original Capacity Building Project financed by Comic Relief (via RDT) which supported small scale income generating projects initiated by members of Avega. Avega's publicity leaflet says: 'In Rwanda:- there are thousands of widows, many of whom lost both husbands and children. there are hundreds of thousands of orphans. the wives and children often witnessed the massacres which deprived them of their husbands and fathers. people witnessed the destruction of all their possessions, including their homes, and were unable to defend themselves. today, there is an absence of support and protection for these vulnerable survivors. (AVEGA appears to be their only hope.) In spite of all these difficulties, the widows have tried to accept their circumstances and are now struggling with their feelings of guilt at having survived. They are having to cope with looking after many orphans themselves. Since the world has very largely been uninterested in their plight, the widows have formed a self-help organisation (AVEGA). Many of Avega's members remain considerably scarred by events of recent years and they also appear to have been badly neglected by the 'international community'. The Trust operates a sponsorship scheme for child headed households, run in conjunction with the Barakabaho Foundation. The cost of this is £60 per month per household but sponsors can sponsor 'in part' (or occasionally sponsor an individual child). Please contact RDT if interested. Further information can be obtained from the Rwanda Development Trust. Donations for AVEGA, for any other specific RDT project, or just to RDT in general can be made via the Rwanda Development Trust (reg. charity no.1043237) at P.O. Box 566, Bromley, Kent BR1 3WZ. [Cheques in GBP or USD payable to 'Rwanda Development Trust' ].