Posts Tagged ‘Rwanda’
An Extraordinary Yes
Extraordinary. It’s not a word many of us use often. We reserve it for people, times and places that are so exquisite, so set apart, that no other descriptor can carry their weight.
Read MoreWorld Relief’s Church Empowerment Zones: This Changes Everything
Picture a village. Remote, undeveloped, overwhelmed by poverty and characterized by broken relationships. Where malnutrition, illness, and a small number of positive role models oftentimes leave children extremely vulnerable. And where the perpetual cycle of poverty cripples entire generations, decade after decade. Now picture that same village in community. A community characterized by thriving relationships,…
Read MoreThe Magic Years: Care Groups
My grandson had a birthday recently. He’s two. He blew out candles, devoured cake and ice cream, and tore into presents. His favorite was a large bubble machine that floated huge translucent bubbles all over the room when he blew with all his might. My work every day at World Relief involves birthdays. We mark…
Read MoreThank God for Women — Thank God for My Mum
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate. My mother was raised in a religious family. She taught me and my three siblings the basics of Christianity and taught us to love people around us. When my father died on the battlefield, my mother…
Read MoreThank God for Women — A Conversation with Courtney O’Connell
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate. After living and working in South Africa and Zambia, Courtney O’Connell came to World Relief in 2011. With a master’s degree in International Development from Eastern University, Courtney took on the role of Savings for Life…
Read MoreChangemakers in Rwanda — A Story of Light Overcoming Darkness
The following post was written by Moses Ndahiro, Country Director for World Relief Rwanda. Rwanda. A country as magnificent as it is complex. A place of breath-taking beauty, and of an unthinkably violent history. A marvelous land of a thousand hills, still haunted by an eerie morning fog that sits atop the horizon and whispers…
Read MoreSavings is RESTORATION
Poverty runs deep in Rwanda. Even though this country has made signifiant social and economic progress over the last decade, the vast majority of Rwandans live in rural areas and struggle with severe financial hardships. Of the 87% of Rwandans who do not live in cities, 48.7% live below the national poverty line. Living in…
Read MoreEmpower a Hero: Jocelyn in Rwanda
“Before I joined the savings groups I was alone. I used to walk alone in the fields every day and I didn’t belong,” said Jocelyn, a business owner and mother from Rwanda. But since joining a Savings for Life group, Jocelyn has grown into a confident entrepreneur and member of a supportive community of women.…
Read MoreRwanda, Full of Heroes
Twenty years ago this month, a systemic and insidious darkness took hold of Rwanda. Conflict arising from post-World War Western interests manifested itself in the genocidal slaughter of as many as 1 million people. The wound is healing, but it is also spreading, reaching across borders into sister nations Burundi and the Congo. Since 1995,…
Read MoreSavings for Life – Empowering the Poor in Rwanda
Rwanda is a small country with one of the highest population densities in Africa (USAID, 2013). It is also one of the poorest countries, but it has made significant progress since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that killed nearly 800,000 people (USAID, 2013). Poverty has dropped from 56.7 percent in 2006 to 44.9 percent…
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