Young Rwandans work together against AIDS

Tim Shenk
March 18, 2005

Violette Mukamurara has a problem. She has become pregnant, and she does not know if her boyfriend has HIV.

"Nothing can stop love," Mukamurara says, but her pregnancy distresses her. On the advice of a friend, Mukamurara decides to go to a hospital to get tested for HIV and to receive help in giving birth to a healthy baby.

This is the plot of a lively skit performed by a troupe of young adults to educate young people about AIDS. The actors are members of a club called Rengera Ubuzima, or "Save Life," which gives theatrical, choral and dance performances on AIDS in schools. Their skit tells a fictional story, but one that illustrates a problem facing many who come of age in Rwanda today.

A high AIDS rate is one consequence of the Rwandan genocide, which killed nearly a million people in 1994. Rape was widespread, and in the aftermath of the genocide, prostitution became a means of survival for some women. As Rwanda struggles to distance itself from the horrors of that time, the young adults of Rengera Ubuzima and other peace clubs are on a dual mission to stop the spread of AIDS and to build social unity.

"We teach the population to be united, so we can work against AIDS together," says Thomas Ndizeye, the club president.

MCC is supporting Rengera Ubuzima and 14 other young adult clubs in promoting AIDS awareness and peace in Rwanda. Each group is organized and trained by Peace House, an MCC partner organization in Kigali, which is a ministry of Rwandan Evangelical Friends churches.

Conflict between Rwanda's ethnic Hutu majority and ethnic Tutsi minority was the basis of the 1994 genocide, when Hutu extremists organized the mass killings of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Rengera Ubuzima's 43 members come from both ethnic groups. Among the club's four leaders, two are Hutus and two are Tutsis, and all were orphaned by the 1994 genocide or the civil war that immediately followed it. "Now we are good friends, even though our parents were killed in different ways," Ndizeye says.

Rengera Ubuzima gathers twice a week to sing and to rehearse its skits, and the club performs about once a month for community gatherings at schools. MCC's funding allowed Rengera Ubuzima to purchase traditional dance costumes, as well as soccer balls for a women's league. With MCC's support, Peace House is organizing 10 new clubs this year.

N. Adock Musafiri, the program coordinator, says Peace House is beginning to train clubs to promote human rights, democracy and environmental protection, in addition to AIDS awareness and peace education.

"With the problems in Rwanda ... it's difficult to change the minds of the old people," says Musafiri, a former government official. "But with the youth, it's not difficult ... I hope that the youth can change, so tomorrow they can have a nice country."

 

Generations at Risk Projects in Rwanda