Gisenyi is a border town with a population of about a hundred thousand. It’s a popular tourist destination for hiking and biking with great views of Lake Kivu and the Nyiragongo volcano. I had come to visit Emmanuel from the Kunda Village Ministry to stay with him a few days and distribute some clothes that I had collected when being home in Norway for a week.
Emmanuel was born during the genocide in 94 and lost both his parents when he was just two weeks old. He spent his life first living at an orphanage, then with an elderly woman and now he has managed to start his own one with support by the government and private donors.
Emmanuels ministry also supports single women who are struggling by giving them work to make clothes and handicrafts. I got to meet a sixteen year old with a two year old son where the father had escaped as he otherwise would have been charged for having sex with a minor. Others were just struggling finding work to feed their children. If you want to know more about the ministry or support them by buying their handicrafts, take a look at this page.
I know some of you will have the opinion that it is not good to go to an orphanage for the sake of distributing clothes and then leaving again as children can build trust and connection in a short time that thereafter will be taken away from them, but I will always think that if something that you don’t use does have use for others it is always better passing it on. Feel free to discuss in the comment field below.