Rwanda, a Home Away from Home: Families Open Doors to Refugee Children

On a hot summer afternoon in Kigali, three kids play in the compound of a modest-looking residence, a few miles from the Kigali International Airport. Their happiness as they ran through the yard is uncontainable, the little one repeating ‘Maintain distance, one meter and wash your hands’ – a famous health announcement to fight COVID-19. A few years ago, this laughter in this family wouldn’t be heard as cheery.

“They are like this all the time. They’re always happy,” says Jacques*, the father of the two kids and foster parent of the third, an eight-year-old unaccompanied refugee girl. “We’ve always dreamed to foster a child. My wife was raised in a foster family, and she’d often spoken about her aspiration to give back to other children. The opportunity to care Arlency* was a dream come true for our family.”

Conflicts in the country of origin in 2015 forced Alrency [who was only three at the time], her grandmother and her nanny out of their country at a moment’s notice. After fleeing to Rwanda, Arlency ‘s grandmother relocated to Uganda just a few weeks later, leaving the baby and her nanny behind. The nanny found work at Jacques’ house and the parents agreed for the child to live under their care.

“We have established a close relationship. She calls me ‘Papa’,” Jacques says.

“I consider the kids my own. Their mum was a good friend of mine.” A refugee mother of four, Nadine* decided to foster three refugee children after their parents left them in May 2019. Carine says she wants to show her children that people should help each other.

“There would be no pain in the world if we all helped each other out. If you show love for a child, a child will grow up to love others,” she says. “When kids grow up watching you support people, as they grow up, they support those in need too.”

Mama Michael * lives a happy life with her daughter and two foster children. They’re all refugees from the same country. One of those kids has been in the family for more than 12 years. Even though the caregiver lost almost everything when she fled, “a quiet place to sleep and a life of prayer help her cope with the situation”. Now she is helping the children and it also helps her cope with the situation.

“I left everything behind when I fled. Compared to living in my own home, I have to live in a single room with all the children now,” she says.