WHO WE ARE

• First, we are the children of the CHABHA projects.

There are 2678 of us in four associations,
300 in AGAPE in Kicukiro, Kigali, Rwanda
265 in AJESOV in Nyamata, Rwanda
2050 in AMAHORO, 1600 in Kucyiru, Kigali and 450 in Bumbogo, Rwanda,
and 63 in Mubafashee, Bujumbura, Burundi

For these children, their association is an extension of their family. For many, it is their family. Many say, about their leaders and friends, They are like my parents. Being with them takes away the loneliness.

Irene and her siblings were beneficiaries of their association for several years. Now as an elected leader of AMAHORO Association, she told her story,
"Mommy died in 2003 and Daddy died in 1999. I felt life was difficult because I was so young and orphaned with the responsibility of raising my brothers. I found AMAHORO in 2004 when I was 16 years old when a neighbor told me about the association and showed me where to find it. I met Emile and wrote a letter and told them my story, and they received me into the association and paid my school fees. They visited at my home and advised me on being a child heading a household. They taught me how to protect myself and younger brothers from HIV. They gave me emotional support to raise my brothers."

• We are also leaders of the associations. Like Irene, many of us "grew up" as beneficiaries and finished school with help from CHABHA. We love working with younger children.

Patrick tells what it is like to be a leader,
"I like the new position because it gives me the opportunity to counsel and continue to advise the children. I want to continue to work in home visits, discuss the challenges that families have that have been affected by HIV. I feel sharing my story with other children that have similar challenges can help. I help them find financial support, receive food, and direct them to CNLS that provides health care for people living with HIV."


• We are the young people learning trades in Project Independence. Each year since 2006 over 100 of us have learned to cook, to do hairdressing, to sew, to fix cars, to build furniture, to weld, to wait on table, to do plumbing, and more.



Here is what Eric, then a student in Project Independence, said,
"I am 19, a genocide survivor. One parent survived, but she passed away later." What does your live look like now? "I cannot find a way to express my feelings. I met many friends (in Project Independence) and we talk sometimes about the experiences before. I used to think about suicide because life was so hard. Now I think God. It is not easy to describe how difficult life was. I do not mean that now it is perfect but you cannot compare the two situations."

Many Project Independence graduates have jobs, and a few have borrowed money from CHABHA to start their own businesses. Up in the village of Bumbogo there is a bakery where 5 graduates, plus a technician on loan for a couple of months, bake, and sell (!), 50 loaves a day. Many of the breads are delivered by bicycle, some two hours from the bakery.

• We are the teachers in Project Independence. Teaching young people means a lot to us because we know we are making a difference in the lives of our students.



• We are the CHABHA-Rwanda staff, and we share a house with the AMAHORO Association and lots of children.

This is what Richard Mutabazi, CHABHA-Rwanda Director, said,

“Working with CHABHA is a blessing: you support the most vulnerable children and you can see the results in a very short time. Take the example of some children who have been trained in hotels and restaurants a few months ago and have jobs now; they are now financially independent and one can't understand how wonderful it is receiving their phone call saying: ‘we just wanted to check out with you and say thank you, we are doing well.’ ”

We are also visitors and volunteers who come to the CHABHA projects. We make a difference and learn a lot.

This is what volunteer Mim Shafer said,

“CHABHA has allowed countless children to develop their own creative capacities as students, leaders, care-givers, readers, speakers and inquisitive and positive members of their society. The core values of trust and unbiased assistance, created as the pillars of CHABHA's mission to serve and support, have certainly been successful. To witness children and young adults gathering in song, dance and discussion each week is to witness a great change and to conquer vast stigma that would ordinarily be attached to these people.”

• And we are the folks in the US - the Executive Director, Assistant, and Board of Directors.

This is what members of the Board of Directors said,

Hilary Ware, "When, through CHABHA, we create a chance for a child to improve her own life, the ripple effect spreads to her family, across the country and the continent."


Eric Rwabuhihi, former Director, CHABHA-Rwanda, "As a field worker for CHABHA, I liked that when we worked with our partners; there was equal participation; we worked together to encourage children to take the first step to solve their problems."


Nancy Segall, "What I like best about my participation in CHABHA is that, despite the enormity of the need in Africa's emerging economies, modest contributions can really make a difference in the lives of individual children."

Belinda Whipple Worth, "I love and so appreciate that CHABHA is lean and efficient; that it addresses the holistic needs of children, in the present, and with the goal of helping them achieve independent futures.
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• And, we are CHABHA’s friends and donors....
Please join us, and please donate to help assure these children’s futures.