Rwanda is a small but beautiful mountainous country situated in  central  Africa.  During the period of about 100 days from April 4th through to  mid-July 1994, an estimated 100,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus in Rwanda were massacred. Much of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed, severely impoverishing much of the population, particularly women and children.


The genocide was brought to an end when a Tutsi-dominated ex-patriot rebel  movement, known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front, overthrew the Hutu government and seized power.  Naturally, the violence and its memory has continued to affect Rwanda and its people as well as the surrounding area of Africa, to this day.


We work in the more remote areas of western Rwanda on the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – from Ruhengeri in the foothills of the Virunga mountains (home of the mountain gorillas of Dian Fossey fame now The Gorilla Organisation) down as far as Cyungugu on the shores of Lake Kivu.

Fortunately  huge progress has already been made, not only with the help of the David Rundle Trust, but also by the Rwandan people themselves who are positive about their  future and determined to make a life for their children.


There are more women in government positions in Rwanda than in many European  countries and the country’s ecological awareness incorporates such projects as  stopping the  use of plastic shopping bags, and teaching the building and the use of bono cookers which use at least 50% less wood than open fires.  This helps to save the mountain gorilla’s habitat (these gorillas are now a most important part of tourism and the economy) and, for women and children in particular, helps to save much time in collecting wood.  It also reduces carbon emissions by 80%