by Billy McClung
“One of my lasting memories of Byiringiro was his smile.”
It is with great sadness that we advise of the sudden death of Byiringiro Habayimana, one of the young men from the Gasanze Street Kids Rescue Project in Rwanda. He was in an accident with a truck in the Gasanze area in the early evening of Saturday 14 November 2020 and was fatally injured.
Byiringiro was one of the first kids that we met when a team from Comfort International visited the landfill site in the early morning of Tuesday 11 July 2017. When his profile was being taken for sponsorship, he informed that his father had died which left his mother and 5 siblings. His mother was unemployed and he advised that due to issues of poverty, he made the decision to leave home and go to ‘dump city’ as he believed that life would be better there and he was more likely to have access to some food. He also said that he dropped out of school when he was in Primary 1, again due to issues of poverty. One of his future hopes was to have the opportunity to go back to school, complete his education and, ideally, train as a teacher as he recognised the importance of education.
Byiringiro became part of the project in October 2017, shortly after it was set up. As a result of his sponsorship, he was able to get access to medical insurance, stable accommodation and wholesome food. He was also able to return to school some 3 months later. In addition, the project team built up a relationship with his mother and siblings over a period of time and, following a number of meetings where he was supported by the team, he eventually was able to go back home to stay with his family after a period of him staying in Gasanze House. Regular home visits by the project team members saw a developing close and loving relationship with his mother and his siblings. It was noted that a couple of his sisters got married in the interim in order to reduce the financial burden on their mother.
In the Annual Report for 2017 Byiringiro stated:
“Since I joined the project my life is good, I get enough proper food, I learned to pray, to behave and to respect one another. I can clean my body and clothes.”
Byiringiro returned to school in January 2018 and his progress and hard work was evidenced in the twice yearly reports since then. The most recent report (summer 2020) highlighted how he continued to revise some of his lessons at home following the closure of the schools in March 2020 as a result of Covid-19, so that he could be prepared when they eventually reopened.
Byiringiro’s funeral took place on Sunday 15 November 2020. The funeral service was organised by Comfort Rwanda and was taken by Pastor Emmanuel who spoke words of comfort. In view of the Rwandan government Covid-19 measures, no more than 75 people could attend however there were many people from the local community and local leaders, as well as friends and family members. In addition, a number of family members of Gasanze kids were also in attendance. Some of the older boys from the Gasanze Street Kids Rescue project carried the coffin from the road to the burial site. Despite the significant poverty in the area, many of the local community made a financial contribution towards the cost of the service etc.
One of my lasting memories of Byiringiro was his smile. On the day we found him, he was sad and unhappy, we didn’t see him smile, what did he have to smile about? However, since he became part of the project, he always had a smile on his face. He thanked his sponsors in the twice yearly reports for their love and support of him, something that made a lasting, significant impact, not only on his life, but on the lives of his family. He will never be forgotten.
