The next day, I was awake early and ready for a longer day meeting more amazing people. I spent a lot of the day with David (the Comfort Rwanda Director) again, meeting with 4 individuals who had graduated from the SKR (Street Kids Rescue) program. Things got off to an interesting start when Jean Claude who we were meeting first called to say that he had an emergency job to attend to. Jean Claude works as a plumber for the city and the call he needed to attend was a water pipe which was damaged meaning an entire street was without water until it could be sorted.
David, being David, couldn’t not get involved, and was soon working hard alongside Jean Claude to get the pipe dug out. Another testament to the amazing character of David, he just didn’t have it in him to stand back and not help.
Meeting with the 4 graduates of the SKR project gave me a great appreciation for the work that the SKR projects do. Having met with so many current members of an SKR project on my first day, meeting with graduates and hearing how their lives have been changed through the work God has and is doing through the SKR’s was amazing. Hearing of the stable presence that the SKR’s provided in their lives and how the skills and life lessons they learned through the projects allowed them to build a life for themselves that would have been out of reach without the ministry of the SKR was incredible.
After spending most of my day with the SKR graduates, David took me to meet back up with Clement and we headed to meet 3 of the ladies from the Comfort Crafts group. The group is made up of 12 ladies; widows and orphans who lost their families during the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994. During the genocide, hundreds of thousands were murdered and their homes were robbed. Before the genocide, these women were living with their families in different parts of Rwanda. After the genocide, they were widowed and orphaned. They came to Kigali as they had nowhere to live since their houses were destroyed.
In 1995, two women met and shared the stories and thought of an idea to make some money for their families and the orphans they had adopted. They decided to make and sell their handcraft. They started with their initially limited skills to make a small profit. They gradually met other people with same life stories and trained them in what they were doing.
They started selling their products locally in Rwanda. Then they met Callum Henderson and others who became close to them. Praying for them, listening to their stories and giving them a word of comfort have helped them so much in the healing process. Comfort Rwanda groups keep visiting the group every year and buy their products to sell in the UK and support them.
Sharing their stories together has helped them emotionally heal. They have improved their skills greatly by learning from others and perfecting their craft. Normally, they meet twice a week to make their products. Their lives have totally changed. Some can now buy homes and pay for their children to go to school. They are now one of the most successful projects of widows and orphans in Kigali.
It was a privilege to meet with some of the members of the group and hear their testimonies of God’s goodness and transformation in their lives. To have lived through the horrors they have and still be able to put God first, praise him and move forward in life through his strength is a testament to the amazing faith these women have and the amazing works of God they have seen in their lives.
