CSUCI student, Rwandan man partner to bring electricity to orphanage
By Daniel Wolowicz camarilloacorn.com

SURVIVING- The young men, left, are residents of one of 22 "child-headed" homes in Kigali, Rwanda, which house nearly 120 children. The orphans, including the above infants, are cared for by the oldest child in each home.

In the e-mailed images on Kyle Morford's computer screen, nearly a dozen infants swaddled in brightly colored baby blankets slumber headtofoot. Lined up two-by-two, steel cribs fill the small room in a dilapidated house in Kigali, Rwanda.

The beds' light blue paint long ago started to chip away.

The home is one of 22 buildings cobbled together to form a makeshift orphanage in the poverty-wracked city.

Morford, 21, and Christian Mbakwani, a Kigali resident, have joined forces over the Internet to raise the $16,000 needed to wire the orphanage for electricity.

Known in the community as "child-headed families," each of the orphanage's homes are run by its oldest resident, usually a teenager, who looks after the younger children.

Funded by Duhumurizanye, a Kigali-based grassroots charity, the orphanage houses more than 120 children.

Morford is an international affairs major at California State University at Channel Islands and a member of the university's Rotaract Club, a service group for college students and young professionals. Mbakwani belongs to Rotaract in Rwanda.

The pair met online about a year ago through a Rotaract website that connects members throughout the world. Established in 1968 by Rotary International, Rotaract has members in more than 150 countries.

Morford wanted to become involved with a charity and had searched worldwide for a project he could help support. Rotoract linked him with members in 16 other countries before leading him to 29-year-old Mbakwani and the Kigali orphanages.

"It was exactly the type of project I was looking for," Morford said.

"The Rotaract Club of Kigali, in their community development initiative, proposed to do small projects to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged peoples with a target of genocide survivors and HIV/AIDS orphans," Mbakwani wrote in an email interview.

The club's initial work with the orphanage was limited to meeting basic needs for food, soap and toilet paper, Mbakwani said. "It was, however, realized that elementary assistance of that kind was not that beneficial, but that rather a more sustainable kind of assistance was needed."

The amount needed to wire the homes for electric power is a major expense in Rwanda. Morford has been speaking at Rotary clubs throughout Ventura County in an effort to raise the funds.

"It's been very easy speaking at the Rotary meetings," said the Newbury Park resident. "It's like I'm speaking to my family."

Morford said he has spoken to several clubs and his efforts are starting to pay off. He said the fundraisers are still far short of their goal, however.

The orphaned children are the legacy of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that left more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead in less than four months. Nearly 13 years later, the country still bears the scars of the bloody war between Tutsi rebels and the Hutu regime.

The ongoing sectarian wars in neighboring countries, the decimation of Rwanda's infrastructure and the ever-climbing rate of HIV/AIDS throughout the country have left hundreds of thousands of children without parents.

Because Rwanda, Africa's most densely populated country, remains economically devastated, small orphanages are often overlooked by the government and left to fend for themselves.

"It's amazing but they have nobody to help them," Mbakwani said. "They have nobody who cares about their daily food and their elementary need. In short, they live in (a) bad situation."

"I thought that Rwanda was a developing country with a lot of potential that could use some help," Morford said.

Both men said they hope electricity will help the orphanage generate a sustainable income through a number of projects including carpentry work and produce sales.

While Morford continues his fundraising work, Mbakwani has negotiated a deal with Electrogaz, Rwanda's national power company, to wire the orphanage. He said he has secured money from the local government to help pay for renovations to the 22 homes.

Mbakwani said he wants to have the wiring work done at the same time as the renovations in order to minimize construction costs. To do so, Mbakwani and Morford hope to have the money in time to start construction by June. Morford said he will travel to Rwanda this summer to meet Mbakwani and visit the orphanage.

Morford said the pictures of sleeping infants help him see why the project is so important.

"The pictures . . . put you in your place and make you really think about what we have in this country and what we can be doing in other countries," he said.

To schedule a presentation by Morford or to make a donation, call (818) 903-4839.