Sewing School for Widows Gives Hope and Keeps Families Together (09-28-2007)

in Rwanda by Adam Bacher — October 1, 2007 at 4:38 pm | 1 comment

In 2002, while volunteering at a Orphanage of 100 boys, Ezra Kwizera, and his wife Mona, “felt a call to minister to the orphans of the 1994 Genocide to hopefully prevent them from becoming another army seeking revenge.” Many widows of the genocide brought their children to orphanages with hopes of giving them a better life than they felt they could provide – food, clothing, medical care, schooling. “To keep families together is very important to us,” says Ezra. With that goal in mind, in 2005 Ezra and Mona started a sewing school for widows with young children, and a program to assist them with such basic needs as housing, food, clothes, and school fees and supplies. “We would much rather see these children stay with their mothers and assist the whole family to have a better life.”

The sewing school gives these women hope, as well as a way to support their families. The school is free, including all supplies. Ezra’s passion for these women and children is unyielding. “Our goal,” he says, “ is to assist them in finding a profitable way sell the clothes they sew. Hopefully one way will be to export them, some how.”

If not for Ezra and Mona, this child would probably be an orphan. Now she comes with her mom to the sewing school.

Author: AdamBacher

Adam Bacher is a commercial photographer and photojournalist based in Portland, Oregon. He is working on a book project documenting Rwanda’s return to peace after the 1994 genocide. The people of Rwanda are its greatest assets, the strength of their accomplishments, the sorrow of their history, and the depth of their character. The Rwandans are an example of the potential of the human spirit to triumph over the worst of circumstances. They have many lessons to teach the world about peace.