Earthquake 9 : housing in Rwanda

Our welfare programme is currently working in 3 quite remote parishes and we visited a few days ago to see the progress being made with building houses. This is the main thrust of what we do in the programme and the visits reminded me why. Regardless of the earthquake (and there was little sign of damage where we were on the edge of Nyungwe Forest), many, many families in rural Rwanda live in terrible conditions. There is a desperate and huge need for decent housing.
We have been building simple mud and wattle houses, about 8m x 6m, with 3 bedrooms – 1 for the parents, 1 for boys, 1 for girls. There is a kitchen / store and a toilet at the back. The doors are very basic, the floors are mud and usually there is very little furniture : I have never seen a wooden bed in one of these. The families are overjoyed to have even this very simple accommodation and are overflowing with thanks to God. This week we met a family which had 8 children (2 others had died) in their new house and they were delighted to have it. The family have a small coffee plantation and otherwise depend on the father finding temporary work digging fields.

These visits are very humbling, because life is a real struggle in very basic conditions, for so many people. The visits also raise a lot of questions about earthquake aid and if there is any just or fair way to distribute in this country with such overwhelming needs.