Rwanda
By:Lauren Choi
Where is Africa located?
Africa is located in the southern hemisphere, there are more than 1250-3000 native languages, and there are 54 countries.
What has happened in Rwanda to have the country living like this:
In 1994, the President of Rwanda was killed in a plane crash. The Hutu political leaders began a campaign of genocide against all Tutsis. After 100 days of killings, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front captured the capital, which forced the genocidal regime to declare a cease-fire. During the genocide, over 800,000 Tutsis were brutally massacred, leaving 95,000 children orphaned. An additional three million refugees fled to neighboring countries seeking safety. In the years following the genocide, Rwandans joined together to rebuild their homes, hospitals, schools, and lives.
Some ideas about the tragic moments of child survival:
Losses:
This child is crying because of his mother and father was slaughtered in his own eyes.
Moving on from tragic moments:
This child is standing at his mother's cross after being shot in the head by a gun.
Reunited:
This happy single mother is reunited with her 2 daughters after they hid in caves for more than 5 months.
Facts about child survival:
- 44% of children under five years old suffer from chronic malnutrition (are shorter than they should be for their height, thereby leaving them stunted), which poses a serious threat to their mental and physical development, particularly since malnutrition has been identified as an underlying factor in 43% of deaths in children under five.
- Causes include insufficient food intake, recurrent illnesses, a lack of knowledge on infant and young child feeding practices, inadequate hygiene and sanitation, poor primary health care and household food insecurity.
- Rwanda is committed to improving child survival and has taken impressive measures to expand access to quality care, increase immunization coverage and ensure a well-developed community based health worker system.
- Improving practices in health care, nutrition and hygiene within communities and families by strengthening the capacity of health services and community based organizations to deliver an integrated package of services.
- Promoting nutrition messages through the “1000 Days “campaign, which focuses on the importance of nutrition from pregnancy until the child is two years old.