Executive

summ

ary

The country of R

wanda is locat-

ed in South central Afric

a , on

the Eastern side of the Demo-

cratic Republic of Congo. The

countries size is comparable to

the state of Maryland. The te

r-

rain in Rwanda is mostly

grass-

lands and hills. Rwanda contains

a variety of natural re

sources

such as gold,casserite,methane

and hydropower. Rwanda’s capi-

tal , Kigali is

the largest c

ity in

the country with a populatio

n of

300,000 people.

Child Malnutrition is a substan-

tial issue in Rwanda. 22.5 % of

children are malnourished. 95 %

of children are enrolled in school

but many do not h

ave the suf-

ficient amount o

f supplements

to maintain th

e average health

standard. Only 51% of children

finish prim

ary school. The most

relevant need in Rwanda is child

malnutrition if w

e could lower

the malnutrit

ion then a vast

amount of c

hildren could finish

primary school and be eduacted

and be the fu

ture generation

and also form

a greater society.

We are planning to constru

ct a

garden at schools. W

e will start

with one at a tim

e to see th

e

progress. This will benefit

the

Rwandan people in a way that

will increase th

e percentage of

children that w

ill finish prim

ary

school and go beyond primary

school. A community

center will

also be be constructed it w

ill

have a garden , it will a

lso be a

trade center w

ere trade will b

e

a major re

source.

Our proposal w

ill impact s

ociety

because families will a

sufficient

amount of fo

od , it will a

lso help

them expand there business.

Most importa

ntly it w

ill lower

the Child malnutrit

ion level and

children will constru

ct there fu

-

ture society and creat change it

will decrease th

e povert rate

Historical narrative

Rwanda is a country that has much history be-hind it. From change in government to genocide, Rwandans have had to go through many things. The people of Rwanda have had to overcome many obstacles and are still struggling through some problems to this day. To understand the history of Rwanda you have to go back about 600 years. Tall, warrior people called the Tutsis came to the land of Rwanda from Ethiopia. They invaded the native land of the Hutus. Even though there were less Tutsis than Hutus, they were able to take over. Most Tutsi became cattle herders while the major-ity of Hutus were peasants or serfs to the Tutsis. Hutus agreed to work for the Tutsis in return for their protection. Even though the Tutsis had much more power, they lived peacefully alongside the Hutu people. They lived in common areas, spoke the same language, intermarried, and worshiped the same king. The peace between Hutus and Tutsis didn’t last long once Belgium took over. Belgium favored the Tutsis over the Hutus and ended up declaring them different “races”. Each group had to carry around identification cards that indicated whether they were Hutus or Tutsis. The division between them

started more tension between the two groups. It got to the point where the Tutsis had too much power over the Hutus and so the Hutus decided to rebel in the 1950s. The rebellion caused the death of about 100,000 Tutsis. The Tutsi population got so scared that they left for other countries near Rwanda. Belgium made the problems in Rwanda worse when they invaded. They completely took over the government, the people of Rwanda didn’t have much say. This went on until the year 1962. On July 1, 1962 Rwanda finally gained indepen-dence from Belgium. Once the Belgium monarchy fell apart in Rwanda, two new countries emerged. Rwanda was run by the Hutus and the Tutsis took over Burundi. Even though they were in charge of different countries there was still much ten-sion between the two and the fighting continued for decades. The children of exiles formed a rebel group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a.k.a RPF. They caused much chaos in Rwanda and this led to a war breaking out in the year 1990. With the war going on and problems with politics and the economy, people had so much hatred and stress that everything got out of control in the year 1994. In April 1994, President Juvenal Habyarimana

was killed which led to the start of the genocide in Rwanda. Many Tutsis, along with Paul Kagmane, were blamed for the death of President Habyari-mana. Kagmane denied these accusations and told people that it was the work of Hutu extremist so they would have a reason to exterminate the Tut-sis. Leaders of political opposition were murdered and almost immediately the killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. The genocide lasted about 100 days but in those day about 800,000 people were killed. Tutsis were hunted down and killed. The group of people responsible for most of the killing were the Intera-hamwe (meaning those who attack together). The Interahamwe was a unofficial militia group who had about 300,000 members. Even though it was made up of young Hutu males, ironically, the president of this militia group was a Tutsi named Robert Kajuga. This group had the support of the presidential guard and radio propaganda. The only people that the Tutsis could hope that would bring peace were the United Nations. The U.N is made up by the United States, France, Belgium, and Italy. They tried to keep peace between the two groups but without being able to protect themselves it

became very difficult for them to keep control. Ten U.N soldiers were captured and murdered by the Interahamwe. The U.N felt overwhelmed with all the violence that they evacuated all their personnel and left the Tutsis and moderate Hutus on their own to deal with the Hutu militia. Eventually the RPF was able to gain control in Rwanda. On July 3, 1994 they took over Kigali and formed a provisional government. On July 19, 1994, also known as the day the genocide ends, Pas-teur Bizimungu was elected as president. He was the deputy leader of the RPF. With Bizimungu in power, the RPF was able to completely gain control of Rwanda by August 21, 1994. The RPF declared peace in Rwanda and with the help of the U.N. they established the International Criminal Tribunal. This international court was set up in order to judge people that might have been responsible for the genocide. Even though President Bizmungu was said to have all the power, many thought that vice-president Paul Kagame was the one who had true power in Rwanda. Bizmungu and Kagame had different ideas on how Rwanda should be ran. They had many conflict, so in the year 2000 Bizmungu resigned and Kagame became president

Rwanda’s TiMeline1961 - Rwanda proclaimed a republic. 1963 - Some 20,000 Tutsis killed following an incursion by Tutsi rebels based in Burundi. 1990 - Forces of the rebel, mainly Tutsi, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invade Rwanda from Uganda. April 1994 - Extremist Hutu militia and elements of the Rwandan military begin the systematic massacre of Tutsis. Within 100 days around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus are killed; Hutu militias flee to Zaire, taking with them around 2 million Hutu refu-gees. 1994-96 - Refugee camps in Zaire fall under the control of the Hutu militias responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. 1995 - Extremist Hutu militias and Zairean government forces at-tack local Zairean Banyamulenge Tutsis; Zaire attempts to force refugees back into Rwanda. 1996 - Rwandan troops invade and attack Hutu militia-dominated camps in Zaire in order to drive home the refugees. 2001 October - Voting to elect members of traditional “gacaca” courts begins. The courts - in which ordinary Rwandans judge their peers - aim to clear the backlog of 1994 genocide cases. 2001 December - A new flag and national anthem are unveiled to try to promote national unity and reconciliation. 2002 July - Rwanda, DR Congo sign peace deal under which Rwan-da will pull troops out of DR Congo and DR Congo will help disarm Rwandan Hutu gunmen blamed for killing Tutsi minority in 1994 genocide. 2003 May - Voters back a draft constitution which bans the in-citement of ethnic hatred. 2003 August - Paul Kagame wins the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.

2003 December - Three former media directors found guilty of inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis during 1994 genocide and receive lengthy jail sentences.

2004 March - President Kagame rejects French report which says he ordered 1994 attack on president’s plane, which sparked genocide. 2005 March - Main Hu tu rebel group, FDLR, says it is ending its armed struggle. FDLR is one of several groups accused of creat-ing instability in DR Congo; many of its members are accused of taking part in 1994 genocide. 2005 July - Government begins the mass release of 36,000 pris-oners. Most of them have confessed to involvement in the 1994 genocide. It is the third phase of releases since 2003 - part of an attempt to ease overcrowding. 2006 January - Rwanda’s 12 provinces are replaced by a smaller number of regions with the aim of creating ethnically-diverse administrative areas. 2007 February - Some 8,000 prisoners accused of genocide are released. Some 60,000 suspects have been freed since 2003 to ease prison overcrowding. 2008 May - A former cabinet minister, Callixte Kalimanzira, goes on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, charged with taking part in the 1994 genocide. 2008 October - Rwanda decides all education will be taught in English instead of French, officially as a result of joining the Eng-lish-speaking East African Community. 2009 November - France and Rwanda restore diplomatic rela-tions, three years after they were severed over a row about responsibility for the 1994 genocide. 2009 December - Rwanda declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve this status.

Millennium Development Goals

Goals StatisticsEradicate extreme poverty and hunger

- Poverty (% below national poverty line)- Child malnutrition (% of under-5s under-weight)

56.9%22.5%

Achieve universal primary education

- Literarcy level (% of 15-24 year olds)- Primary school net enrollment (%)- Primary school completion rate (%)

76.8%95%51.7%

Promote gender equality - Gender gap in literarcy (%)- Seats held by females in parliament (%)

0.1%48.8%

Reduce child mortality - Children immunised against measles (% 11-23 month old)- Under 5 mortality rate (per 1,000 births)- Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 births)

97%

15286

Rwanda has overcome many struggles throughout history. Even though things are a bit better now, they still have a long way to go to reach all of their goals by the year 2015. Even though they have improved in some goals, others aren’t going as well as they should. One of them is combating HIV/AIDS. Only 39% of the population uses modern contraception and only 54% of them have the correct comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Another goal that they need to work on is in ensuring enviromental sustainability. More of the population needs access to improved sanitation. Only about 8% have that access which is very low. People can’t survive without clean water, it’s their main resource. Without sanitation more diseases can spread and with more diseases there are even more deaths. It’s one of the main goals that need to be achieved because it can affect the outcome of all the other goals.

Improve maternal health - Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 births)- Birth attended by skilled health personnel (& of births)

75028%

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

- HIV prevalence (%)- Modern contraception (condom use) preva-lence among 15-24 year olds (%)- Proportion of population aged 15-24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDs - Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria (%)

3.5%39%

54%

2.4 to 4.9

Ensure enviromental sustain-ability

- Area protected to maintain biological diver-sity to surface area (%)- Proportion of the population with sustainable access to an improved water source (%)- Proportion of the population with access to improved sanitation. (%)

12%

64%

8%

C

Human rights status

Civil liberties

Rwanda is a country that allows free-dom of speech and freedom of assem-bly. They are both respected. Majority of workers except civil servants can join and construct trade unions. Within 20% or 30% of agricultural workers are unionized. Rwanda is a very rural so-ciety, many families live in a self-con-tained compound on a hillside. Over 70% of the adult population is literate, but not more than 5% have received sec-ondary education.

Rwanda boosts the worlds highest num-ber of women in parliament , up until today political figures of Rwanda are progressing on getting more women to get elected in local offices. During the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994 , women were abused and involved in sexual violence issues on a tremendous scale. They were raped by the Interham-we and by soldiers. Women were encour-aged to be killed and abused by presiden-tial guard, millitary, and political leaders. Years after the 1994 genocide rape was prohibited and it was reassured that this legislation was compromised. Prostitua-tion in the country of rwanda is prevalent but it still occurs. Rwanda women have the rights to inherit property as well.

T

The children in Rwanda were affected because they were forced in the milli-tary. Nearly 22.5 % of children in Rwanda are malnourished. 95 % of children were enrolled in school, due to the lack of suf-ficient supplements many children are not at the average health standard. Only 51 % of children complete primary school due to malnourishment . Children that were able to attend school are highly encouraged due to the fact it protects them from being recruited by Rwandan forces. It is important to inform parents to not abuse or neglect their children for the children’s protection. Children are also made to mine coltan in the provinc-es of South Kivu and Kalima.

Women issues Children issues

Environmental status ReportRwanda is located in Central Africa on the east-ern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country is made up of 26,338 sq km (1,390 sq km of water and 24,948 sq km of land). In comparison, the land size is similar to the size of the state of maryland. The land border of rwanda is a total of 893 km (290 km borders burundi, 217 km borders D.R Congo, 217 km borders Tanzania, and 169 km borders Uganda). Rwanda is known as a ‘landlocked’ country (there is no coastline). The terrain in Rwanda is mostly grassland and hills. The relief in the mountains and altitude de-clines from west to east. The lowest elevation level in Rwanda is the Rusizi River (950 m). The highest elevation level is Volcan Karisimbi (4,519 m). There is a wide variety of natural resources in Rwanda such as Gold, Casserite, Wolframite, Methane, Hydropower, and Arable land.

In Rwanda, Water is a very common good. Wa-ter management is under the Rwandan govern-ment’s list of responsibilities, as well as con-trolling the activities. In the water sector, there is a lack of organization and planning, which leads to a financial insufficiency. There is also a lack of water specialists (60% of them left the country because of the war; which lacks well-trained, young workers). There are many vunerable, endangered, and critically endangered wild life in Rwanda. The only critically endangered animal in Rwanda is the Black Rhinocerous. Other endangered ani-mals consist of Chimpanzees, Mountain Gorillas, and Wild Dogs. Vunerable animals include Afri-can Elephants, African Golden Cats, Carruther’s Mountian Squirrels, Large-Earred Free-Tailed Bats, and Spotted-Necked Otters.

Geography map

Description of needPoverty and child malnutrition is a substantial issue

in Rwanda. More than half the population live in pov-

erty. Most people struggle with providing the basic

needs for their families such as shelter and food.

This leads to many children not getting the food that

they need to be healthy. About 22% of children un-

der 5 years old are underweight. Trying to lower the

poverty and child malnutrition rate could certainly

benefit Rwanda.

Lowering the child malnutrition rate could also help

reach some of the other millennium development

goals. One of the goals it could help reach is achieving

universal primary education. From the data we col-

lected we noticed that 95% of children start school

but only about 51% finish primary school. That’s more

than half of the children that do not finish school!

We came to the conclusion that many of the chil-

dren probably stop going to school because they are

affected by the shortage of food. Without enough

food to keep their bodies healthy, they have a great-

er chance of getting sick. Due to the lack of modern

medicine, most of the sicknesses become fatal.

Shortage of food can definitely affect education

because if the children do not have enough energy,

they won’t do good in school. School can be hard as

it is but it can become harder if the children are hun-

gry. Just by finding a way to feed all these children

we can improve their education. This can lead to

them having a better chance of getting out of pov-

erty. These children deserve a better future and by

helping out with the food we can make their futures

much better. As they say “children are the future”,

these children are the future of Rwanda! We want

them to be able to have the resources to help their

country get out of poverty. Imagine a Rwanda with

no hungry children and no poverty.

Proje

ct pro

posa

l

In Rwanda, child malnutrition

is an immense issue. About 51%

of the children in Rwanda are

malnourished. Our team has pro-

posed an eco-friendly project idea

to help stop child malnutrition in

Rwanda. In 2005, 22.5% of chil-

dren under 5 years of age were

severely underweight. We plan to

end this by building a community

center in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali.

We will start out building a cen-

ter in a small community, then

as our center gets more popu-

lar, we will in

crease the size and

capacity and add on in another

community in Kigali. The center

we propose to establish is going

to be a wholesome environment

where the Rwandan families can

come and get help with their ba-

sic needs. We hope to have our

community center and organic

garden up and running by 2015.

The community center will have

workshops where our volunteers

teach parents how to keep their

children from going hungry. The

community center will also work

with families to make healthy

alternatives to their traditional

Rwandan foods.

A Rwandan breakfast usually

consists of sweet potatoes and

porridge with milk. In Kigali, bread

and tea (with a lot of milk and

sugar) is a very common meal.

Lunch and dinner can consist

boiled beans, bananas, cassava

[kuh-sah-vuh] (which is a tropical

plant), umutsima [ooh-mut-see-

ma] (a mix of corn and cassava),

isombe [es-om-bee] (cassava

leaves with eggplant and spinach),

and mizuzu [miss-ooh-zoo] (fried

plantains). During the day tropi-

cal fruits like avacados, bananas,

mangos, and papayas are a tasty

and healthy snack. Our goal is to

have 1 successful center complet-

ed in 2014. Our Long Term Goals

include having the child malnutri-

tion and secondary education

statistics improve greatly. We

hope to make sure the Rwandan

citizens have enough knowledge

to continue on with our proposed

plan in effect. We plan to have our

center help the child malnutrition

and education statistics as well.

With the help of our community

centers, we are hoping to make

sure everyone gets the help they

need to make Rwanda grow as a

civilized country.

Our main goal we are trying to accom-plish in Rwanda is to lower child malnu-trition. By setting up a community cen-ter we are hoping it can provide more food for the people in Rwanda, especially the children. Our project could have many impacts on Rwanda. Even though some of these impacts could definitely benefit Rwanda, others might not have such a great impact. One of the positive impacts that this would have is that a plentiful number of children will finally the right supplements

to be at the right health standards. With the garden that we are planning to grow in the community center, we will be able to provide the food necessary to feed more children. Though the garden is going to provide food, we need to also teach the people how to maintain the garden and keep it growing. For this we need volunteers that are willing to work in the garden and in the community center for no pay. This could either have a good or bad impact depending on how you see it. It could be a negative impact because it would be creating more work

for the people of Rwanda but on the other hand, the people that are going to be doing this work are going to be learn-ing skills that could come in handy. They would be learning how to grow their own food and how to keep that food sani-tized. With cleaner food there will be less diseases and germs spread around. Also, the land that is going to be used to build the community center on might impact the people that live nearby. Some land might have to be given up to build the community center. The people living

nearby are going to have to get used to the streets being busier. If many people depend on going to the community cen-ter it can make traffic a bit more heavy on the streets nearby. Traffic could be bad but it would create much more busi-ness for stores or businesses nearby. Overall, our project will have more posi-tive impacts then negative ones. The city of Kagali will definitely benefit from our community center.

Impact Analysis

Project Implementation

Short term goal Long term goalYear 1 (2011):Spead awareness about RwandaRecruit volunteersAcquire fundingArrange transportation Establish presence in Kigali Year 2 (2012):Volunteers arrive in RwandaConstruction of community center begins Maintain center awareness in Kigali Year 3 (2013): Volunteers begin interacting with Kigali residentsFind out what the families need to maintain nutritional stability Year 4 (2014):Begin production of organic garden Year 5 (2015):Community center & organic garden expected opening

Our Long Term Goals are very similar to our short term goals. Our main long term goal is to lower the child malnutrition rate from 22.5% to 11% in a 10 year span. We plan to execute this plan by keeping our school garden and community center running by teaching some of the Rwan-dan adults how to keep the garden and community center up by maintaining it to make sure everyone has a wholesome place for food. By having this community center, we are also hoping to extermi-nate poverty. We would like to do this by making sure these pe ople have food, and when they have food they can have a bet-ter education. 95% of Rwandan students start school and only 51% finish. So an-other major goal we have is to make that statistic go from 95% starting school to 70% finishing school. We hope for the best that this plan will be fairly effective.