About Me
Hey! My name is Stacy Kuhns and I live in the United States. I’ve traveled to a few different countries, including Brasil, South America, of course Mexico; but no country has impacted me as much as my most recent trip to Rwanda, Africa. It is such a beautiful country, with beautiful people, landscape, and culture. But surrounding all the beauty is an ugly past. In 1994 there was a mass slaughtering of human lives–a Genocide to be more precise. One tribe murdering another. Over a period of 90 days, it’s estimated that around 1 million people, women and children included, lost their lives during this terrible event. Neighbors killing neighbors, friends killing friends, all in the name of tribal conflict. Not one outside country stepped in to help–The United States and England included. The UN just turned and ignored the “small conflict” taking place in Rwanda.
Then, in 1997 it happened all over again. Not quite in the same magnitude, but with many of the same results. With Rwanda being a country only about the size of the state of Maryland, this hatred, jealousy, and greed was spread very rapidly. Currently, the country is at rest, but a different aspect of the genocide still takes place. Many people have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS–a product of the rape and incest that still takes place today. The humbling part is, theres so many people, but not enough outside help. Here’s just a few statistics
Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa and is home to roughly 8.5 million people.
1.5 million of the Rwandan population are orphans
The average monthly income is $300
There are just as many widows as there are orphans.
To get a public school education, it costs $50 US dollars/year for K-6th grade, and $250 US dollars for 7-12th grades. Even at that, the education is below par.
With all this said, God has placed Rwanda on my heart. Please look through my blog and if you have any questions or comments of ideas of how to better reach the people of Rwanda, let me know. I pray that I will be able to return there soon, and be able to help with the healing process of this tiny country.