New Book: Among the Living
(preview is 6 of 78 pages)
Gisimba Orphanage
Kigali, Rwanda
Gisimba is one of the oldest orphanages in Rwanda and was a hiding place and refuge for many Tutsi during the 1994 genocide.
Currently the orphanage has over 148 children most of whom range between three to twenty-two years of age, and has become home to many children who were orphaned due to genocide and HIV/AIDS.
The orphanage is run by Damas Gisimba, son of the founder, who hid over 400 people in the rafters of the orphanage while genocidal killers roamed the streets outside. He is officially considered a national hero of Rwanda.
Sixteen years after the genocide (April 2010), I travelled to Rwanda to attend a Peacemaker Institute Bearing Witness Retreat.
Following the retreat, at the invitation of Marie-Claudine Mukamabino of The Kuki Ndio Foundation, he visited the orphanage and photographed these spirited children.
