Rwanshetsya is a remote rural area within the Rukararwe project area in Bushenyi District, Western Uganda, where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left many children without parents hence vulnerable
2001, Mrs Bakirahi (rest in peace), a member of the Rukararwe traditional healer association (BUMETHA) and a grandmother of 11 orphans, noticed with dismay how child-headed families were on the increase within her village and approached the board of RPWRD for possible collaboration in establishing an orphanage. With the assistance of Pastor Walter Schroedter of the Evangelical Christusgemeinde in Raisdorf, Germany, sufficient funds to erect an orphanage building were raised and youth groups from Germany and Uganda volunteered to construct an orphanage building (using the earth-brick technology) during 2004.
Today, Rwanshetsya Orphanage is headed by Mrs Jane Kekitinisa with the assistance of three qualified teachers and two other staff members. Forty-two children between the ages of three and fourteen years are assisted in doing their school homework, they are assured of a balanced meal a day, and they obtain regular medical check-ups and treatment if the need arises. They live in the dormitories and sometimes their families help to make a remarkable contribution to assist Mrs Kekitinisa in making the orphanage a success. The general public and our partners in Germany have played an important role in providing funds and clothing requirements recently, and thus the orphanage keeps being improved.
