Manessé's story (Rwanda)
Between head-high banana plants Manessé leads the way slowly up the hill. With a strong physique that belies his 12 years, Manessé is just a child himself – but is already obliged to lead the life of an adult.
Each day, he collects his 8-year-old sister Mukandayisenga from Kigeyo Primary School. Smiling proudly in her blue school uniform, Mukandayisenga looks just like any of the school's other 1,100 pupils. But since the death of their parents, Mukandayisenga and her siblings are all alone in the world. Treated as outsiders, they get little support from their neighbours. Since the genocide of 1994 and the chaos of war along the Congo border, most families in the area are battling for their own survival. UNICEF estimates that there are around 40,000 child-headed families in Rwanda comprising more than 100,000 children.
Manessé, his elder sister Niyiramana (17) and brother Emanuel (23) all had little or no education. Their home is a dilapidated mud hut on a tiny piece of land, on which the two older boys struggle to grow enough potatoes and other vegetables to feed the family. They hope that the baby of the family, Mukandayisenga, will at least be able to complete her education and get paid work to bolster the family fortunes.
Primary schools are of particular importance in helping families like Manessé's. With UNICEF support, children's and youth clubs are organized where young people can help each other and supply the neediest households with vegetables grown in the school garden. Many schools have also set up special needs classes for children who have dropped out of school, to help them at least learn the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.
With the help of donations from Schools for Africa, a new school building is now being built in Kigeyo, with a training centre for teachers from other schools in the area. UNICEF plans to create 50 of these model schools across the country, with 18 already under construction.
