East Lothian Courier | News | Trio are on mission to help rebuild Rwanda

Thursday, 20th November, 2008

Published: Thursday, 10th April, 2008 08:00

Trio are on mission to help rebuild Rwanda

THREE Dunbar residents are to mark the 14th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide by launching a bid to raise £150,000 for widows and orphans of the ravaged African republic.

Husband and wife, Kilvert and Margaret Croft, and Kirsty MacArthur, spent three weeks with genocide survivors in the Nyanza region, south of the capital Kigali in January.

And they have since vowed to raise funds for the most vulnerable people there.

The trio – all members of Dunbar Parish Church – were assisted on their African journey by Comfort Rwanda, a Scotland-based charity, and worked in Nyanza with Rwandan charity Solace Ministries.

Solace is run by survivors of the genocide attacks – when nearly one million people died in 100 days of slaughter – to support fellow survivors.

Kilvert Croft, 59, from Muirfield Road, said their Rwandan adventure was a life changing experience. “The people at Solace are all inspirational, they give up so much to help others, and they set the best of examples of how to live our lives, ” he added.

The trio want to help build sustainable income in Nyanza from farming and the export of traditional crafts, to improve conditions for Rwandans in the area.

Margaret Croft said: “We realise that we have set ourselves quite a task. But once you have met these wonderful people it would be impossible to do nothing. We hope that many people will come to Rwanda with us in the future and some of the Solace team will come and visit us in Dunbar”.

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