Such newborns,mostly left behind by prostitutes or girls with unwanted pregnancies, if they survive at all, also face a challenge of being fostered by committed mothers.
“I have my own 10 children and foster 4 others who had been abandoned by their mothers shortly after birth,” testified Anne Marie Kansayisa, a foster mother from Rubavu, during the Formal Kinship Care International Conference held in Kigali on Tuesday.
She said girls and prostitutes, after delivery, leave their babies in bushes, toilets, or on the street, and then run away, often crossing the Rubavu border into the DR Congo.
“Everyone should show pity to these babies and foster them as other children in the families, because there is still a financial challenge to properly raise these children in families,” Kansayisa observed.
She is one ofmany parents mobilized by Uyisenga Ni Imanzi, an organization addressing the special needs of orphans affected by genocide, poverty, AIDS, violence and other challenges.
Figures by experts in child protection show that in Rwanda only 64.5 % of children below the age of 15 live with both parents; 1.1% have lost both parents while9.1% have lost one parent.
11.2 % of children between the ages of 5 and 15 years are engaged in the child labour.
“Poverty, illiteracy, violence and abuse, lack of family planning, polygamous and unrecognized unions, as well as HIV/AIDS are among the main causes why children are abandoned by their family and the community,” explained Natacha Rwigamba, child protection officer in Uyisenga Ni Imanzi.
More campaigns needed
Dr.Claudine Uwera Kanyamanza, the executive secretary of the National Commission for Children remarked that care of orphans is part of the government’s policies,a vital art of which is collaboration with NGOs and individuals to help promote formal kinship care and help children flourish.
She noted that the problem of abandoned newborn babies is critical, especially for girls with unwanted pregnancies.
“We will continue campaigns to avoid early pregnancies, but when it happens we have to work together to support those girls to discourage them from abandoning or even killing their baby,” she said.
A survey by Uyisenga Ni Imanzi of 289 people (parents, teachers, children) in 4 districts shows that1 out of 2 children in Rubavu were born either out of wedlock,from teenage pregnancies, in polygamous situation or that they were not recognized by the father. Most of them don’t have a birth certificates.
It also shows child exploitation is still rampant, with 73.9% in Nyanza district involved in child labor,while 1 out of 3girls face early pregnancy and others drop out of school due to various reasons.
On the bright side, however, communities are rallying together to help such disadvantaged children.
“Five months ago,we were mobilized on what we can do to return children to school. We started with a group of ten women, as we realized some children’s families don’t have the money for school feeding, and others are orphans. So we try to save money to support them,”testified Rahab Nyiransekerabanzi, who is part of a women’s initiative to return children to school in Nyarugenge district.
The group has already saved Rwf50,000 in five months and in one year they hope to have a project to help
Source:www.focus.rw