July/Aug 2008 - Lori Fellner

The faces in the photographs are expressionless. They’re women of various ages, staring blankly, their dark eyes not quite able to hide their sadness. These women are from a war-ravaged village near Kigali, Rwanda, and are some of the few survivors who lost their families and homes when civil war broke out this country in 1994. But now, with help from people like Cathy Jenkins, these women are rebuilding their lives.

When Cathy contemplated her retirement from teaching in June 2006, she was at a crossroad. She’d been a widow for 14 years and her son was grown and on his own. Cathy knew she needed to do something meaningful and fulfilling with her life.

“I knew I wouldn’t be content supply teaching and playing rounds of golf. It was time for a change and I knew there was something out there for me,” she says.

A few months later, quite by chance, she caught a CBC News special that featured a Canadian charity called Ubuntu Edmonton that was aiding victims in a small village near Kigali. The 100-day massacre that took place in Rwanda in 1994 had killed almost one million people, leaving women – mostly from the oppressed Tutsi tribe – destitute. The women watched as Hutu militia stormed their homes, slaying their husbands and children, and they endured torturous beatings and multiple rapes thereafter. They found themselves homeless, without food or even the right to the land that was owned by their now-deceased husbands. With no skills, education or jobs, the women relied on begging and prostitution to survive. Ubuntu Edmonton dedicated itself to rebuilding the war-torn village of Kimironko through hands-on work and sponsorship. Cathy was riveted by what she saw and knew she wanted to help.

“Never in my life did I want to go to Africa, but seeing the program, I thought this (was) what I’d like my life to look like. It just reached out and grabbed me. The whole idea that I was a widow who could help other widows appealed to me,” says Cathy.

So she began to correspond with Nicole Pageau, the woman who started Ubuntu Edmonton in 2005, and who lives full-time in Rwanda. After meeting Nicole during a visit to Montreal in the fall of 2006, Cathy made the decision to join the effort. By February of the following year, she’d sold her house, car and most of her possessions, and headed to Rwanda.

Cathy is one of only 11 volunteers and says the group’s main goal is to provide income for the women (there’s only one man in the village) and for the village to gain self- sufficiency. The entire infrastructure, including schools, was destroyed during the war so rebuilding is from the ground up. And since the Rwandan government contributes very little money to the restoration, villagers rely on sponsorship and financial contributions through various fundraising efforts. To date, Cathy has raised more than $30,000 towards meeting the more than $100,000 it takes to operate all the programs. A community centre was established in the village, along with a food bank and community garden, to deal with the overwhelming problem of malnutrition. A board of directors was also appointed and a housing project has begun to build mud huts to house the more than 700 villagers.

Other priorities of Ubuntu Edmonton include the development of a medical centre and a school. A chicken coop had been built with the goal to raise chickens; however, the bird flu epidemic prevented the livestock from arriving. Instead, the villagers turned the empty building into a daycare centre to provide early learning for the youngest villagers.

Skills training and the opportunity to learn leadership skills play a key role in helping the village. A large number of teens and young adults orphaned during the war and without education are learning trades. For example, young women are learning how to sew and make crafts and beaded jewelry that Cathy brings back to sell in Canada. It takes a week to make a beaded pen holder that sells for $6.

“Not a single person on staff gets paid, so every penny goes to the women,” says Cathy.

Ubuntu Edmonton’s work is not only seen in the physical surroundings, but also in the spiritual realm by restoring the women’s faith in humanity. It will take generations to heal the suffering of the genocide, explains Cathy, but she already notices changes in the women. The despair they once showed has been replaced with hope, and she sees it every day when they greet her and affectionately call her “Mama Cathy.”

Cathy has been to Rwanda twice and will be returning again this fall as part of her commitment there until 2012, doing fundraising and working as director of marketing and public relations. When she’s in Canada, she tours around, speaking about and promoting the work she’s so passionate about. Cathy says she’s constantly touched by people’s kindness and willingness to help with donations, and recently an elementary school student in Ontario wrote to her about the school’s fundraising idea to sell Tootsie Rolls candy for the Tutsi. An area businessman, who learned of Cathy’s volunteer work, pays for her flights to and from Kigali, lessening the impact her work is having on her personal finances.

Living in the slum where the Kimironko village community centre is temporarily located has given Cathy a different perspective. She has little space and only a cot to sleep on. “I see the big picture now,” she says. “I have nothing to complain about. I used to worry about how I was going to spend my day. Some of these women have trouble getting through their day.”

Cathy is always happy to return home to Kitchener and to her family and friends. But she soon misses her life in Africa. “I love the people and tIt’s as old as Cain and Abel and isn’t limited to children. In adulthood, if sibling rivalry rears its ugly head and is left unchecked, it can fracture family relations and wreak psychological havoc through jealousy, competitiveness, resentment and spite. For those suffering these negative consequences, it’s essential to learn the causes of sibling rivalry and how to minimize it.

he work I’m doing.” She talks about the beautiful, lush country and the smell of blossoms in the air. “I’ve found my niche and I’m having the time of my life.”