Arusha, 30 June, 2009
The Hirondelle News Agency reports that the ‘One Dollar Campaign’ launched in Rwanda on April 4, 2009 to raise funds to support orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide has collected 500 million Rwandan Francs (1 mil. US dollars) to date, according to a report published by the Rwandan daily New Times.
The newspaper quoted Gustave Karara, an official in charge of the Rwandan Diaspora Global Network (RDGN), as saying during a press conference in Kigali that the campaign is still Rwf 1.5 billion (3 mil US dollars) short of its target.
The 100-day operation carried out throughout the world by the Rwandan diaspora aims to construct houses for orphans whose parents were killed during the genocide which left over 800,000 people–mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus–dead between April 6 and July, 1994.
However Karara sounded optimistic that the target would be reached. “Although this is the only visible available amount, we believe that we have in a way already met our target. There are various pledges that have been sent and once valued; these can raise the available figure,” the New Times quoted Karara.
This optimism was also shared by the Vice Chairperson of RDGN. On Tuesday, Leonie Rutanga said to Hirondelle Agency in Arusha “We will meet the target.”
Giving examples Rutanga said some public institutions and private companies promised to donate services and materials which are crucial for the project. She mentioned the Rwanda Ministry of Defence which pledged to transport all building materials to the sites, Kigali City Council which promised to send its engineers and architects for construction, and a cement company which pledged to offer all the cement needed for building the houses in question.
Other efforts are still underway in and outside Rwanda to reach the target as estimated, Rutanga said.
The construction work is expected to start after the end of the 100-day campaign in early July.
