“It was like three 9/11s every day for one hundred days.”
– Dr. Charles Murigande (Minister of Education)

In 1994, a brutal genocide turned the beautiful land of a thousand hills into a land of a million tears. At that time Rwanda ceased to exist as a nation. Nearly one million people, a tenth of the population, were dead. Three million people had fled the country. Numerous people were displaced. The government, the economy, the education system, the infrastructure, and the social fabric of the nation had been destroyed.

Few believed Rwanda could recover.  15 years later Rwanda has repatriated almost all its refugees, restored peace and security, and is widely lauded for its progress in combating corruption and its bold vision to transform itself from a primarily agrarian society to a regional service providing economy by the year 2020.  The Rwandan people have faced the difficult reconciliation process head on with the help of a community court system focused on restorative justice called GACACA.  Rwanda has the highest percentage of female Members of Parliament of any country in the world at 54%.  The country was recently recognized for its rapidly improving business climate by the World Bank Doing Business Index.

This means there is a window of opportunity to invest in Rwanda and ensure the progress of the last fifteen years is permanent.  Wellspring is on the front lines as it seeks to educate and empower the next generation of Rwandan leaders.  We are privileged to be part of the work God is doing in this tiny Central African country and are inspired by the example of the Rwandan people.