Abstract
- In Rwanda, the French evacuate refugees to the Goma base in Zaire. And right next to the border, an orphanage, where more than 400 disabled children have been living as best they can since the start of the civil war, welcomes the arrival of the military with relief. The establishment has almost nothing left to support its small community.
- These children are disabled, refugees and orphans. They fled the fighting and ended up in this orphanage whose original residents had gone to Zaire. 420 children practically all alone. To make matters worse, out of 120 little blind children in their group, only three were able to escape and make it here.
- Cutting eucalyptus wood for the fire, cleaning the center, taking care of the little ones, five adults organize the life of this community of kids, victims among so many others but even more vulnerable.
- No beds or even blankets, kids sleep on the ground. They get sick. Some are injured. Medicines will soon run out.
- The disabled orphans lost most of their orthopedic devices in the exodus. But here the fallback center could at least feed these forgotten people of the war. They were already without a real home, thrown onto the roads. Now they are even more isolated.
- Until now, no one has really cared about the fate of these 420 children. Their situation will, however, deteriorate very quickly: the center's resources are running out, there are only three days of food left.