Gisimba Memorial Center is a center that for the past 75 years has survived the famine and later the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda when Damas Gisimba and an American aid worker sheltered and saved over 400 children and countless adults from the tragic period of the Genocide against the Tutsis. Following the 2012 nationwide shift from orphanages to a foster care system, Gisimba leaders created an after-school program that now anchors the surrounding urban neighborhoods. Throughout all these years, Gisimba has constantly responded to the immediate needs of its community: when children are abandoned or when families struggle, the community can turn to Gisimba to feel safe, feed, and to have access to clean water and survive. The Gisimba Memorial Center directly supports the residents of Kigali who most need their help, sheltering orphans, refugees, and families during their most difficult times.

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Currently, the Gisimba Memorial Center is a social center dedicated to the defense and protection of the rights of the child population in Rwanda. Our work is based on the creation of after-school programs related to socio-educational programs that offer services and protection to all those who are vulnerable. It functions as a fully functioning extracurricular program, providing academic and artistic enrichment to the most vulnerable youth in Kigali. Gisimba uses the creative arts to build strong relationships, heal families, restore dignity, and create hope in vulnerable East African communities. Through a holistic, trauma-based approach, Gisimba provides academic and artistic enrichment, family education, and therapeutic services to underserved communities.

 

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