Rwandan sisters shelter children in their homeland
KIGALI, RWANDA--Twin sisters Josephine Murphy and Jocelyn Alexandre know what it's like to be hungry and afraid. In 1997 they fled lives of poverty and genocide in Rwanda, taking refuge in Canada.
Eight years later they returned to Rwanda, only to discover streets filled with homeless youth. Since then, the sisters have fed and cared for hundreds of African children through their non-profit foundation, Shelter Them.
"Our lives have been changed," says Josephine, who calls Toronto home.
"The feeding program is touching and changing a lot of kids, and volunteers sign up every day to teach them how to read, write, cook… We want to be able to send children to school by January 2009, as well as put a few kids in homes."
While the twins know what it's like to go without food for days at a time, they always had a roof over their heads. After their father left, their mother took her 10 children and moved to Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, where she rented a one-room house.
"We had each other and the entire love my mom could give," says Josephine, now a mother of two herself. "It was this same love that extended to those in need, including hospital patients and kids on the streets."
Her mother provided the inspiration for Shelter Them, she says. "Even though we were very poor she would always share the little of what we had with those less fortunate."
During this time their mother accepted Christ and began bringing the children to church with her.
"At first I was just following Mom, but the more we heard the word of God, the more we fell in love with Him," says Josephine.
In 1994 genocide ravaged Rwanda, as one ethnic group tried to wipe out another, killing nearly a million.
"It was a regular thing to hear gun shots and walk by dead people on the streets," says Josephine. She remembers being trapped in a bus with her sister. Hutus threatened to throw them in a big tank of hot oil, but when they saw the girls' Bibles, they let them go.
"It was because of God that we were saved," says Josephine.
In 1997 the 19-year-old twins moved to Canada. Two years later Josephine met her husband, and in 2004 she had a son named Joshua.
In 2005 Josephine returned to Rwanda along with her husband and sister. "We couldn't help but notice the thousands of kids all over the place, desperate for help," she says. "We were heartbroken to see children begging for food and water."
In October of 2006, Shelter Them Poverty Relief was founded, dedicated to rescuing orphans from hopeless life on the streets. By working alongside a local church in Kigali, the sisters are able to feed countless children both physically and spiritually.
"Our plans for 2008 are to raise more money so we can be able to provide what the children need to become the future of Rwanda," says Josephine. "We are blessed-that's why we need to give back."
More information is available at www.shelterthem.com
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