The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame,  has urged Rwandans to be closer to vulnerable elderly Genocide survivors in order to lessen the acute loneliness they often face.

The First Lady made the call yesterday while opening a senior citizens’ home for Incike in Rwabicuma Sector of Southern Province’s Nyanza District.

In Kinyarwanda, Incike is an elderly person without a single living relative alive. Incike literally means someone who is ‘endangered’.

That is the situation that hundreds of elderly Genocide survivors have found themselves in as a result of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, where all their children, spouses and relatives were killed.

Currently, living alone in their homes where they are often face acute loneliness and their plight has forced government officials and activists to find homes where they can live together and feel safe.

That is why Avega-Agahozo, the association of Genocide widows, has partnered with Unity Club, an association of current and former senior government officials and their spouses, the Government Assistance Fund for Genocide Survivors (FARG), and the Reserve Force of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) to build homes for the elderly survivors.

In Rwabicuma, five houses of four rooms each, which will host 20 occupants, were opened yesterday. The occupants will benefit from daily services of caregivers under the supervision of Avega-Agahozo.

Mrs. Kagame lauded the initiative, saying that it means a lot for the elderly survivors and gives them a reason to live happily.

"Such initiatives show them (elderly survivors) that they are not alone, they prevent them from wondering why they survived or wishing that they could have died with other Genocide victims,” she said.

There are some 859 Rwandans who fall in the category of Incike according to recent statistics from Avega-Agahozo.

Of the 859 people who fall in the category of Incike, 391 urgently need the services of personal caregivers; services that cannot reach them all since they live in their own homes and there are no seniors’ homes nearby that they can go to.

While the First Lady promised that she will keep up the advocacy to ensure that the remaining Incike in need of homes are supported, she urged Rwandans to care for them, showing them that they are not alone even if they were left lonely by the Genocide.

"They do not demand much; all they need is to show them that they are not alone,” she said.

The seniors’ home for Incike built in Rwabicuma is one of the many such homes which are being constructed across the country, with others including one in Kayenzi (Southern Province), Rulindo (Northern Province), Kayonza and Fumbwe (Eastern Province), Butare (Southern Province), and Rusizi (Western Province).

Living in the homes, and being cared for by caregivers, has given the elderly survivors tremendous joy since they started living together at the homes, officials say.

"Those who were settled show that they are happy with their new homes. They interact with each other and they smile more,” said Valerie Mukabayire, president of Avega-Agahozo.

The elderly Genocide survivors who were gathered at the seniors’ home in Rwabicuma expressed their joy, with many of them describing themselves as having been homeless given how they were living alone in their dilapidated houses or living with friends to avoid being lonely.

One of them, Anastasia Mukarushema, said that she would now be able to get enough rest at the new home, saying that she was finding it difficult to live alone when she suffers from  ulcers and heart disease.

"I am very happy. I will live peacefully with my colleagues,” she said.

Her housemate, Vestine Mukamusoni, thanked the government for the new home.

"I feel very happy; I wish I were strong enough so I can dance,” she said.

At their new home, each beneficiary gets a self-contained room with a bed and a washroom while they share a sitting room and a kitchen where a caregiver prepares meals for everyone.