After 13 years of separation from her mother, today her dream comes true; thanks to the ICRC’s family tracing programme she will finally be in her mother’s arms again.
Kibombo is 20. But she was just a little girl when she lost touch with her mother during the horrible events of spring 1994, as she and her grandmother fled the country to North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 1998, fighting in North Kivu separated 11-year-old Kibombo from her grandmother. The ICRC repatriated her to Rwanda in 2003, placing her in the Jam orphanage, Gitarama.
Because there was so little information available about Kibombo’s family, the ICRC tried displaying her photo in public places. Without success. Standard practice is to close the file if a child reaches the age of 18 and efforts to trace members of the family have failed. But as Kibombo could not provide the information the ICRC needed to trace her family, she was considered particularly vulnerable, and needed the support of the ICRC’s tracing service.
Cared for by the ICRC and the orphanage personnel, Kibombo regained confidence. Little by little, she began to remember the names of her parents, other members of her family and the places where she had lived. Eventually, the ICRC had enough information to use in a radio announcement. On 6 July 2007, the first announcement aired on Radio Rwanda and Radio Maria. This time, the effect was immediate; Kibombo’s mother was at the ICRC office next day to ask about her daughter.
Since December 2005, the ICRC has been broadcasting regular announcements about unaccompanied children on Radio Rwanda (89.9 MHz and 100.4 MHz) and Radio Maria (88.6 MHz, 97.3 MHz and 99.8 MHz). During the first half of 2007, the ICRC succeeded in reunifying 48 unaccompanied children with their families.
For further information, please contact: Georgia Trismpioti, ICRC Kigali, tel: +250 577344 or +250 0830 5069
