Jean René Shema

Human Rights - Rwanda (Central and East Africa)

In 1994, Jean René Shema witnessed the genocide which took the lives of more than 800,000 people in Rwanda. Ten years later, the effects of the genocide linger on, and those who suffer the most are children. Almost 100,000 children were orphaned by the genocide. Another 250,000 children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. As a result, Rwanda has one of the world’s highest proportions of child-headed households. Without parental supervision or access to social welfare to alleviate their poverty, Jean is witnessing many orphans fall into lives of crime and delinquency.

“Their poverty makes them desperate, so many sell themselves into prostitution to be able to survive. They have no other way to fulfil their basic needs,” Jean says. Many orphans also turn to drugs, alcohol and tobacco to escape their despair.

Jean hopes to build a rehabilitation centre for young people whose lives are affected by drugs, alcohol, tobacco and prostitution. He also plans to develop an education program to teach orphans how to avoid the dangers of substance abuse.