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In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, where as many as one million people were slaughtered within three months, Rosamond Carr, an American living in Rwanda since 1949, opened an orphanage to care for the youngest victims of the genocide.

After spending four short months back in the United States during the 1994 genocide, the then 82-year-old Roz returned to her home, Mugongo, to find it in ruins with fifty years of belongings stolen or destroyed. At Mugongo, she decided to rebuild for a new day: she turned an old building on her property into an orphanage to care for children orphaned by the genocide. She called the orphanage, “Imbabazi” –– “a mother’s love” in the region’s dialect.

The Imbabazi Orphanage provided a home to 124 children, most of whom lost their entire families in the 1994 genocide. Many of the orphans’ parents died of disease when they fled to the Congo as refugees. Children separated from their parents during the chaos found refuge at Imbabazi, where the fortunate ones would later reunite with parents in joyful scenes, once order in the country returned. Still, children of all ages –– Hutus and Tutsis –– still come, seeking refuge in the lingering aftermath of the genocide. Rwanda’s continuing unrest forced Roz to relocate the orphanage numerous times before she could realize her long-held desire of returning to her cherished home in Mugongo. In her final years, Roz worked tirelessly to build a permanent safe haven in Mugongo to provide war orphans the love, care, and education as the best hope for a new Rwanda. She lived long enough to realize her goal. Her great task accomplished, and her journey having reached its ends, Rosamond Carr passed away peacefully on September 29, 2006 at 8:30 PM in her home in Gisenyi, Rwanda. But her legacy lives on. In life, Rosamond Carr often said, "I can only surmise that God didn't feel I was ready to have children until I was 82 years old. Then he sent me 40 all at once.”

Imbabazi continues to shelter and provide for her children –– Rwanda’s war orphans of all ethnic backgrounds. Rosamond Carr’s spirit of compassion and hope remains a living force in the lives of Imbabazi’s children. Through these children, her legacy will resonate far and wide in the new Rwanda to come.

To help keep Rosamond Carr’s legacy alive, please send donations to:
Imbabazi Orphanage
c/o Ann H. Roehrs
546 Gramercy Lane
Downingtown, PA 19335

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