SHS Weekly News 041116

In loving memory of Alvere Igisubizo 15.09.08 – 20.10.16
Over the years I have loved telling you all the good news
about our achievements out in Rwanda. It is therefore with
a very heavy heart that I have to tell you some very sad
news this week.
In 2014 during the school visit to Rwanda, we came across
a small boy called Alvere. He was emaciated, starving,
clearly ill and living rough with his mother and sister . They
were sleeping on a pile of leaves on the edge of the
Ntarama orphans village in Rwanda. With the support of
the staff and students at the school we started paying for
Alvere and his sister to go to school. We created a small
business for his mum and have provided a home for the
family. The students who visited Rwanda in February this
year delivered furniture to his home in Ntarama and we
had the pleasure of seeing the family’s joy as they
bounced on their first beds.
When I last saw Alvere in August he was unrecognisable from the skeletal child with haunted eyes I first
met.
Just before half term I was informed that Alvere had had a dreadful accident. Apparently he was playing
with his best friend who is another of our sponsored children. I believe the two boys had found a
Rwandan tribal headdress and were dancing with it on their heads. Somehow this headdress accidentally
caught on fire. Alvere tried desperately to stamp out the fire and in doing so, his clothes caught light.
Tragically he quickly engulfed in flames and suffered extensive burns to his torso and face. He was taken
to hospital who refused to treat him at first because his mother couldn’t pay. We quickly arranged to pay
for the treatment he needed and for nearly a week Alvere remained unconscious in intensive care.
Tragically Alvere lost his battle for life and passed away on Thursday 20 th October at around 1am. We
paid for him to be buried near to his home and a message from the school was read out at his funeral.
Whilst I am utterly devastated at this news, I can take a little comfort in the fact that he received the
medical support he needed to take away his pain and he received a decent burial in a place where his
family can regularly visit him because we were able to pay for these things. I am writing to you to tell you
these details because I know how much our Rwandan friends have touched the hearts of many of you
and our students will remember seeing Alvere on the live skype call we had with Rwanda at the final assembly
last Christmas.
Whilst this is devastating news, it is important to remember that the support Sandhurst School was able to
give to Alvere turned him from a sad, starving child to a happy, healthy one who was full of life. The last
two years of his life were the happiest this little boy has had. I would like to thank every single one of you
who have supported Reaching Rwanda over the years for making such a different in this little boy’s life.
Rest in peace precious boy. You were greatly loved and will never be forgotten.
Ms S Hunt