PLOT CASE OF THE FAMILY OF VENANT MUTAGAHYWA

1. Venant Mutagahywa            - 1984} - these are twins taken care of by Feliciana
2. Velena              “                 - 1984} - who was a close friend of their mother
3. Renatus            “                 - 1985  - is being taken care of by neighbour
4. Juliet                “                 - 1986  - is being taken care of by Godfather

After the death of the parents, a neighbour, Pancrasi Bilima confiscated a piece of the plot which Venant had inherited from his father and verified by written will. As Venant was young during the death of his father, the land was left in the hands of an administration who died in 1998.
In February1999 Venant took his complaints to the Field Assistant of HUYAWA who assisted him to forward the case to the Village Executive Officer. Pancrasi was called to attend the reconciliation meeting but he did not attend. The case took several months at the village level without reaching a solution.
The case was then forwarded to the Ward Executive Officer who organized a reconciliation meeting on 23/09/1999. The meeting involved clan members, neighbours and the village leaders 19 people attended. Pancrasi claimed to have bought the plot from Venant’s father, but he could not show any document of sale. He was therefore ordered to give the land back to Venant, but he refused to give it back.
From this stage on, HUYAWA took over in the beginning of year 2000.
The case was taken to the primary court in the local area (13km from town). 26 trips were made by the HUYAWA Office together with the District Social Welfare Officer to attend the case in court. This costed HUYAWA 181,624 Tshs.
Venant is happy because he knows that he is not alone. Not only that, but in March, 2002 the case was won in favour of Venant and on 26^th June, 2002, Pancrasi relinquished the plot back to Venant, much to our joy! However, Prancrasi appealed to the District court and the case is still on going.

Cases like this one need a lot of patience and perseverance, but also a lot of funds.

His twin sister Verena is married and has a toddler. Venant has been living on his own these past two years.  He was a very orderly young man, well-behaved and well loved, respected and accepted by both young and old in the community. He was treasurer of a youth group in his community and he became member of the group when he was 14 years old.
Venant was a hardworking young man. He was poor but very clean and smart. His plot had was always clean.  He had already prepared for maize planting. He used to bait fish by the lakeshore and sell in order to get cash. On the fateful day, August 15^th 2004, Venant had gone to get fish for his own consumption. He slipped on a rock, fell into the lake and got stuck fast in a cave; otherwise he was a good swimmer! That was the end of Venant’s life; a promising young man of whom HUYAWA had great hopes! He was buried on Monday, 17^th with a lot of people; neghbours and friends (he had many friends) in attendance. He will be missed by many!  Oh! Life can be comic and play tricks on human beings! Venant and Verena were looked after, advised and directed by Felisiana, now a 32 years old-widow who has AIDS and is currently very ill in hospital. Verena (the twin sister) is taking care of her. Funny enough, Felisiana always tells us that when she dies, Venant will take care of her two children now 10 and 7. But, vivacious, healthy and young Venant is now gone forever! What a waste!
May God rest his soul in Peace.  Amen

Gasto is a 14 years old boy who looks like he is 9 years old. He has AIDS, which he got from his parents. The parents died several years back. Gasto and 10 years old younger brother (also living with AIDS) live with their paternal grandfather and his wife. This grandfather has children who are younger than these boys, therefore the sick children lack enough attention, food and care!
HUYAWA brought Gasto for HIV testing 3 months ago after being ill for a long time. He has been on medication since that time (especially antibiotics a there is no life prolonging medicine yet). HUYAWA workers have been visiting him regularly at least once a week, the last time being Friday 13^th August, providing him with supplementary and nutritious food. He was doing very well until Sunday, August 15^th when he started vomiting and diarrhea. Yesterday, 17^th the Field Assistant of that area came to ask for assistance with transporting him to hospital. This morning, at 7 am sharp, we drove the 15 km to Gasto’s home and Lo and behold! A skeleton Gasto met us with huge sunken eyes in a very thin and long face! It was a shock to see such a change! He was admitted immediately and is on infusion! 3 months ago, he weighed 23kg. Late he put on weight and weighed 27kg. Today he weighs only 20kg!!