23-year-old with 24 kids

It's a sunny April afternoon at the
University of Rwanda College of Education in Kigali.
Some students huddle in groups conversing in
hushed voices; others hurry between buildings
carrying books. Exams begin in a week.
On a grassy knoll behind an office block, Jean
Claude Nkusi is giving his 24 children a talking to.
"Study hard everyone," he says. "If you work hard
you can improve your life and make it better."
This isn't your typical family. Nkusi is 23. None of
his "children" share his DNA. In fact, the only thing
linking them is that they're all genocide survivors
-- ethnic Rwandan Tutsis who lost their families in
the 1994 violence that killed 800,000 people.
'It's because of history'
Creating "artificial families" to help
young genocide survivors cope is the
brainchild of an organization called the
Association for Student Genocide
Survivors (AERG) . Originally founded by
12 University of Rwanda students in
1996, they've expanded to 43,397
university and high school students
from across the tiny east-central
African country today.
AERG initially creates families from
members based on the secondary
school or university they attend, after
which the newly-formed family meet to
democratically elect a willing father and mother
from among their ranks. Though they don't all live
together, they do help each other out financially
and attempt to pool their resources.
In the University of Rwanda's College of Education
alone there are 21 such families, with hundreds
more being set up across the country.
"(We) Rwandans, we used to have big families but
during the genocide many people were killed," says
Daniel Tuyizere, AERG's second vice coordinator at
the University of Rwanda.
"To fight against that, we have to build
artificial families so that we can go
back to the way we were," he adds.
"That's why you can find a father with
25 children -- it's because of that, it's
because of history."
AERG National Coordinator Constantine
Rukundo explains that the concept
stems from a basic necessity.
"You need someone to care about you," she says,
adding that the aim is that the families will stay
together for life. "When you get married your family
will be there; they'll be the first to help you."
Scarred by war
UNICEF estimates that 95,000 children were
orphaned as a result of the genocide. Seventy per
cent witnessed murders or injuries, while many
were victims of violence and rape themselves.
Their problems continued after 1994. By 2001, an
estimated 264,000 Rwandan children had lost one
or both parents to AIDS, a disease which was
partly spread through the use of rape as a tool of
war.
Today many of these young people suffer
disproportionately from poverty, homelessness,
trauma and legal issues, including having had their
deceased parents' land taken away from them
when they were too young to claim it.
Bringing light back
Rwanda is currently in the middle of 100 days of
mourning. The 20th anniversary commemorations
have been upsetting for many of the young people
who still carry both physical and mental scars from
the past.
Kelsey Finnegan, Project Officer at
Survivors Fund, says that trauma
permeates into many different aspects
of their lives: "Many for example have
difficulties studying, maintaining
relationships, or have issues with
drugs and alcohol."
Kevin Mugina, 21, says that being in a family
environment helps young people to deal with their
emotions. "Some people used to be very angry."
He says that together they discuss their feelings
and how to control them enough so that they can
live peacefully with their neighbors.
Yet, he adds, trauma among his peers is still a
huge issue. "We have kids who have been so
shocked from genocide that they have a
permanent shock -- that is one of our big
problems."
But overall, it seems that they are in good hands.
Augustin Nsengiyumua, 27, calls up his artificial
mother for all sorts of small things. "For example if
I don't have a pen, or I don't have soap," he says.
Younger than several of his artificial offspring,
Nkusi says that fatherhood is a lot of responsibility
but he relishes it. "You have to know every
situation that your children are in -- if they're
studying without any problem, if they're eating,
everyday life. If one of them is sick I have to be
the first one to know it."
He has named their family Urumuri.
"Urumuri," Nkusi says, "means to light something
up. It's when something was dark, and now it is
bright again."