Award winner Dr Richard Wilson
Orphanage founder Roz Carr with Richard Wilson's daughter Chloe Wilson and children.

Harley Street dentist Richard Wilson recently won £500 from the British Society for General Dental Surgery in its annual award for excellence, which he gave to the Imbabazi Orphanage on the shores of Lake Kivu in Rwanda.

Children at Imbabazi Orphanage

The award, originally called the Cottrell prize and sponsored by Smile-on Ltd, has been presented each year for some 20 years to a member of the Society who has made the most significant contribution to general practice. Dr Wilson first visited the Imbabazi Orphanage – Imbabazi translates to 'love and care' – in 2000 on a trip with his daughter to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and has maintained contact ever since.

Home to over 100 three to sixteen year olds, it is situated in the small town of Gisenyi and was founded by American Roz Carr, to care for children who had been left devastated and deserted after civil war and ensuing genocide ravaged the country.

She came to Rwanda in 1949 and at the start of the genocide was reluctantly evacuated to the United States. The images of children left devastated and deserted convinced her to return to Rwanda and devote herself to the orphaned children of her adopted homeland.

The orphanage has provided a haven of comfort and security for children who have been orphaned as a result of the genocide and the chaos of refugees returning from Zaire. Most of them arrived malnourished and traumatised, some of them had walked for days carrying younger siblings across the country having heard about 'the sanctuary that was run by the American lady'.

For further information or to send donations please contact Roz Carr c/o Imbabzi Orphanage, BP 98 Gisenyi, Rwanda or Chloe Wilson, telephone: 07812 135470, email: chloewilson2000@yahoo.com.