VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A Vancouver teen has returned from Africa with a heart for helping the dire situation in Rwanda.

Salina Dharamsi was one of the six World Vision Youth Ambassadors to travel there with World Vision Canada. She says it was a trip that not only changed the lives of others, but also her own.

Dharamsi, 19, has always been a huge supporter of the gift catalogue, which lets you sponsor a goat or a cow for a village in a struggling country. But she never imagined it can make such a difference. “I was able to meet a man who has received a cow, and he was just so moved by it, just so grateful and I could not really understand, because it’s a really small amount of money for us, but it was just such a life-changing difference for him.”

They got to see a nutrition program for malnourished children and Salina says the results were astounding. “Over 12 days, because of the program, we actually were able to see a huge difference in how much the children weigh and how the children are acting, because of the food that they are now being provided with.”

Their team also visited a group of women who lost their husbands in the genocide of 1994. Salina says the most amazing part is their hope. “These women have come together and learned a skill, which was basket weaving. And they are able to really perfect the skill, and make marketable products for not only the people who are living in Rwanda, but also those abroad.”

She says some of those baskets were brought home as gifts for friends and family.

Online: http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/97735–local-teen-helps-genocide-survivors-in-rwanda

Salina enjoys her afternoon with women from a Rwandan, widows' cooperative.