How Dumbarton, Scotland, helped to build Dumbarton, Rwanda

The team from Rock Community Church in Dumbarton Village, Rwanda (Rebekah Jack)

A tiny village in war-ravaged Rwanda has been named after the Scottish commuter town of Dumbarton – in honour of the church members who helped fund homes for the locals.

It may sound like an unlikely twinning, but the naming is the culmination of a five-year relationship between the 150-strong Jari community in the east African country and the congregation of the Scottish town’s Rock Community Church.

The village is 12 miles north-west of the Rwandan capital, Kigali. It consists of 150 people, predominantly women and children, who are still affected by the 1994 genocide.

Three weeks ago, while members of the congregation were visiting for a ceremony to hand over the third house they have funded, the local government administrator suggested the group name the developing estate.

“It didn’t take very long to decide on the name,” says Billy McClung, one of Rock Community Church’s leaders. “It was a natural thing. There’s a really strong link between the local Jari community and the Rock Church community. Geographically there are no similarities, but people make places, we’ve become family.”

The relationship began in 2008 when members of the congregation visited the country. When Mr McClung returned in 2010 with other members of the church, one of the first things they were asked to do was help repair the houses of two women.

“It was a really long trek and on arrival we were shocked by the condition of the houses, even by standards in Rwanda,” he told The Independent. The housing was traditional mud huts that were damaged beyond repair. At that point the group committed to building the first two houses. Congregation members returned from Rwanda recently and plan to go back next year, for the opening of a fourth house.

For Mr McClung, Rwanda has become like home. “Naming the village after the town indicates that sense of relationship,” he said. “When I say I’m going home, I’m going home to Rwanda, to Dumbarton Village in Rwanda.”

The River Leven in Dumbarton, Scotland (Alamy)

HOW THEY COMPARE

Dumbarton, Scotland

Population: 20,000

Location: West Scotland, near Glasgow

Average days of rain a year: 167

Average high temperature: 13C

Dumbarton, Rwanda

Population: 150

Location: Central Africa, near Kigali

Average days of rain a year: 133

Average high temperature: 27C