Amelia Barbieri

Amelia Barbieri was born on 15 November 1918 in San Vito di Leguzzano, in the Veneto region of northern Italy.{{sfn|Monici|2018}} She had two children, Giorgio and Laura Lunardon, prior to being widowed.{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} Trained as a midwife, she had a nursing career in the Vicenza Province, retiring in 1983.{{sfn|Monici|2018}}{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} After retirement, Barbieri did not want to be idle and when she saw an article in the magazine Famiglia Cristiana (The Christian Family) that a midwife was needed in Rwanda, she decided to apply.{{sfn|Monici|2018}}

Barbieri's first posting in 1983 was in Rugabano, in the Karongi District of western Rwanda, where she worked as a nurse. She then founded a maternity center in Shyorongi in the Rulindo District in the Northern Province,{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} about {{convert|5.6|mi|km}} from the Rwandan capital of Kigali.{{sfn|Ndahiro|Rwagatare|Nkusi|2015|p=40}} After training African staff to take over the center, a few years later,{{sfn|Cogo|2016}} she moved to Byumba, where she worked as a lay missionary and cared for abandoned children.{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} Byumba is the capital of Gicumbi District, neighbors the border with Uganda, and lies approximately {{convert|37|mi|km}} from Kigali.{{sfn|Niyonzima|Gahamanyi|Kusasira|Opondo|2022|p=44}} Since the late 1950s, the city had been the site of massacres in the ethnic conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples.{{sfn|Berry|Berry|1999|p=49}} Many Rwandan Tutsis had grown up in refugee camps in Uganda and dreamed of returning to Rwanda,{{sfn|Hunt|Carter|2017|p=21}} although return was prohibited during the Habyarimana presidency (1973–1994).{{sfn|Spalding|2009|p=15}} In 1986, these refugees formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front and in 1990 demanded the right to resettle in Rwanda. They formed a militia and began marching toward Kigali in October, but were halted by French and Belgian forces, beginning the Rwandan Civil War.{{sfn|Berry|Berry|1999|p=xvii}} By the end of the year, most of the territory around Byumba was controlled by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which had become the center for refuge efforts with people being brought there from other parts of the country for medical treatment.{{sfn|Hunt|Carter|2017|p=108}} Writer Fergal Keane in describing the area said that during the genocide, Rwanda became "a country of corpses and orphans"{{sfn|Keane|1995|p=4}} and policy expert Fatuma Ndangiza stated that the streets were overrun with homeless children.{{sfn|Hunt|Carter|2017|p=273}}

Encouraged by a local missionary, in 1992, Barbieri founded an orphanage and home for single mothers, which she called {{lang|it|San Giuseppe|italics=no}} (St. Joseph's) in the village of Muhura,{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} in the Gatsibo District in the Eastern Province and about {{convert|75|mi|km}} northeast of Kigali.{{sfn|Cogo|2016}}{{sfn|MLFM|2024}} By 1994, her orphanage was surrounded by militia groups.{{sfn|Monici|2018}} Initially she vowed to remain, but food supplies began to run short and she was fearful that the orphans would be massacred during the genocide, if she left.{{sfn|Montalbano|1994}} She made contact with Maria Pia Fanfani for help.{{sfn|Monici|2018}} Fanfani was a humanitarian who had previously been president of the Women's Committee of the Italian Red Cross, a vice president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and was the founder and administrator of the {{lang|it|Sempre Insieme per la Pace|italics=no}} (Always Together For Peace) organization.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|pp=85–86}} Because official channels had failed and communication was difficult, Fanfani secured permits and arranged escorts directly from the Rwandan Patriotic Front militia.{{sfn|Sartori|1994|p=16}} She worked with the Opera Cardinal Ferrari and the {{ill|Company of Saint Paul, Milan|lt=Compagnia di San Paolo|it|Compagnia di San Paolo (istituto secolare)}} (Company of Saint Paul), both Milan-based humanitarian NGOs, to accomplish the children's evacuation and resettlement. "Operation Stork"{{sfn|Monici|2018}} succeeded in freeing all fifty-two of the orphans and their caretakers from St. Joseph's Home, using a privately arranged Boeing plane.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|p=85}}{{sfn|Sartori|1994|p=16}}

Barbieri gave an account of the journey to Italian newspapers. She said that because the main roads were mined, their convoy of children in three rented minivans and a four-wheel drive she drove herself, followed a ten-hour circuitous route through the mountains and forests, following river beds. They did not stop for rest or sustenance and often heard shooting, after they left Gahini. Although the rebels wanted them to take twenty injured children from the Gahini hospital, most of them had injuries that were too serious for them to survive the flight.{{sfn|Sartori|1994|p=16}} Three of the children from the hospital were taken with Barbieri's orphans to Kampala airport.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|p=85}}{{sfn|Sartori|1994|p=16}} Fanfani arranged for a plane to fly into the country bringing relief supplies including clothing, medicines and medical supplies, solar-powered water-filtration systems and agricultural equipment.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|pp=85–86}} On the return flight, the plane airlifted Barbieri and all of the children to Italy.{{sfn|Bartrop|2012|p=86}} They landed in Bergamo at the end of April and were then taken to U.O.S. Cerris, a care center in Verona,{{sfn|The Los Angeles Times|1994}} which had previously been an orphanage. Most of the children had dysentery and other medical problems like bronchopneumonia. They were fed, clothed, and treated while the staff sorted through adoption requests.{{sfn|Sartori|1994|p=16}} Barbieri was honored as a {{lang|it|Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica|italics=no}} (Commander of Merit of the Republic) in May 1994 by Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}}{{sfn|Gazzetta Ufficiale|1995|p=6}}

After the civil war ended, in 1995 the Rwandan government demanded that Barbieri and the orphans return to Muhura, which they did.{{sfn|Monici|2018}}{{sfn|Capuccini|2020}} In 2008, she turned the day-to-day management of the home over to Congolese nuns and focused on fundraising through the {{lang|it|Associazione Amici di Nonna Amelia|italics=no}} (Friends of Grandma Amelia Association). Although mentally sound, physical ailments forced Barbieri to return to San Vito di Leguzzano in 2012, where she lived until 2015, when she entered the {{lang|it|Istituto Casa Panciera|italics=no}} (Panciera Home Institute) in Schio.{{sfn|Cogo|2016}}

Barbieri died on 20 August 2016 in Schio,{{sfn|Cogo|2016}} and was buried in the family plot at the San Vito di Leguzzano Cemetery.{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}} At the time of her death, she was remembered for her work as a lay missionary in Rwanda.{{sfn|Bernardi|2016}}{{sfn|Cogo|2016}} The St. Joseph Orphanage was renamed {{lang|it|Casa San Giuseppe|italics=no}} (Saint Joseph's Home) by Rwandan and Congolese staff affiliated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul.{{sfn|Agenzia Fides|2010}} The Rwandan government suspended foreign adoptions in 2010, banned foreigners inside the country from adopting children in 2016, and began to phase out orphanages in 2018. The policies made the situation for orphans more difficult.{{sfn|Bishumba|2019}} The sisters running Saint Joseph's sought foreign sponsorship for their charges from the {{lang|it|Movimento per la Lotta contro la Fame nel Mondo}} (Movement to Fight World Hunger), which in 2014 helped establish a fish farm to provide food for the children and income from the sale of excess fish.{{sfn|Agenzia Fides|2010}}{{sfn|Agenzia Fides|2014}} In 2018, when the government ordered orphanages to close, the matron, Sister Odille, converted the home into the Nonna Amelia Nursery and Primary School. In 2022, it was ranked among the best schools in the Gatsibo District.{{sfn|MLFM|2024}}{{sfn|Lorenzetti|2023|p=21}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite news |ref={{harvid|Agenzia Fides|2010}}|author= |title=Africa/R. D. Congo – 40 minori tra Rwanda e Congo cercano 'Sostenitori A Distanza' |url=https://fides.org/it/news/33621-AFRICA_R_D_CONGO_40_minori_tra_Rwanda_e_Congo_cercano_Sostenitori_A_Distanza |access-date=22 January 2024 |agency=Agenzia Fides |date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120224349/https://fides.org/it/news/33621-AFRICA_R_D_CONGO_40_minori_tra_Rwanda_e_Congo_cercano_Sostenitori_A_Distanza |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Vatican City, the Vatican |language=Italian |trans-title=Africa/DR Congo – 40 Minors between Rwanda and Congo Are Looking for 'Distance Supporters' |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |ref={{harvid|Agenzia Fides|2014}}|author= |title=Africa/Rwanda – A Fish Farm to Support the Orphanage in Muhura |url=http://www.fides.org/en/news/37013-AFRICA_RWANDA_A_fish_farm_to_support_the_orphanage_in_Muhura |access-date=22 January 2024 |agency=Agenzia Fides |date=22 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120224604/http://www.fides.org/en/news/37013-AFRICA_RWANDA_A_fish_farm_to_support_the_orphanage_in_Muhura |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Vatican City, the Vatican |url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last1=Bartrop |first1=Paul Robert |title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOnEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California |chapter=Fanfani, Maria Pia (born 1922) |pages=84–86 |isbn=978-0-313-38678-7}}
• {{cite news |last1=Bernardi |first1=Vittorino |title=Addio a 'nonna Amelia' per 30 anni missionaria laica in Africa |url=https://www.ilgazzettino.it/vicenza_bassano/provincia/sanvito_nonna_amelia_ruanda-1921852.html |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=Il Gazzettino |date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120215248/https://www.ilgazzettino.it/vicenza_bassano/provincia/sanvito_nonna_amelia_ruanda-1921852.html |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Venice, Italy |language=Italian |trans-title=Goodbye to 'Grandma Amelia' for 30 Years a Lay Missionary in Africa |url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=John A. |last2=Berry |first2=Carol Pott |author2-link=Carol Pott |title=Genocide in Rwanda: A Collective Memory |url=https://archive.org/details/genocideinrwanda0000unse/page/49/mode/1up |date=1999 |publisher=Howard University Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-88258-202-3}}
• {{cite news |last1=Bishumba |first1=Nasra |title=Stringent rules slowdown international adoption |url=https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/168910/News/stringent-rules-slowdown-international-adoption |access-date=22 January 2024 |work=The New Times |date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120224329/https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/168910/News/stringent-rules-slowdown-international-adoption |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Kigali, Rwanda |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |ref={{harvid|Gazzetta Ufficiale|1995}}|author= |title=Conferimento di onorificenze dell'ordine «Al merito della Repubblica italiana»: Commendatore |url=https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/gu/1995/03/08/56/so/30/sg/pdf |access-date=22 January 2024 |work=Gazzetta Ufficiale |issue=56 Supplemental |date=8 March 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120221807/https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/gu/1995/03/08/56/so/30/sg/pdf |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Rome, Italy |page=6 |language=Italian |trans-title=Awarding of Honors of the Order "Merit of the Italian Republic": Commander |url-status=live}}
• {{cite web |last1=Capuccini |first1=Marzia |title=La storia di nonna Amelia |url=https://www.amoaonlus.org/home/voci-dall-africa-la-storia-di-nonna-amelia/ |website=Voci dall'Africa |publisher=Associazione Medici Oculisti per l'Africa |access-date=22 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120222955/https://www.amoaonlus.org/home/voci-dall-africa-la-storia-di-nonna-amelia/ |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Bologna, Italy |language=Italian |trans-title=Grandma Amelia's Story |date=25 August 2020 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |last1=Cogo |first1=Bruno |title=Addio Amelia, una mamma per l'Africa |url=https://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/territorio-vicentino/schio/addio-amelia-una-mamma-per-l-africa-1.5079217 |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=Il Giornale di Vicenza |date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120220151/https://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/territorio-vicentino/schio/addio-amelia-una-mamma-per-l-africa-1.5079217 |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Vicenza, Italy |language=Italian |trans-title=Goodbye Amelia, a Mother for Africa |url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last1=Hunt |first1=Swanee |author1-link=Swanee Hunt |last2=Carter |first2=Jimmy |author2-link=Jimmy Carter |title=Rwandan Women Rising |url=https://archive.org/details/rwandanwomenrisi0000hunt/page/88/mode/1up |date=2017 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8223-6257-9}}
• {{cite book |last1=Keane |first1=Fergal |author-link=Fergal Keane |title=Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey |url=https://archive.org/details/seasonofbloodrwa0000kean/page/4/mode/1up |date=1995 |edition=1st |publisher=Viking Press |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-670-86205-4}}
• {{cite news |last1=Lorenzetti |first1=Angelo |title=Postino di Dovera: Suor Odile racconta la sua scuola In Rwanda per educare e sfamare |url=https://ilnuovotorrazzo.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11-novembre-2023.pdf |access-date=23 January 2024 |work=Il nuovo Torrazzo |issue=45 |date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123175345/https://ilnuovotorrazzo.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11-novembre-2023.pdf |archive-date=23 January 2024 |location=Crema, Italy |page=21 |language=Italian |trans-title=The Postman of Dovera: Sister Odile Talks about Her School in Rwanda to Educate and Feed |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |last1=Monici |first1=Claudio |title=La pensionata Amelia che salvò gli orfani del Ruanda |url=https://www.avvenire.it/rubriche/pagine/la-pensionata-amelia-che-salvo-gli-orfani-del-ruanda |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=Avvenire |date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715090536/https://www.avvenire.it/rubriche/pagine/la-pensionata-amelia-che-salvo-gli-orfani-del-ruanda |archive-date=15 July 2018 |location=Milan, Italy |language=Italian |trans-title=The Retired Amelia Who Saved the Orphans of Rwanda |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |last1=Montalbano |first1=William D. |title=Rwanda Offers No Sanctuary From Chaos: Central Africa Missionaries Reporting Bloodletting Are Stunned That Holy Places Aren't Safe |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-20-mn-48238-story.html |access-date=22 January 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 April 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120223522/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-20-mn-48238-story.html |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Los Angeles, California |url-status=live}}
• {{cite web |ref={{harvid|MLFM|2024}}|author= |title=Muhura School – Nonna Amelia |url=https://www.mlfm.it/en/our-work/child-protection/muhura-school-%E2%80%93-nonna-amelia |website=MLFM |publisher=Movimento lotta alla fame nel mondo |access-date=22 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120223936/https://www.mlfm.it/en/our-work/child-protection/muhura-school-%E2%80%93-nonna-amelia |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Lodi, Italy |date=2024 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last1=Ndahiro |first1=Alfred |last2=Rwagatare |first2=Joseph |last3=Nkusi |first3=A. |title=Rwanda: Rebuilding of a Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzyAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |date=2015 |publisher=Fountain Publishers |location=Kigali, Rwanda |isbn=978-10-92401-03-6}}
• {{cite report |last1=Niyonzima |first1=Felix |last2=Gahamanyi |first2=Jean Pierre |last3=Kusasira |first3=Wilberforce |last4=Opondo |first4=Eunice K. |title=Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (Esia) for Rehabilitation, Upgrading of Byumba Urban Roads in Gicumbi District |url=https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/final_esia_report_for_byumba_urban_roads_-_december_2022.pdf |publisher=Rwanda Transport Development Agency |access-date=21 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824210930/https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/final_esia_report_for_byumba_urban_roads_-_december_2022.pdf |archive-date=24 August 2023 |location=Kigali, Rwanda |date=22 December 2022 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |last1=Sartori |first1=Michele |title=Nonna Amelia salva i suoi orfani |url=https://archivio.unita.news/assets/main/1994/04/29/page_016.pdf |access-date=22 January 2024 |work=l'Unità |date=29 April 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120222711/https://archivio.unita.news/assets/main/1994/04/29/page_016.pdf |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Rome, Italy |page=16 |language=Italian |trans-title=Grandma Amelia saves her orphans |url-status=live}}
• {{cite book |last1=Spalding |first1=Frank |title=Genocide in Rwanda |url=https://archive.org/details/genocideinrwanda0000spal/page/15/mode/1up |date=2009 |edition=1st |publisher=Rosen Publishing |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-1-4042-1823-9}}
• {{cite news |ref={{harvid|The Los Angeles Times|1994}}|author= |title=World In Brief: Rwanda – Missionary, Orphans Safely Evacuated |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-29-mn-51926-story.html |access-date=22 January 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 April 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120195146/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-29-mn-51926-story.html |archive-date=20 January 2024 |location=Los Angeles, California |url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20240120221142/https://archivio.quirinale.it/aspr/fotografico/PHOTO-004-011224/presidente/oscar-luigi-scalfaro.html Photographs] of Barbieri with President Scalfaro

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbieri, Amelia}}

Category:1918 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:People from the Province of Vicenza

Category:Italian missionaries

Category:Italian nurses

Category:Midwives

Category:People of the Rwandan genocide