Rosamond 'Roz" Carr, fashion illustrator, flower farmer, author, famous friend, hero of post-genocide Rwanda, and award-winning carer of orphaned children died on Friday at the age of 94.

From the Rwanda Project:

As a young fashion illustrator in New York City, Rosamond Halsey married an adventurous hunter-explorer, Kenneth Carr, whom she journeyed with to the Belgian Congo in 1949. After their eventual divorce, Kenneth left, while Rosamond stayed. In 1955, she moved to northwestern Rwanda to manage a flower plantation, Mugongo, which she eventually purchased. For the next 50 years she witnessed the splendor and demise of colonialism, celebrated Rwanda's independence, and befriended gorilla activist, Dian Fossey, becoming one of her closest friends. (Rosamond is portrayed by the actress Julie Harris in Gorillas in the Mist, the film about the life of Dian Fossey.)

During periods of violence and upheaval, Rosamond always stayed fast to her home at Mugongo, while others left the country. In April, 1994, she was finally forced to evacuate Rwanda with the outbreak of the genocide. After several months in the US, she received word that Sembagare, her friend and plantation manager of 50 years, had survived what turned out to be 3 attempts on his life. In August 1994, at age 82, she returned in a cargo plane, only to find her home in ruins with 50 years of belongings either stolen or destroyed. At Mugongo, she and Sembagare did the only thing that made sense to them; they built the Imbabazi Orphanage to care for the orphaned children of Rwanda.

Since its founding, the Orphanage was forced to move from Mugongo in 1997 due to violent insurgencies from the Congo. In the nearby lakeside town of Gisenyi, the Imbabazi Orphanage resided for 8 years, changing locations 4 times. In late 2005, Roz was able to move the children back to Mugongo this time to a new, permanent location.

In 2004, Roz won the Volvo For Life Award. This is why:

The Imbabazi Orphanage provided a home to 124 children, most of whom lost their entire families in the 1994 genocide. Many of the orphans’ parents died of disease when they fled to the Congo as refugees. Children separated from their parents during the chaos found refuge at Imbabazi, where the fortunate ones would later reunite with parents in joyful scenes, once order in the country returned. Still, children of all ages –– Hutus and Tutsis –– still come, seeking refuge in the lingering aftermath of the genocide. Rwanda’s continuing unrest forced Roz to relocate the orphanage numerous times before she could realize her long-held desire of returning to her cherished home in Mugongo. In her final years, Roz worked tirelessly to build a permanent safe haven in Mugongo to provide war orphans the love, care, and education as the best hope for a new Rwanda. She lived long enough to realize her goal.

And this is what the amazing woman herself had to say about her work with Rwandan children:

"I can only surmise that God didn't feel I was ready to have children until I was 82 years old. Then he sent me 40 all at once.”

My dear friend, Liz Macfie, who we visted back in May and who lived in Rwanda for many years up to and beyond the genocided working with the mountain gorillas sent me this about the death of Roz Carr:

We are all sad that Roz Carr passed away, but it was lovely that she was able to move back to her flower farm for the last 10 months of her life. Although she passed away in Gisenyi town, she had been able to be at home after all the troubles of the war made her shift home and the orphanage to Gisenyi. She moved home last November, and I know that was a sort of closure after a decade of worry.

The world has lost a very special woman, and an inspiration to many. If only we all lived our lives as full up as she did.

To help keep Rosamond Carr’s legacy alive, please send donations to:
Imbabazi Orphanage
c/o Ann H. Roehrs
546 Gramercy Lane
Downingtown, PA 19335