Cameron’s volunteers show willing in Rwanda

You could not turn a corner at Giribuntu school yesterday without finding a Tory doing good. In their sky blue "Project Umubano" T-shirts, David Cameron's volunteers were digging, plastering, sawing and repairing alongside Rwandans.

Giribuntu is largest of the schemes across Rwanda, involving 44 Tories, including eight MPs, organised by Andrew Mitchell, the shadow international development secretary, to underline the party's new enthusiasm for aid. Most of them are working in the capital, but some are in the provinces, including doctors and marketing consultants. Alistair Burt, the party's communities spokesman and a qualified referee, is running a football project. Mr Cameron, who arrives on Monday, will make a speech to the Rwandan parliament and unveil the findings of the Tory policy review on globalisation and poverty, chaired by a former cabinet minister, Peter Lilley, and advised by Bob Geldof.

"We've come to learn and contribute," said Mr Mitchell.

Rwanda, said Mr Mitchell, shows the "best and worst of Africa", on the road to recovery after at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide. Britain is liked here, not least because of the Labour government commitment to spending £460m over 10 years, making the UK the largest donor country. The Tories may struggle to make their voice heard on international development but the party is desperately keen to show its seriousness.

"This issue is central to the Conservative party and I think to British politics," said Mr Mitchell. "Our generation is the generation that is going to make a real difference to the enormous discrepancy of wealth that exists between the rich world and the poor world, which is obscene."

The trip has been savagely criticised - the News of the World ran a photomontage of Cameron last week captioned: "Stunt: How he'd look with orphans."

NGOs have given the project a polite reception. Phil Bloomer, director of campaigns at Oxfam, said: "If this trip is to have any long-term significance then the Conservatives must use it to strengthen their links with African leaders and learn to approach international development and foreign policy with a better understanding of the problems facing Africans."

Mr Mitchell, who has spent most of the week in the ministry of finance in Kigali, says he is struck by how donations can sometimes be a problem. "A young researcher, German, with a ring through her nose, demanded time from the government to talk about whether the German government would give budgetary support. And of course the government has to see her, because although the Germans are only offering £1m, they may offer tens of millions of pounds. Everyone, all the 40 donor organisations and countries, has to be seen and looked after."

The ministry itself is full of praise for Britain's cash and its willingness to work with the government.

Most of Project Umubano ("friendship" in Kinyarwanda) is more practical. In Giribuntu, Tobias Ellwood, the shadow culture spokesman and former officer in the Royal Green Jackets, shared some of his considerable carpenting expertise with Brooks Newmark, a new whip. Mr Mitchell's daughter, Rosie, is here, tilling what will become a play area; as is his part-time parliamentary assistant, Jessica Lever.

"We heard that there are members of parliament and here we were really shocked to find them here, working and plastering the toilets," says Annette Mugunga, a teacher.

Backstory

Rwanda is still recovering from one of the worst genocides in modern times. Tension between the dominant Tutsi minority and majority Hutus exploded into civil war in 1994 and an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the space of 100 days. Two million Hutus fled to neighbouring countries. The genocide is estimated to have left 500,000 orphans. Added to this, an estimated 270,000 Rwandan children having lost one or both parents to Aids-related illnesses. This means 100,000 children live in households headed by children - the highest number in Africa. After the genocide, more than two-thirds of Rwanda's population was female and 48.8% of the country's MPs are women. An estimated 40% of Rwandans live on less than $1 (48p) a day.