Happy to lend a helping hand

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- His wife, sister and a son were killed in 1994, during

massacres in the African nation of Rwanda.

Bigira Kiro-Kiro’s remaining five children narrowly escaped -- coming to

the U.S. under the asylum program for war refugees -- and moved into his

Costa Mesa home.

“America is really a country where people help,” said Kiro-Kiro, 48,

owner of African Corner, a small African crafts store in Costa Mesa. “I

thank America for giving me a second chance with my kids. Now that I live

in America, I can also help.”

Kiro-Kiro is raising money and donations of canned food, clothing,

sneakers and computers for relief organizations in Mozambique.

Floods ravaged the country, located in southeastern Africa, in February.

The nation, one of the world’s poorest, is home to roughly 19 million

citizens.

The storms left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Despite

television images of people clinging to trees for days, avoiding the

raging flood waters, foreign governments and the United Nations were slow

and limited in their response.

To pick up the slack, thousands of international nonprofit organizations

and individuals -- including Kiro-Kiro -- have donated their time, money

and energy to provide relief to the tattered country.

Kiro-Kiro bears scars next to his eyes, the markings of his Watusi

heritage. He wears bright yellow, round-rimmed glasses and a frequent

smile.

“Whatever people think they don’t need, we do,” he said. “Shoes, old

clothes, spoons. We’ll send it all.”

Kiro-Kiro said he will give the money he raises to the Red Cross for its

missions to Mozambique. And he will send the cans of food, clothing and

computers to Catholic Charities, a nonprofit organization that will

deliver the items to the ravaged country.

He has posted fliers advertising the drive at local churches, libraries

and the Orange County Marketplace.

“Some people come by my stand at the swap meet and ask ‘where is

Mozambique?’ ” he said. “I tell them it’s where the people were stuck in

the trees. Then they know.”

FYI

Donations can be left outside the African Corner, at 2584 Newport Blvd.,

Costa Mesa; or call Kiro-Kiro at (949) 650-7993.