How much danger does this person seem to be in?

Dutch_Uncle, Leaving aside the considerations mentioned in #38 with regard to telling my friend to find a church to help him, you have not offered any information specific to the current or recent situation in Rwanda to suggest that a church might be of any help, nor indicated much familiarity with current conditions there. Your reference to "tribes" in Rwanda is especially misleading. The country has no tribal structure at all, no tribally-appointed village chiefs or localized tribal customs, and not even any religious or language differences between the Tutsi and Hutu. The use of "tribes" to refer to these ethnic groups is as misplaced as it would be to apply this term to The Walloons or Flemish-speaking people of Belgium, or to Frenchmen whose families originate in Brittany or Corsica.

Not withstanding the above, I do appreciate you concern for my friend.

While I can't indicate a specific church organization working in Rwanda, I do urge an attitude of flexibility concerning what they may have to offer.

I think that tribal is an apt term to describe the Flemish-Waloon situation, and the divisions in Northern Ireland. It fit very well in Bosnia-Herzegovinia. In Nigeria the the term was eased out in favor of "state of origin," but it was a major fact of life. In Lagos I could not understand why a bright young lad would not accept a promotion I wanted him to have until I realized that he would have been the junior man, and an Ibo, in an office of Yourbas. Bad mix, which everyone knew but me. Significantly, no Nigerian came right out and used the t-word concerning my unworkable idea.

The tribal designation can also be applied to new groups such as the army, police, immigration and customs, and other offices. There are laws, but also customs which have the force of law. I think the point is that there is no tidy roadmap of organizations to help your friend. It is more like a patchwork, with not much communication between the patches. Persistence and flexibility, OK?

The rest of the story: Was your man able to arrive at a solution of some type?