_Regina McNamara et al._ Without extensive interviewing and observation, the motivating influence of the Abakangurambagas in creating a demand for family planning services cannot be definitively established, but this interpretation is certainly suggested in Gatonde where a second clinic had to be added to handle the sudden increase in clients seeking services in the first months after the program was introduced. In the Kidaho area, the greater part of current use was accounted for by the injectable, not by the methods supplied by the Abakangurambaga.5 The hopes for the national program initiated shortly after the first results of the pilot project were known are tempered by the realization that openness to family planning practice documented in the 1989 survey in the study areas did not readily translate into a desire for small families. The ideal number of children expressed by the respondents was **_5.8_** (calculated by adding the additional number of children desired to the number of existing children), not very much lower than the 6.3 found in the 1983 Fertility Survey. The mean ideal number of children among Gatonde respondents was lower than those of the other regions. Gatonde women were also more likely to have the intention to use family planning in the future, suggesting that the Abakangurambaga had an influence on these attitudes. Neither education or religion differentiated future use among non-users in any project area.

# **_Factors_** _Contribuing to Success in Ruhengeri_

The determination of the government to solve the problems of extraordinary population density and growth of the population provided a firm official foundation for the project. It was not mounted by ONAPO unilaterally, but in concert with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Interior and Community Development. This unity of purpose at high levels, however, had little direct effect on the family planning practice. The change factor seemed to be the men and women of the rural communities who were known, who were trusted, and who were experienced with communicating the government's messages. Also, the Abakangurambaga were apparently most convincing when they were assured that their most immediate leaders and national leaders were speaking with the same voice. Lack of local support was an impediment the volunteers in Kidaho could not overcome. Recommendations made at the end of the operations research project emphasized at several points the need to prepare the communities for the volunteers, promote community meetings, and broadcast IEC messages on the radio as essential strategies for building and maintaining the volunteers' motivation.

The prospects for survival of the program are excellent given the unequivocal government support, and geographical expansion was underway at the first signs of success in attracting new acceptors. Organization and management of a national program undoubtedly brings its own problems but this project in a short time period provided useful training and program monitoring experience, and encouraging evidence that women in Rwanda do respond to community education.

'Contraceptive supplies distributed in government clinics in Rwanda, as in many Third World countries, are contributed by international and bilateral donor agencies. A.l.D. does not distribute injectables; UNFPA is the major source for supplies of this contraceptive.