In Rwanda, PhD student Aalyia Sadruddin has conducted ethnographic research on perceptions of caregiving and aging in central and northeastern settings since May 2014. She has also worked closely with advisors and colleagues from the University of Rwanda, Laterite (a research firm in Kigali that has conducted large-scale social and economic research in Rwanda since 2010), and the Office of the President of Rwanda, in order to understand how older persons are presented as survivors of the 1994-genocide in Rwanda. For her doctoral dissertation, she aims to examine the experiences of aging and old age in Rwanda, one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, and where a range of social, demographic, and government driven forces are giving new meaning to old age, kinship, and social transformation in the aftermath of the genocide.

Aalyia’s research is embedded within Yale University’s Department of Anthropology, the Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI), the Program on Stress and Family Resilience, and the Conflict, Resilience, and Health Program.