Monthly Archives: September 2023

3,342 households from Ngororero, Burera, Rubavu, Nyabihu, Rutsiro and Karongi districts (Western and Northern Provinces of Rwanda) affected by the floods and landslides of May 2023, have received assistance through EA 17-23/RRF Project. This project was implemented by Caritas Rwanda, in collaboration with local authorities, Caritas Internationalis and diocesan Caritas, with funding granted by Caritas Italiana, Caritas Korea, Caritas Japan, Caritas Slovenia, CRS, Trócaire and other people of good will.

The figures published by the Ministry of Emergency Management on May 13, show that these floods and landslides killed 135 people, left 110 injured and destroyed 5,963 houses. The populations affected by the floods and landslides were immediately evacuated to 83 emergency sites. Caritas Rwanda, in collaboration with diocesan Caritas, approached the affected people to comfort them, and called on everyone to collect funds, needed equipments and food to help them. Below are the donations collected:

Donor	Donations in euros
Diocesan Caritas	250,917
CRS	221,971
TROCAIRE	84,457
Caritas Italiana	30,000
Caritas Rwanda	28,340
Caritas Korea	28,057
Caritas Japan	10,000
Caritas Slovenia	10,000
People with good will	1,133
Total	664.875

 

The donations collected equal to Frw 759,000,000. To provide the assistance, Caritas Rwanda collaborated with diocesan Caritas and local authorities to select the most vulnerable beneficiaries, following the criteria below:

– Households with children under 5 ;

– Households headed by a widows (women);

– Households including elderly people ;

– Household headed by children (orphans at the head of the household) ;

– Households with children suffering from malnutrition or at risk ;

– Households including disabled people;

– Households that have not yet received similar support.

The 3,342 most vulnerable households received food, clothes, hygiene kits and a cash grant for their recovery and social reintegration after the floods. The transfer of the cash grant was transferred to their mobile phones, where 625 households received Frw 50,000 (each household), while the remaining 2,717 received Frw 92,000 (each household).

Use of the cash grant received

From 16^th to 18^th August, 2023, a team composed of staff from Caritas Rwanda, Caritas Internationalis, the diocesan Caritas of Ruhengeri and Nyundo (Gisenyi zone and Kibuye zone) and local authorities, visited the populations affected by the May 2023 floods in Burera, Rubavu and Karongi, districts, that received assistance under EA17-2023/RRF Project.

During this visit, the joint team noted that some families used the cash grant to rebuild their houses but with solid foundations as advised by local authorities. Others have invested in small livestock with a view to producing manure and selling the young at the market for economic development, while others have started small income-generating activities.

The joint team encouraged the affected populations to remain strong, and always seek to promote their economic development. As for the families supported, they expressed their gratitude to Caritas at all levels and the local authorities, for the physical and moral support.

They testified that the support they received from Caritas served as a lesson to them and affirmed that from now on they will help other people in need. “We received love, and we can’t waste this love that our brothers and sisters showed us. We learned the lesson that will help us. Even if we are not rich, we will help other families whose houses are destroyed, once they get permission to rebuild”, said Jean Claude Siborurema, one of the people affected by the floods of May 2023, from Burera district.

74 Field Agents from the Burera, Rulindo and Nyabihu districts identified and trained by the USAID-funded Gikuriro Kuri Bose Program (implemented by Caritas Rwanda) were certified as Private Service Providers (PSP) from 12^th to 14^th September 2023. The skills acquired will enable them to continue extending the economic strengthening services by creating, coaching, and mentoring saving groups in the community.

Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILCs) are a type of community savings group that the GKB program has adopted to strengthen the livelihoods of the people it serves. To mentor SILCs, the Gikuriro Kuri Bose program recruited and trained community-based field agents, whose responsibilities are to promote SILC activities, mentor SILC members, supervise SILCs, and prepare quarterly reports on the groups’ performance over a given period, usually one year corresponding to a savings cycle for the groups they mentor.

To continually build the capacity of field agents, the GKB program holds a monthly review meeting. This meeting shares important information on the economic opportunities, resources, and support available to the community to resolve issues and challenges. To ensure accountability, towards the end of the first year, field agents undergo an assessment of their performance through an individual oral examination by program staff, complemented by an evaluation by the SILC group members they have coached through an organized group discussion.

The process enables field agents who have passed the assessment to become Private Service Providers (PSPs) with the capacity to establish private savings groups on their own, and established private savings groups are required to pay a service fee if they are satisfied with the support provided by PSPs (Private Service Providers).

The certification events of the 74 PSP in the three districts involved the GKB staff and leadership, districts’ officials as well as local leaders.