January 2024 – Caritas Rwanda

During their Journey of Hope in Rwanda to better understand the work carried out by CRS Rwanda and meet key stakeholders and partners, the CRS Board members and donors met with Caritas Rwanda team on Friday 26^th January 2024. The conversation centered on the two organizations’ current partnership, fundraising strategies, and potential future knowledge sharing.

On the first day of their visit (January 22), these visitors together with CRS Rwanda and Caritas Rwanda staff attended a holy mass celebration at Saint Michel Cathedral. The visitors also met with his eminence Cardinal Antoine Kambanda, and they discussed the ongoing CRS partnership with the Catholic Church in Rwanda.

Group photo of CRS representatives, CRS Rwanda employees and Caritas Rwanda employees after the celebration of the Holy Mass at Saint Michel Cathedral.

The delegation also paid a visit to the Youth for Youth Project participants (implemented by the 3 diocesan Caritas and Vision Jeunesse Nouvelle, under the coordination of Caritas Rwanda and funding from USAID through CRS Rwanda) from the Rubavu District on 23rd January 2024, where they visited Jean D’Amour Tubanambazi, who cultivates mushrooms and combat the malnutrition in his local community, and Irakoze Obed who owns an agro-veterinary Pharmacy.

After meeting the Youth entrepreneurs, the guests visited as well the Diocese of Nyundo met Bishop Anaclet Mwumvaneza and discussed the ongoing partnership between CRS and the Diocese of Nyundo. Bishop Anaclet appreciated the support offered by CRS as a rapid response to the floods that affected the Diocese.

On 25^th January 2024, at Nyirabashenyi Nurturing Care Hub in Nyabihu District, Gikuriro Kuri Bose team hosted the CRS country office representatives (donors, board members, Vice president), a trip to learn more about inclusive nutrition, food security, economic strengthening and ECD interventions to improve optimal nurturing care practices among families having children under five years. Caritas Rwanda was represented by Father Jean Paul, director of Caritas Nyundo/Gisenyi.

CRS representatives and donors at at Nyirabashenyi Nurturing Care Hub in Nyabihu District.

The Nyabihu District leaders appreciated the tremendous achievements of Gikuriro Kuri Bose Program (2015-2020), great contribution in stunting reduction from 59% in 2015 to 46% in 2020. They have also commended CRS and Caritas Rwanda for the effective collaboration and partnership in Nyabihu.

A story of change

Chantal Nyiramahire, a 42-year-old Congolese refugee and mother of four children, has completed primary education and lives in the Kiziba refugee camp.

In 2012, she received tailoring training but struggled to succeed due to a lack of business knowledge and her family’s poverty, consuming only one meal daily.

After being selected as a Caritas Rwanda’s beneficiary through the Poverty Alleviation Coalition (PAC) project in 2021, she was provided with different sessions of training including Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, income-generating activities, and an empowered world view among others which shaped her mind in terms of running profitable businesses. that capacity building was accompanied with a cash grant of 80,000RwF (around USD800) to run her business of cloth manufacturing.

After receiving that cash grant in March 2023, she began manufacturing and selling African loincloths and sewing for customers. With PAC Project training, she expanded to the US, targeting fellow refugees who went there for resettlement. “My business permits me to earn around Frw 115,000 monthly net profit, in addition to the sewing fees, and that allows me to take care of my family. As of now, we can’t run out of vegetables at home and we eat twice a day”. She declared.

She also claims to save Frw 10,000 in her savings group every week and to have Frw 4,200,000 in her bank account. Her working capital today is around 2.6 million Rwandan francs.

“First and foremost, I appreciate the training I received, which is particularly beneficial to me. “Even now, I share my knowledge with my friends and teach them how to save and develop,” Chantal says, smiling.

To watch Chantal’s testimonial click here

Monthly Archives: January 2024

In their Journey of Hope, the CRS country office representatives visited various Caritas Rwanda’s activities

A simple tailor has become a clothing manufacturer and exporter