From March 10-21, 2025, Caritas Rwanda, in partnership with the RBC Malaria Division and Nyamasheke District Task Force Team, carried out an intensive 2-week Malaria investigation in the hotspot sectors of Macuba, Kirimbi, and Kagano.
This activity aimed to identify areas with the highest malaria burden and implement targeted actions to reduce malaria incidence. During this period, Caritas Rwanda conducted door-to-door household visits in communities most affected by malaria, providing valuable education on prevention and control measures.
Caritas Rwanda Staff along with the District Health promotion and Diseases Prevention Officer, disseminated key messages on Malaria prevention through Community meetings in Macuba and Kagano Sector, in Nyamasheke District.
In addition, community mobilization meetings known as Inteko z’abaturage were organized to engage local leaders and citizens, increasing awareness and strengthening the community’s role in combating malaria. The collaboration focused on ensuring sustainable and effective malaria prevention practices within the affected villages.
As part of its ECD project, funded by Plan Rwanda International, Caritas Rwanda organized a friendly football match between Rusenge Father Role Models and Gikunzi Father Role Models in Nyaruguru District. The Rusenge team scored 5 penalties against the Gikunzi team’s 4. This match was organized on March 18, 2025, to raise awareness among the parents on positive parenting focusing on the importance of fathers’ crucial role in the growth and development of their children.
Both teams scored one against one, which led to a penalty shootout.
After the game, local leaders and project staff delivered messages and posed questions to underscore the crucial role fathers play in the growth and development of their children. The winning participants received t-shirts as a token of appreciation.
During this match, both teams scored the same one to one, which led to a penalty shootout. After the match, Nsabumuremyi Janvier, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) coordinator in Nyaruguru District, recalled the six pillars of ECD, namely: (i) adequate nutrition, (ii) health, (iii) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), (iv)child protection and inclusiveness, (v) readiness/ opportunities for early learning, and (vi) parenting education.
Janvier Nsabumuremyi, Nyaruguru District ECD coordinator, addressing participants.
Mr. Nsanzumuremyi took this opportunity to call on fathers to play a role as well as mothers in ensuring the implementation of these six pillars. He thanked Caritas Rwanda and Plan International Rwanda as donors involved in ECD activities in Nyaruguru District, including maintaining ECD centers and homes, providing various necessary equipment, training caregivers, and assisting parents in providing food for their children in HBECD and centers.
Question-and-answer session on the crucial role fathers play in the growth and development of their children.
After the match, there was also a question-and-answer session on the crucial role fathers play in the growth and development of their children, and the winners received t-shirts as a token of appreciation. In addition, trophies were awarded to both teams, since the primary objective was to raise awareness about positive parenting, not to compete.
Distribution of t-shirts to winners of the question-and-answer session.
A similar event was also held in Gatsibo District on 14th March 2025, and is scheduled to take place in Bugesera District on 21st March 2025, the two districts where the ECD project is being implemented in addition to Nyaruguru District.
The winners of the game: Rusenge Father Role Models.
As a creative way to engage the community and spread awareness on Positive Parenting, Caritas Rwanda in partnership with Gatsibo District, through the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project funded by Plan International Rwanda, organized a football match between Murambi and Kiziguro Father Role Models. This event was held at Groupe Scholaire Rwimitereri, Murambi Sector in Gatsibo District on March 14, 2025.
The specific goals of this awareness campaign were to:
– Promote parental involvement, with a particular emphasis on fathers, in nurturing care tasks, gender transformative emphasizing the significance of shared responsibilities within the family unit;
– Use football as a means of fostering positive interactions between parents and their children;
– Establish a forum for fathers to gain experiences from father role models, enhancing parenting skills;
– Educate communities on the transformative impact of positive parenting practices in cultivating responsible children and how such practices can mitigate issues such as school dropouts, domestic violence and behaviour problems in the future.
In this community awareness promoting Positive Parenting, the Murambi Father Role Models team emerged victorious with a score of 5 against 0 of the Kiziguro team. The two teams received trophy cups each.
During the half-time, local leaders and project staff delivered messages highlighting the crucial role fathers play in the growth and development of their children. Following the messages, a question-and-answer session took place, and t-shirts were awarded to the winning participants.
During the question and answer session, the winners received the t-shirts as a prize.
Addressing participants, Naomy Mukagasana, the Gatsibo District employee in charge of Gender and Family Promotion, urged parents (both fathers and mothers) to take care of their children by giving them love, raising them in a proper manner and setting boundaries for what is and is not allowed, building their self-confidence, protecting them from the harm of technology and being loving parents to be a role model for them.
Naomy Mukagasana, the Gatsibo District employee in charge of Gender and Family Promotion.
This awareness campaign will also be carried out in Nyaruguru on 18th March 2025 and in Bugesera on 21st March 2025.
Caritas Rwanda Family, gathering 10 diocesan Caritas and National level joined in a two-day reporting workshop on January 23-24, 2025, at Centre d’Accueil Bonne Esperance Kicukiro, in a preparation of the forthcoming General Assembly of Caritas Rwanda scheduled March 25-26, 2025. The workshop was characterized by the commitment and active participation of all members of the network as testified by Head of Administration and Finance department, Head of Health Department, Social Welfare and Development Departments’ Representatives in their feedback remarks.
Closing the session, Father Oscar KAGIMBURA, Secretary General of Caritas Rwanda expressed his gratitude to all participants. “Getting well prepared will allow shortening the Geneal Assembly from two days to one in the future”, he said. The departments were reminded to keep joining hands in mobilizing more resources, maintaining existing and new partners satisfied through clear and transparent communication, creating more and more trust.
The new Caritas Rwanda Strategic Plan 2025-2030 will allow us to continue supporting those in need to improve their lives. Father Oscar stressed the importance of being always ready to intervene in case of emergencies and reminded participants of the pending approval of the “Preparedness Plan” inviting concerned persons to work on it as quick as possible. “This is the work of all Caritas departments as emergencies affect all your plans”, said the Secretary General. Participants were reminded of supporting Rwandans to achieve their integral development through informing them of existing opportunities, supporting them to access services they offer among others. Departments were mandated to synergize with other Episcopal Conference Commissions and Services, development should explore ways to support Catholic Church decentralized resources to significantly contribute to the increase of agricultural and animal production towards food security and access to food, leveraging existing warehouses and other postharvest processing infrastructures.
On 9th January 2024, Caritas Rwanda in collaboration with the Burera District officially inaugurated the Rwabageni Nurturing Care Hub, constructed with funds from the Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation, in Kiringa Cell, Kagogo Sector, Burera District in the Western Province of Rwanda. This NCH will help 80 children access early childhood education at village level.
Apart from fostering early childhood education, the Rwabageni NCH will serve as one stop site for community nutrition interventions supported by USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose program to fight against stunting among young children.
During the Rwabageni NCH inauguration, the guests visited two classrooms of Children aged (3-4 years) and (5-6 years) and observed how the community with the USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose support is improving Early learning, Positive parenting education, Child Play and stimulation, and disability inclusion.
Guests visiting the 5-6 years classroom and singing with them.
Father Oscar Kagimbura, the Secretary General of Caritas Rwanda expressed their gratitude to the Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation for funding the Rwabageni NCH initiative and urged parents to take ownership of the NCH to ensure its sustainability.
As for Mrs. Mukamana Soline, Mayor of Burera District, the Rwabageni NCH initiative falls within the national Early Childhood Development (ECD) strategy, which attempts to promote children’s development from conception to age six. “As local leaders, we prefer sustainable initiatives rather than those that end with projects,” said Mayor Mukamana Soline.
Aron James, representing the Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation in the ceremony, thanked local authorities for their cooperation and expressed his delight in seeing parents actively participating in NCH activities. He also pledged continued collaboration to support the initiative.
Aron James, who represented the Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation in the Rwabageni NCH official inauguration.
This event was also a good opportunity to raise awareness on fighting against the stunting among young children. In her speech, Dr. Umurungi Serubibi Yvonne, Chief of Party for the USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose Program, reminded the participating mothers that they must conducted 8 ANC standard visits during pregnancy, breastfeed their children for 6 months without any supplements, and after 6 months, start giving them a balanced diet as instructed.
During the inauguration, the children were provided with nutritious meal.
