On March 24, 2025, young people belonging to the Imbaduko y’Iterambere – Murambi internal savings and loan (SILC) group, supported by the Gera Ku Ntego (GKN) project, built a house for the family of Eric Nteziryayo (married with two children) living in Murambi village, Ntanga cell, Mugesera sector, Ngoma district, Eastern Province.
The idea of providing him with shelter was suggested by one of the members of the Imbaduko y’Iterambere – Murambi group. The other members welcomed the idea. Twelve of them participated in the construction work with the help of five other young people from the neighbourhood who are not part of the group. Eric’s house was recently destroyed by natural disasters caused by torrential rains. The roof blew off and the walls collapsed.
The house measures 4 meters by 5 meters and includes two bedrooms, a living room, and a hallway. It has twelve metal tiles. To build it, these young people purchased no materials other than bamboo and contributed to community work by digging the ground, drawing water, working the mud, placing bamboo on the felled trees, and pouring the mud on top. The total cost of the work was Rwf 78,000.
At the end of this activity, Florence Niyimenya, GKN’s field officer in Mugesera sector, thanked these young people and urged them to continue conducting such charitable activities and forming internal savings and credit groups to reduce the number of young people involved in drugs and other bad behaviors, considering that young people are the fastest-growing force in nation-building.
The Gera Ku Ntego (GKN) Youth Project is a CRS-initiated project aimed at strengthening a sustainable pathway to scaling youth-focused approaches that address needs, opportunities, and priorities in Rwanda. The project is implemented by 4 Caritas diocesans (Butare, Cyangugu, Byumba and Nyundo) in close collaboration and coordination with Caritas Rwanda, and it builds on existing relationships with key stakeholders capable of achieving large-scale results, including the Government, the private sector and the Church, to strengthen their collective action aimed at improving access to formal finance and entrepreneurship, the main obstacles to the creation and expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for young people in Rwanda.