Caritas Rwanda Realizes “one stop site for community nutrition interventions” for Children in Partnership Initiative

Kigali, 11 January, 2025 / 3:10 PM

Caritas Rwanda, the humanitarian and development establishment of the Catholic Bishops of Rwanda has realized a nutrition initiative with children as the primary beneficiaries.

Dubbed “Rwabageni Nurturing Care Hub” (Rwabageni NCH), the Caritas Rwanda feeding initiative was officially launched on January 9, at the venue of its operationalization in Kiringa Cell, Kagogo Sector, Burera District in the Western Province of the landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, according to a January 10 report. 

The Caritas Rwanda report indicates that the Rwabageni NCH, which targets to “help 80 children access early childhood education at village level” has been realized in partnership with Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation.

The Rwabageni NCH that Caritas Rwanda launched in collaboration with Burera District is to “serve as one stop site for community nutrition interventions,” the January 10 report of the entity that is member of the international confederation of all Caritas organizations in the world, Caritas Internationalis (CI) further indicates.

The nutritional initiative aims to foster early childhood education and to “fight against stunting among young children,” Caritas Rwanda has reported, adding that the program is to be realized in partnership with USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose.

Caritas Rwanda describes Gikuriro Kuri Bose (Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood program) as a five-year USAID funded initiative (2021-2026) that is it implements in partnership with the Catholic Relief Services in the country, CRS Rwanda.

According to the January 10 Caritas Rwanda report, participants in the Rwabageni NCH inauguration “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.”

In the report, the Secretary General of Caritas Rwanda since April 2023, Fr. Oscar Kagimbura, is quoted expressing gratitude to partners, who have facilitated the realization of the Rwabageni NCH initiative.

Fr. Oscar called upon parents and guardians of the direct beneficiaries of the initiative to appropriate the launched Rwabageni NCH, working towards its sustainability.

The Mayor of Burera District, Mukamana Soline, lauded the Rwabageni NCH as an initiative is part of Rwanda’s “national Early Childhood Development (ECD) strategy, which attempts to promote children’s development from conception to age six,” the January 10 report indicates.

“As local leaders, we prefer sustainable initiatives rather than those that end with projects,” the report quotes Mayor Mukamana as saying.

The representative of Dennis and Jane Reese Foundation at the January 9 event, Aron James, thanked local authorities for their cooperation and recognized the active participation of parents and guardians in the launched Rwabageni NCH initiative.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Party for the USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose Program, Dr. Umurungi Serubibi Yvonne, reminded mothers at the event about the need for antenatal clinics (ANC) standard visits during pregnancy, the January 10 report indicates. 

Dr. Umurungi is also quoted as having emphasized the need for mothers to breastfeed their children for six months without introducing any supplements to the infants, and to start giving them a balanced diet after the first six months.

“During the inauguration, the children were provided with nutritious meal,” Caritas Rwanda has reported.