Continuing our series of articles from our Annual Report 2023/24, we outline here our work on our Good Gifts Initiative.
Through funding from the Good Gifts Catalogue, an initiative of the Charities Advisory Trust, we have extended our support to thousands of widows and orphans that are beneficiaries of our ongoing livelihoods program, enabling them to become more independent and self-sufficient. Good Gifts make a great Christmas present!
Survivors Fund (SURF) aims to alleviate the impact of poverty on vulnerable survivors by strengthening their families to secure viable livelihoods. The funding from Good Gifts helps to set up income generating projects which empower communities to fight poverty and take more active role in determining their lives.
Many survivors have been supported, receiving livestock, agricultural materials, solar lights and cookers, meals for schoolchildren and much more. The support from Good Gifts has played a significant role in enabling us to empower vulnerable survivors and their dependents. The livelihoods programme has helped beneficiaries to improve their lives. For example, those that have received solar lights and clean cookstoves are making savings for their households as they are no longer spending on kerosene, as well as saving time used to collect firewood. For that support they, and we, are greatly appreciative.
Amongst the gifts we have donated this year are:
Solar Lights for Survivors
Solar lights are important in Rwanda, as they play a crucial role in improving the lives of Rwandans and promoting sustainable development. Rwanda like other many other developing countries faces challenges in providing reliable access to electricity for its entire population. Solar lights provide an off-grid lighting solution that doesn’t rely on a centralized power, making them accessible to people in remote areas.
Rachel is one among hundreds of genocide survivors who received solar lights last year through the support of Good Gifts.
“I am very cheerful to be among the beneficiaries to receive solar lights from Survivors Fund (SURF). In our community we don’t have electricity and there is no plan to have it soon due to the fact that we are living in a very remote area. This solar light will help me in many ways. I normally use a lot of money to buy paraffin for lighting in the house. I also pay money for mobile phone charging, and I have to walk a long distance to the shop where I can charge my phone.”
The solar lights will improve the educational attainment of the children in the community through enabling students to study after school, which is particularly beneficial in rural areas where many students do not have access to electricity so cannot study in the evenings. As a result, this will lead to better academic performance and educational outcomes for those living in the households of the beneficiaries.
The solar lights will also be used as an income generating activity, through enabling the beneficiaries to charge the phones for other members of the community.
This solar light will also help reduce health risks caused by using kerosene and paraffin which produces harmful fumes and pose fire hazards. This will reduce the eye and breathing complaints that often arise from those using those traditional lighting sources.
Agnes, another beneficiary of the programme commented:
“Sincerely speaking, we are very happy for this solar light which we have received today. We are poor and to get paraffin was not possible to do for lighting every day. Sometimes we used to enter into the house when it was very dark without any lighting at all. It has not even been possible to get firewood, as it is so much more expensive these days. This solar light will help our children to study for their lessons freely and at any time into the evening, whereas before this was not possible to do. Thank you for this precious gift.”
Solar lights are important in Rwanda because they address critical issues related to energy access, education, health, economic development and environmental sustainability.
Mobile Health Education Clinic
Bugesera District is a district in the Eastern Province which has many remote areas. Survivors Fund (SURF) has partnered with Ntarama Health Centre, one of the health centres run by our local partner AVEGA, to provide a Mobile Health Clinic, especially in areas that are difficult to reach.
The Mobile Health Clinic is very important in improving health education access, delivery and outcomes in the remote parts of the country. Rwanda’s geography includes many remote and hard to reach areas, which can make it difficult for people to access health education facilities. The Mobile Health Clinic can bridge this gap by bringing health education services directly to these underserved communities, especially in the rural areas.
Demitrie Mukandashimye is the director of the Ntarama Health Centre. She confirmed that this Mobile Health Clinic is very important to them. They have many people that walk up to 20 kilometres to come to their health centre to attend education sessions on reproductive health/family planning, and many women that come to vaccinate their children. The mobile clinic will help take both the health education and the vaccination programme direct to the people that need it most, and otherwise struggled the most to access it.
“We are very happy today to receive this Mobile Health Clinic, which is going to help us to deliver health support to more people than ever. This will help in particular those people who currently come from far away to the Health Centre, as we are now in a position to take our work directly into their communities with all the materials needed to ensure that we can deliver the support that they need.
“During our health education campaigns, the Mobile Health clinic will help us with our outreach and to transport all the essential materials. We used to have to rent cars to bring medication to this Health Centre from the District Office, but now we will be using this electric vehicle which will save a lot of money that otherwise we had to pay.
“We have 88 community health workers who are helping people in the villages. We will be working with them to arrange field outreach activities together. Before receiving this support, we used to provide services to less than 10,000 people a month. But due to this support, we will be able to deliver help to more than 30,000 people per month providing an array of different services to a much greater population, including those most in need of our health support in hard-to-reach rural communities.”
The Mobile Health Clinic is very essential because it addresses the unique healthcare challenge of accessing remote communities with limited healthcare infrastructure, and the need to improve access. This will play a big role in advancing healthcare access, improving health outcomes, and promoting the overall wellbeing of the population.
Banana Beer
Traditional beer, known as Urwagwa in Rwanda, is a popular and culturally significant alcoholic beverage in the countryside. It is made from fermented bananas and has been consumed for centuries as part of Rwandan traditions and rituals. Through the support of Good Gifts, Habimfura Felicien who is 54 years old living in the Southern Province of Kamonyi district, has been supported to start a business of making and selling banana beer in the community.
“I thank you very much for this support. I have a family of 8 children who I need to support to pay for their school fees and school materials to enable them attend school regularly. After receiving the support from Good Gifts to set up a small business producing and selling Urwagwa, I now make banana beer five times a week and can produce up to four jerry cans each round. I am very sure that my family life will be changed for the better, as I am now able to generate income of Rwf 20,000 (£15) per week as net profit with which I am now able to meet the essential needs of my family.”
Banana beer has a cultural significance, especially in ceremonial use where it has ritual significance in Rwanda. It is often used in traditional ceremonies, such as weddings, birthday celebrations, and other important events. Sharing Urwagwa is a way for Rwandans to bond and build social connections. Not only at ceremonies, but also offering Urwagwa to elders is a sign of respect to them.
Traditional banana beer plays a central role in Rwanda culture, connecting people, preserving traditions and celebrating life’s important moments. While the process may vary slightly from one region to another and among different Rwandan communities, the cultural significance of Urwagwa remains strong throughout the country.
University Sponsorship
The support from Good Gifts enables Survivors Fund (SURF) to sponsor students at institutions of high learning. Currently we are sponsoring seven University students. This year three students graduated and Claire is one of them. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.
Claire used to work and study in order to pay her school fees and support her family. It was too much a responsibility that she dropped out of school in order to support her mother and young brothers. The support from Survivors Fund (SURF) made possible by Good Gifts has helped Claire to continue her education, to return to pursue her studies and ultimately to pursue her dream.
“The scholarship connected me with a vibrant and supportive community of fellow scholars. I have been granted the privilege of interacting with fellow students and this has enriched my social and intellectual life. I feel a strong sense of responsibility to make the most out this opportunity I have been given. I want to honour the faith that SURF has placed in me by excelling academically and giving back to my community.”
Claire plans to continue her studies through pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Health Policy and Planning. She is currently working as an office coordinator for one of the health facilities in Kigali.