On the 30-year commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Irish charity Bóthar and its partner Ripple Effect continue their commitment to the survivors of genocide through programme activities with the Association des Veuves du Genocide or the Association of the Widows of Genocide (AVEGA) based in east Rwanda.

In Rwamagana, the pass-on-gift continues to benefit families in the area. Families who lose an animal can apply to the local veterinary department for a replacement. If they meet the eligibility criteria, they will receive a replacement calf from a previous beneficiary of the animal project.

Consolee (51) has four surviving children now in adulthood who still live with her.

Before joining the Bóthar and RippleEffect Consolee said she "was always among the poorest" in the village.

"I was considered a burden because I begged for food. We had nothing to eat.”

Primary income

Consolee received a pass-on-gift of a cow which has since given birth five times. Her primary income now derives from vegetable production after training by local Ripple Effect staff.

Consolee is not only supporting herself and her extended family, she is also part of a self-help savings group and involved in providing training on nutrition in her community.

Consolee with her cows.

In the most recent two-year project, Ripple Effect has trained 399 participants, benefiting almost 2,000 people indirectly.

Some 243 women took part in the training along with 41 people living with a disability and 16 young people. They received training including farm planning, vegetable production, animal husbandry, fodder multiplication and soil erosion control. Bóthar supported the project with funding.

Interventions

This week, Bóthar and Ripple Effect have written to the Department of Agriculture to showcase how farming interventions can be highly effective in enabling communities like Rwamagana to build their own solutions, their own resilience through food security and their own food programmes.

Paul Stuart, chief executive officer (CEO) of Ripple Effect said: “At Ripple Effect we believe that giving communities the skills and training to transform their lives is the most powerful way of ensuring the future prosperity of all Rwandans.”

Thirty years on from the genocide, the people of Rwanda continue to show the world how a country can remake itself.