CSDI raises over Rwf 11m to support vulnerable families hit by Coronavirus

Elias Hakizimana Aug 30, 2020 0 Comments

By Elias Hakizimana.

Members of the Community Social Economic Development Initiatives (CSDI), a national non-profit organization have raised over Rwf11million to support the most vulnerable families in Gasabo district as the current coronavirus spreads in the country and threatening some families with no incomes.

The CSDI used the cash to buy rice, cooking oil, maize flour, sugar, salt, bar soaps, facemasks, health insurance support, and sanitary pads worth $12,000.

The foodstuffs were handed over to Kabuye health centre who identified the most vulnerable people in the area and distributed the food items to them.

The beneficiaries consisted mainly those who used to make a living through daily wages, sex workers, and people living with HIV and their children.

**Leon Pierre Rusanganwa, the chairman and founder of CSDI and Dr Brenda Kateera Assimwe, the head of AHF in Rwanda at the event**

As the virus spreads, those living with HIV and on medication have less money to buy food and when they don’t eat, the antiviral drugs they take can cause pain and weakness.

Rwanda government offers free antiretroviral therapy to all and has been praised for its progress in controlling HIV with the HIV prevalence at 3% more than a decade.

But the current COVID-19 now threatens to undermine these great achievements as some HIV patients might stop taking the drugs due to lack of food.

Leon Pierre Rusanganwa, the chairman and founder of CSDI said the NGO had been inspired by the government’s idea to support families whose incomes have been reduced or threatened by COVID-19.

**The CSDI used the cash to buy rice, cooking oil, maize flour, sugar, salt, bar soaps, facemasks, health insurance support, and sanitary pads worth $12,000.**

“We shall continue to mobilize funds and share whatever we get with members of society to cope with the economic consequences of COVID-19,” Rusanganwa said while handing over of food and other items to Kabuye health centre officials on Saturday.

Rusanganwa said the support was kind of emergence, adding more than 200 families will benefit. He said a family with a big number of dependents will benefit more than families with less dependants.

The CSDI got the funding from their partner Aids Health Foundation International (AHF) and other stakeholders.

Dr Brenda Kateera Assimwe, the head of AHF in Rwanda said the support was immediate and urged the people of Gasabo district to follow the government’s spirit of hard work and preserve their dignity.

“We shall continue to look for more funds so that our help extends to more families hit by COVID-19,” Assimwe said.

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