PAULUS KAYIGGWA meets Narcisse Kalisa, the managing director of Urunana, a popular health education Rwandan radio soap opera that won the ‘One World Special Achievement Awards’

"To have beaten six projects that were short-listed around the globe, my happiness is beyond human expectation for this achievement and I am determined to further push on to the next stage of the organisation objectives,” Kalisa said.  

When I asked him how he did it, Narcisse Kalisa smiles and says: "hard work made us achieve the award.”

Kalisa was born in Rwanda in 1966. He was educated at Kabgayi Junior Seminary in Southern Province. At secondary level, Kalisa opted for modern languages and Latin.

Next step was the National University of Rwanda in Butare and he graduated in linguistic and literature in 1992.
Until 1996, Kalisa worked as a secondary teacher in the Institute of Public Finance up to 1996 which is now the School of Finance and Banking.

Kalisa had a series of training on radio production, how to use digital machines, drama production and communication skills. There after he worked with the radio of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

In 1998 Kalisa joined ‘Health Unlimited’ a British programme that was to initiate Urunana which became fully operational in 2004 with all its various educative programmes.

"In the first place I worked as an executive director and later in 2005 I became the managing director of the Urunana programme,” he said.

Kalisa is married with four children, two sons and two daughters.

As a managing director of Urunana programme, Kalisa has plans to continue his studies to Master’s level. "I want to study project planning and management.”

When asked what he plans for the organisation Kalisa replies, "I want to make the organisation a very strong communications centre in the country”

He admires the former South African president Nelson Mandela.

"I really like him and I regard him as a man of peace, it’s indeed life sacrifice to spend twenty seven years in prison,”
Kalisa spends his leisure time playing tennis and visiting his friends.

"I used to play football but because of age, I resorted to simple games which do not require much energy,” he explained.

He added that he had a passion for Rwanda Championships at the time when it was performing well but later switched to Arsenal in England and Barcelona in Spain.

"I went for Arsenal because they had Nicolos Anelka and Thierry Henry,” he revealed.

When asked why he is still supporting them when both players left the club some time back, Kalisa laughs for the while: "Though they left the club, Arsenal still plays an entertaining game that I treasure and I love to watch.”

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