Access Bank on Wednesday, April 24 committed Rwf 2.3 million to support a poultry farming project run by widows of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Ntarama Sector, in Bugesera District.

This was part of the activities by the bank to mark the 25th commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

The beneficiaries are members of ‘Humura Pe’, a cooperative that brings together 10 women survivors identified by the Association of Genocide Widows, AVEGA-Agahozo.

The poultry project is one of the economic activities by the cooperative, which started out making handcrafts in 2015.

The 10-member cooperative invested in poultry farming after their market for the handcraft products in the United States of America closed.

Despite limited market for their products, the members of the cooperative did not give up on their business.

However, having realised that the business hardly fetched enough income to support their livelihoods, members agreed to diversify into poultry farming.

They started with a small startup capital of Rwf 1.04 million.

After this, Access Bank helped them build a chicken coop and also get the initial stock of 300 chicks.

Valerie Mukabayire, the chairperson of AVEGA-Agahozo, welcomed the bank’s support and called for more financial institutions and other companies to support pending projects of Genocide widows that still need financing.

"We are grateful for Access Bank’s continued helping hand in supporting Genocide survivors. The support offered to Genocide widows is a gesture of affection. But there are other projects of Genocide widows which need support,” Mukabayire said.

Nadine Rutabayiro, the bank’s Head of Women Banking, said the support can hopefully change the lives of the cooperative members, their families and neighbouring communities, if it is used appropriately.

"It’s in the bank’s responsibilities to support Genocide survivors. We thought of extending support which can benefit them on a longer term basis and we were interested to fund their project because we found that it can generate income for a long time. We were so excited that they had a foundation and our wish is that this can help them rebuild hope to live a good life, financially,” she said.

Rutabayiro added that the bank will continue to work closely with the cooperative in terms of financial assistance and capacity building so that their project can be a success.

Therese Mugorewera, the cooperative president, said the bank’s support will play a key role toward the success of their project and will generally improve their economic wellbeing.

"We had to think about starting a project with more potential after the market for our handcraft products closed and, thanks to Access Bank’s support, we will be able to grow.

"We wanted a project that can give us a profit for a long time,” Mugorewera said.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com