Rwamagana — Rwanda’s leading telecommunication company MTN Rwanda has  donated 300 iron sheets to Genocide widows in Musha sector, Rwamagana District.

The beneficiaries were selected from the vulnerable among members of Association of Genocide Widows (AVEGA).
Handing over the support on Tuesday, Yvonne Mubirigi, the officer in charge of MTN’s  Corporate Social Affairs, said the donation was in line with the national campaign targeting eradication of  grass thatched houses otherwise known as the anti-Nyakatsi drive in villages.

"One needs a decent shelter to live a meaningful life...it is our conviction that living within a healthy environment is good for people’s well being,” she said.

Mubirigi added that MTN is inspired by AVEGA quest to restore hope to the widows after experiencing the horrors  of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

"The number of iron sheets we have offered is not what is important, but the good gesture of restoring hope.” he added.

Assumpta Umurungi, the coordinator of AVEGA in Eastern Province, observed that the widows’ livelihood is improving progressively.

She said that the iron sheets will be immediately used to complete the construction of ten houses which have been developed by AVEGA members.

"The Government of Rwanda and God are with the widows, they can thus continue to live well after surviving the Genocide. There are various development programmes for them...but of course support such as what MTN is offering is vital,” Umurungi said.

One of the beneficiaries, Epiphanie Nyinawumunu, attributed good welfare of widows to government’s policies.

"No widow can despair under the current leadership...I must add that I am a beneficiary of a cow which i received when I was in a state of hopelessness after the death of all my family and children,” she said.

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