EASTERN PROVINCE

RWAMAGANA — In a bid to strengthen capacity for church partners, Compassion International last week trained over 100 people with whom they work to implement their projects. The trainees included pastors and directors of compassion-funded projects in the area.

"Compassion partners with different church denominations to implement helpful programmes for vulnerable children and their families. It is in this line that we organised this specific training to build capacity for church partners,” said Etienne Muhoza Mugema, in charge of training and support in an interview with The New Times at Avega centre in Rwamagana.

"The training is attended by 105 people including pastors and project directors from all districts in the Eastern Province.” He said similar training had been conducted in Kigali city, Southern, Northern and Western provinces.

Mugema explained that Compassion runs 156 projects in partnership with different churchs across the country. He noted that the organisation runs projects in line with four holistic child development aspects of spiritual, physical, social and cognitive development.

In addition to capacity building courses, the official explained that trainees were also taken through Compassion-core values of integrity, excellence, stewardship and dignity.

He said such training is important to foster unity among church members, by bringing them together to share experiences and therefore have a common understanding.

Pastor Constantin Gasore, of the Restoration Church of Rwamagana, one of the participants, hailed the training, saying it taught him good planning and being result-oriented worker.

"Compassion international helps vulnerable children through various projects run by different churches; but all churches do not have similar operating mechanisms. Compassion may give out financial support but when implementers do not have common understanding of how to use such funds, some may misallocate it,” Gasore said.

Compassion International is a Christian organization started in Korea in 1952 but its services reached in Rwanda in 1982. Currently it helps over 45,000 vulnerable children and their families in Rwanda.

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