Sports can be an integral cog in promoting peace as it brings people together towards a common goal. And no one understands this better than Felicite Rwemalika who has been a pioneering force for gender equality in Rwanda’s sporting world.

Through different workshops and seminars, Rwemalika has made it her mission to enlighten people on how to use sports to foster unity and promote reconciliation.

Her greatest dedication, however, has been aiding female victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, through an organisation she founded, the Association of Kigali Women in Sports (AKWOS), aimed at promoting gender equality and sport as a medium for peace-building, conflict resolution, and economic development.

A family thing

Born in 1958, Rwemalika was raised in a family with values that they all embraced. Growing up, notions of female propriety discouraged her from engaging in physical activities or playing any kind of sport.

As the first Tutsi massacre loomed over Rwanda in 1959, her family was forced to flee to Burundi. Subsequently, journeying to the Democratic Republic of Congo, before settling in Uganda.

Despite not actively participating, she took delight in watching her father joyfully play his preferred sports of football and volleyball. This is how Rwemalika and her 12 siblings were initiated into the world of sport.

"This gave us a connection, a sense of security, and the ability to remain vigorous and resolute in both body and mind, even in the midst of the perplexities of being on the move,” she said.

Rwemalika later got married to a dentist who practiced in Western Uganda before leaving to join the liberation forces of Rwanda in the early 1990s, spurring her to rapidly adapt and find means to cater to their four children.

The ‘mad woman’

Rwemalika was not able to journey back to her homeland until late 1994. Before that, she completed nursing studies at Mulago Hospital in Uganda from 1985 to 1994 and practiced as a medical nurse at the hospital during that period.

She tried several entrepreneurial ventures, including a restaurant in Kampala, and then a beverages distributorship in Rwanda, and then, the first post-Genocide hair salon in Rwanda. In 2007, she graduated from Cambridge College Online with a diploma in business administration.

Saddened by the conditions she found in her country, her convictions were strengthened more than ever—sports could be a catalyst for transformation.

"Looking at my clients, trying their best to look good despite what we had just gone through, the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, I started wondering if there were more ways we could rebuild ourselves,” she noted.

Starting out, Rwemalika faced many obstacles and vividly recalls how people called her ‘mad woman’ for her fearless advocacy of women’s rights and equality in the realm of sports.

"I remember going to some officials’ offices and I would hear them tell their secretaries to chase the ‘mad woman’ away. My friends and fellow women oftentimes cautioned me against defying our culture by pushing women and girls to participate in sports. It was a long but worthy journey indeed,” she said.

"I envisioned sports as a salve for stress, a tool for healing, a spark for optimism, and an opening for new connections. But we were not going to leave women behind,” she explained.

Thus, her struggle commenced, as she painstakingly formed the first girls’ football team with AKWOS in 1997. Her ground-breaking spirit was met with resistance from both genders in the community.

Not to be deterred

"At the outset, there was a lot of discouragement of the female players - warnings from parents, recommendations to play with hands instead of feet, and girls coming in skirts and dresses on the pitch - as wearing trousers or shorts were still seen as unacceptable,” Rwemalika went on.

However, they were fortunate to be backed by an inclusive visionary leadership, ready to support them. "We would struggle with funds to cover transport and food, pay trainers, or afford all the necessary equipment the girls needed. The government was among the very few who supported the idea,” she said.

Rwemalika devised a stimulating programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, granting schoolgirls who were actively involved in athletics scholarships as encouragement.

She also formed teams in every district of the country, with a special target on rural women. Then, she launched the National Champions League, a competition now hailed as one of the nation’s most popular football tournaments - blazing the trail for female football players in Rwanda.

In her endeavours, she proposed to the government that a women’s desk be established at every provincial government office, and championed for a part of the provincial sports budget to be allocated to women’s sports activities.

Uplifting fellow women

Rwemalika’s unwavering dedication to the cause of women’s sports was further evidenced by her pushing for the establishment of a Women's Sports Council within the nation’s Sports Council. She also pioneered a comprehensive training initiative for female referees and coaches from the local and national levels.

"I was filled with immense pride when Salma Mukansanga, a female Rwandan referee, captivated the world’s attention during the World Cup.

"Today, female teams are able to engage in thrilling competitions at both the national and international levels. Sports is finally perceived as a respectable means of earning money. There’s barely any more convincing needed. That was the dream,” Rwemalika said, gleefully.

Rwemalika uses the football teams as an economic and educational vehicle, theming games with messages about gender violence, HIV/AIDS, and agriculture among other things.

She is currently trying to organise these groups of women into farming businesses so they can participate in collective agribusiness to improve their standard of living.

To the young people (girls), she said, "You have the capacity to take on any challenge; no need to prove anything to the world anymore. Make the most of the all-encompassing leadership you have, take full advantage of the technology at your fingertips, and be inspired by the stories of those who charted the course for you.”

She has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2018 and was the President of the Women’s Football Commission in the Rwandan Football Federation from 2017 to 2018.

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This article is part of the Herstory Initiative – an exploration of women’s rights and gender equality organizing journey in Rwanda by the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation and ImagineWe.