First Lady helps raise funds to fight AIDS

Parents and communities need to care for the young and talk to children about HIV/Aids to prevent future generations from the scourge, the First Lady has urged. Jeannette Kagame was speaking on Friday at a fundraising event to raise money to support Ireme Centre, a Kigali-based initiative that provides psychological and social support to people living with HIV/Aids. Mrs Kagame said that efforts need to be doubled to look after those who are still young and protect them against new infections. “We need to constantly be in touch with our children. We need to talk to them; we need to be aware of what they like. We can’t try to help them when they are already in trouble,” she said. Ireme Centre, operated by Christian Life Community (CVX-CLC), runs programmes that benefit over 100 people living with AIDS in different parts of Kigali. They get spiritual, psychological, and social support from members of the community and some of them have moved from living in fear of death to a life with a purpose. One of them said at the fundraising gala that she is now a happy and confident person while she had wanted death before members of CVX-CLC reached out to her and provided their support. Jeannette Nirere gave up prostitution and she currently sells clothes in Cyahafi Market in Kigali City’s Nyarugenge District. “I have a lot to be thankful for. I am a happy person; my children go to school and my business is thriving,” Nirere said. Latest statistics estimate that three per cent of the Rwandan population is HIV positive, a prevalence that means thousands of Rwandans need all the support to be able to live with the disease. Mrs Kagame thanked members of CVX-CLC for extending their love and charity to people living with HIV; such efforts she described as being at the centre of transformation of the Rwandan community into a caring and unified human society as they have been undertaken by different small groups in the country. “Ireme Centre shows the love you have for the country and its citizens. What you have in common is that you are Rwandans who need positive change through your efforts,” she said. More than Rwf6m was raised at the fundraising gala which took place at Green Hills Academy and attracted several well-wishers, including some local businesses.

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First Lady helps raise funds to fight AIDS