SOUTHERN PROVINCE KAMONYI — Cyeru residents have asserted that the area has witnessed transformation from that of isolation to sustainable development since 1997. The residents made the remarks on December 23rd , during the Launch of a book entitled, ‘Towards sustainable development:the Cyeru experience’, held at Cyeru primary school. The book documents community participation activities and experiences required for sustainable development in Cyeru village and serves as a case study for village-based rural development. The growth trend is attributed to the support received from the Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development (RISD).Residents greatly lauded the support they got from RISD. ‘Cyeru was an isolated and poverty stricken area, but RISD has trained residents to address problems of food security, environmental protection, governance and cross cutting issues of gender equity and HIV/Aids’, said Jean Pierre Bagwaneza, the Kabugondo cell leader. He added that residents formed a Village Development Committee (VDC) to establish development strategies and had formed a cooperative (COODEVICYE)-which seeks to boost farmer income levels. The Director of RISD, Annie Kayiraba, handed over 1200 books to the residents of Cyeru and these will be used to educate other communities on sustainable development. Kayiraba urged Cyeru residents to disseminate the module, skills and knowledge enshrined in the book to other villages and asked local leaders to support and advocate for development initiatives by addressing the problem of market and electricity supply. ‘The Cyeru experience has been a success because of the hard working residents. This is a reason to celebrate and evidence that the same experience can, now, be used to teach other communities’, she said. Emmanuel Rukimbira, the Executive Secretary of Mugina sector also lauded RISD and the residents for building a foundation of growth on the principles of unity and reconciliation. He urged the residents to work towards self efficiency and promised to support the Cyeru community to attain its development goals. RISD is a local Non-Governmental Organization in Rwanda which promotes, advocates and fosters social-economic transformation through a participatory approach. Ends
