Dr. Alvera Mukabaramba (Second left) and other officials preside over the handover ceremony
A group of twenty families in Kicukiro district will have all reasons to smile after the government handed over fully furnished 20 homes as a way of improving the lives of the poor and deprived persons.
The houses, constructed by Rwanda Defense Reserve Forces (RDF) in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and FARG Fund for Genocide survivors were given to the vulnerable families including genocide survivors and poor families in Rusheshe village, Masaka sector.
The houses, which have one block of four houses each, are valued at Rwf48 million in terms of construction cost. They contain kitchens, sitting rooms, storehouses; and have been built in an area which has full supply of water and electricity.
The State Minister in charge of Community Development and Social Affairs, Dr. Alvera Mukabaramba presided over the handover on 30th September 2015 and said that the houses will improve the living conditions of vulnerable people.
She urged the families settled in the new village to live in harmony and provide support to aged and disabled people in their community.
Maj Gen Jerome Ngendahimana, the Deputy Chief of Staff Reserve Force stated that the army is committed to collaborate with citizens in different government programs aimed at improving their life conditions.
Ngendahimana noted that the existing good collaboration between RDF, local leaders and local communities urging that such collaboration has resulted in achieving different developments. He urged those who benefited the new houses to maintain them properly.
Nyiramongi Vestine, one of the beneficiaries hailed the government for the donation and said that this will enable her to settle in life. “I had spent many years renting and had been thrown out by landlords for failure to pay rent in three years. Now, I can say I have a home” she said.
The Kicukiro district mayor Paul Jules Ndamage said the district still has more 32 vulnerable families in need of shelter and there are plans to construct ten more houses in the near future.