A delegation from Femmes Développement visited Rwanda from 23 February to 9 March, just before it shut down airports and sealed its borders, on 18 March, as part of its measures to protect the country from the covid-19 pandemic.

Co-founded by priest Abbé Pierre Habarurema and Luxembourg-based entrepreneur Luisella Moreschi, the charity currently manages some 3,650 microfinancing loans in Rwanda, which it says are being repaid punctually. On top of that, it has built a school in Nyanza, the capital of the southern province, which has a capacity for 2,000 students.

The charity has also established a 60-bed health centre facility which houses an emergency unit, staffed by 12 nurses, auxiliary personnel and a visiting doctor, that handles an average of 300 cases per day. 

In addition, Femmes Développement recently acquired a seven-hectare plot of land that is being used to cultivate cassava, an important staple in the basic dietary needs of the communities it serves.

Now in its 15th year, the charity is hopeful that its only fundraising event, the annual charity dinner at the Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains, will still go ahead as scheduled on 15 October.