Like many not for profit organisations around the world, Luxembourg’s Femmes Développement has faced severe challenges as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. The decision earlier this year to cancel its annual charity dinner, traditionally held on the second or third Thursday in October, was a bitter blow to the organisation’s fundraising and public awareness efforts.
Meanwhile, in the field, Rwanda’s mid-March to early May confinement has worsened the already precarious conditions of many of its inhabitants. What’s more, without funding several projects are under threat and the microfinancing loans system set up Femmes Développement requires urgent funding to continue its cycle.
Back in March, just before Luxembourg was placed in lockdown, Luisella Moreschi, vice-president of Femmes Développement, and Abbé Pierre, president of the association, visited Rwanda as they do every year to check up on the progress of the projects it supports. Upon their arrival at Kigali airport, sanitary protocols were already in place and broadcasters were keeping the population up to date on prevention measures against the possible propagation of coronavirus.
Femmes Développement vice-president Luisella Moreschi with some of the recipients of the association’s work in Rwanda Photo: Femmes Développement
Femmes Développement’s ongoing projects include:
- A school for 2,000 children in the town of Nyanza.
- A Village d’Enfants to educate and house 300 children.
- Grants worth €800 each to sponsor 40 university students in Rwanda.
- A health centre in Bushekeri, a remote area near lac Kivu. The nearest hospital, located just 20km away, takes four hours to reach by car. The new health centre is equipped with 60 beds, an emergency room, one doctor and a team of 12 nurses. It receives an average of 200 visits each day.
- More than 4,000 microfinancing projects that are on their 5th payment with a payback rate of 90%. The association also provides women in the microfinance scheme with eye care, which represents an annual expense of €12,000. For the past four years Femmes Développement has also paid for their health policies at an estimated cost of €20,000 per year.
- A spin-off from the reimbursements of the microfinancing projects are cooperatives which generate a source of employment for the women who participate. This year’s new project was the development and seven hectares of land purchased by the association which will be dedicated to the cultivation of cassava.
A school in Nyanza built with the help of Femmes Développement has capacity to educate 2,000 kids Photo: Femmes Développement
Donate and win
“Any contribution helps,” says Moreschi. “None is too small, and it all adds to this year’s fundraising goal.” Moreschi and Abbe Pierre say they would love to remember 2020 as the year of the charity dinner that wasn’t, but that generous support nevertheless rescued the projects supported by the association.
Donors will automatically be entered for a raffle to win three of the top prizes that would usually be up for grabs at the charity dinner. They are a dinner for two at the acclaimed Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris, a Chanel bag and a Hérmes shawl. The raffle will take place on 31 October.
Donations can be made to the Femmes Développement account at BIL: LU88 0021 1853 1592 7100