Local NGO empowers vulnerable teenagers amid COVID-19

During its awareness campaign on COVID-19 prevention in City of Kigali and Southern province, Save Generatios Organisation urges everyone to fight against that pandemic.

Rwanda on Wednesday, August 19, reported 67 new Covid-19 cases, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 2,644 since mid-March when the pandemic was confirmed in the country. According to the Ministry of Health, of the new cases, 50 were detected in Kigali among vendors that work from closed Kigali markets.

In this frame of fighting against this Pandemic, Save Generations Organization a Non-Governmental Organization which basically aims for the development of a child, youth and women, funded by an international organization called Kvinna Till Kvinna conducted awareness campaign activities on covid19 prevention among adolescent girls and boys project right holder’s and their families hence providing them with covid19 basic preventive hygiene materials on five days of July 2020, in Rusororo and Ndera sectors of the city of Kigali, Gasabo district, Ngamba and Rukoma sectors in Kamonyi district, Southern province.

Nyinawumuntu Yvette, the Executive Director of Save Generations Organization explained the main objective of this awareness campaign to the right holders and their families in the above mentioned sectors which is to remind them to obey, respect and practice the measures put in place hence have clear information on the prevention of the coronavirus to them and others.

‘’What has been done isn’t really enough, there is still much joint support and efforts needed most especially rural areas concerning COVID-19 prevention, therefore we call upon different CSOs and other agencies to cooperate with local government authorities so that we combat the spread of covid19’’ She said.

According to Save Generations Organization, Covid-19 has impacted lives of many people, the pandemic has caused significant impacts to their wellbeing affected their life conditions in different ways including closure of schools in regards to prevention of the coronavirus, where these days adolescent school girls and boys are at home, including students of GS Ndera and GS Kabuga in Gasabo district, GS Bugoba and GS Ngamba in Kamonyi district where Save Generations Organization conducts its activities which aim at empowering adolescent girls and boys with accurate knowledge and information on sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in response to prevent un prepared and unwanted pregnancies to young girls and other related GBV issues.

Adolescent girls, boys and parents who attended this campaign expressed different problems they have been facing of lack of enough information and supportive materials for covid19 prevention.

‘’Due to the poverty , we were sharing one mask in the whole family therefore we do really thank these people for providing us with these materials which are going to help us in protection of covid19’’. Niyonambaza Marie, a parent and resident in Ngamba sector, kamonyi district said.

Nyiraneza Emmerence, a S6 student at GS Ngamba said, ‘’COVId-19 has made our families poor to an extent of not getting enough support to buy hygiene materials for protection, we are very much happy to have been given these materials which will help us for days and we do emphasize other organizations to do the same as Save Generations Organization has done because people in rural areas have less support to afford these materials.’’

Save Generations Organization also provided mobile phones and other covi19 preventive hygiene materials to its focal persons in the above mentioned schools for following up those students hence find it easy to reach them hence a continued awareness on covid19 prevention to the families of the right holders’.