Refurbishment of residential houses, purchase of livestock and agriculture land plots, and making cash deposits into Umurenge SACCO accounts are among quick win activities by beneficiaries of unconditional cash transfers disbursed by GiveDirectly Rwanda to Ubudehe category one households across five Sectors in Gisagara District in order to relieve them from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic.     

The experience from Mukiza Cell, Mukindo is very inspirational. “Over a total of 1,549 households, 1,234 of them were selected to get the financial support amounting to 870,000 FRW per household, whereby they already got the first instalment worth 329,680 FRW in March 2022”, revealed one Eugene NDAYISABA, the Social Economic Development Officer.

Beneficiaries are very recognizant to the Government and all stakeholders for taking care of them in dignity. UYISABA Pélagie, mother of 4 and resident of Gitwa Village, Mukiza Cell told this reporter that she got the whole support in two instalments. “From the first instalment I managed to build up an annex to my house and I also refurbished the whole house. I bought 3 doors and made a wooden ceiling. Then I purchased some utensils, clothes for myself, my children and some foodstuff as well. As for the second instalment, I deposited the whole amount into my Umurenge SACCO account. […]. With the 430,000 FRW on my account, I plan to buy a cow so that I can apply manure to my agriculture land plot in the near future”.

NTABARENGANIRA François is a father of 3; he stays at Agatunda Village of Gitega Cell, Mukindo Sector. “My family lives solely on agriculture. During the confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, life was very tough as none could move from home to the market in the neighbouring Sector to purchase foodstuff and other home necessities. […]. But later I was lucky to be among the first beneficiaries of the financial support by GiveDirectly Rwanda. We were told that the whole support amounts to around 870,000 FRW. When I got the first instalment, I took part of this money to pay school fees for my two children who do their studies at ESI. I purchased small livestock (pigs and goats), then I bought clothes for my family members. As for the second instalment, after examining the rise in prices of commodities and other home necessities due to the Russia vs Ukraine war and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to deposit the 400,000 FRW into my Umurenge SACCO account. With this amount, I plan to build a house for rent, and given that I am a retired soldier and therefore a member of Zigama CSS, I may even apply for a loan worth 600,000 FRW so as I can build a beautiful house”, he narrates.

The saving culture is on the rise in the area. Mr. TUYIRAMYE Ferdinand is the Manager of UMUCYO SACCO located in Mukindo Sector, Gisagara District. “The SACCO management undertook a one-month mobilization campaign some time before the disbursement of the direct cash traders to citizens’ Mobile Money accounts by GiveDirectly Rwanda. This was an opportune moment for us to explain to them the benefits of our services and thus attract them our potential clients. We urged them to open current and saving accounts, make cash deposits while fine-tuning their development projects for the near future, and clarified to them loan requisition process. Throughout this campaign, citizens were told that the money they got is not a heavenly gift, but rather a kind of springboard support to uplift their livelihoods standards”, he said. “Between 250 and 300 new accounts were open and most of our new clients made deposits ranging between 350,000 and 400,000 FRW. Our cash book records indicate that there is an addition of 600 million”, he added on.

This financial support in form of unconditional cash transfers to relieve the poorest families from the shocks of Covid-19 is an initiative of a non-Government organization known as GiveDirectly Rwanda which is among the first and largest nonprofit organizations that let donors send money directly to the world’s poorest, with no strings attached. In Rwanda, this programme is implemented in collaboration with Local Governments (namely the Districts of Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Burera, Ngororero and Nyamasheke) and the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA) and the Government’s right arm and enabler of social protections programmes. In Gisagara, this programme has been executed in Sectors of Mukindo, Kansi, Kibirizi, Muganza, and Mugombwa whereby 20,145 households benefited from the support.