Category: UNICEF

In the bustling border market at Petite Barriére, Esperance Nyiramahirwe rearranges the fruit in her stall. Beside her is a large bucket of water, which she uses to vigorously scrub her hands between sales. She is not the only one – the smell of chlorinated water permeates the market, smelling sterile as a hospital ward.

“Radio Isano broadcasts information on Ebola all day,” says Esperance. “That is why I started keeping water for handwashing near my stall, so I can keep clean and prevent myself from getting the disease.”

Located on the border with Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rubavu is at high-risk for Ebola transmission. From morning to dusk, vendors and customers flood across the border and back for daily business and trade.

“I have heard that up to 40,000 people cross each day,” says Esperance as she closes a transaction.

Despite the risk, Esperance relies on the steady stream of border crossers to bolster her business. Besides washing her hands regularly, she learns about Ebola symptoms, treatment and prevention from Radio Isano, a local UNICEF-supported station broadcasting one-minute Ebola messages every hour.

As Esperance sells watermelons and customers move between market stalls, Radio Isano blares over the market speakers.

“If you need more information about Ebola, call our toll-free hotline 114,” the radio journalist blurts.

“People moving through the border markets do not have time to read the newspaper or use social media. That’s why we use radio.” Francois “Sano” Niyigena

Francois “Sano” Niyigena is the founder of Radio Isano, committed to reaching his community with potentially life-saving advice.

Over the past seven months, UNICEF has supported Radio Isano to expand from four locations around Rubavu to eight, meaning wider coverage and more journalists dedicated to spreading information and updates.

Radio Isano’s speakers now stretch two kilometres from the border, permeating markets, bus parks and connecting roads.

“We are developing a radio drama on Ebola prevention,” says Sano, “and we have produced a song with popular Rwandan artists.”

He smiles. “We want to be informative, but also unique.”

Visiting Esperance back in her market stall, she is unconcerned. It seems Radio Isano is getting through.

“Very serious measures have been taken to prevent Ebola in Rwanda,” Esperance says confidently. “We are not worried.”

Source : UNICEF Rwanda

In Umwidagaduro Village, Daniel Munyankindi knocks on his neighbour’s door and steps inside. It is not the first house he has visited today, but he takes a seat and warmly addresses the family with fresh enthusiasm. At first glance, it seems like an informal visit, but Daniel is here with an important agenda.

“Tell me, what do you know about Ebola?” Daniel asks the family.

One of four community health workers in Umwidagaduro, Daniel has been trained to help raise awareness around Ebola prevention. Visiting families in his community, he teaches the signs and symptoms of Ebola, how to get treatment, and how to prevent the disease from spreading.

Ebola prevention starts at home

Five months ago, UNICEF and its partner Global Humanitarian and Development Foundation (GHDF) introduced the home visit programme in Rwanda’s 15 districts at high-risk for Ebola transmission. About 10,000 community health workers were trained, aiming to reach 30,000 houses.

“When you meet people in their homes, you are more connected. You can exchange information easily, because people feel free to discuss their ideas and ask questions.” Daniel, Community Health Worker in Musanze

Incredibly, health workers like Daniel have already reached over 43,000 homes with potentially life-saving advice on Ebola.

“The impact is huge,” he smiles. “When I visit families, I find that more than 50 percent already know a lot about Ebola and how to prevent it. We are passing on our own knowledge and training to our communities.”

The road ahead

Discussing with the family he visits, Daniel gestures to a colorful leaflet depicting Ebola symptoms. Communication materials like these were designed by UNICEF and distributed across thousands of villages.

With the threat of Ebola looming, over 1,500 additional health workers have been trained. UNICEF and GHDF have set a new target of 115,780 homes, a stark reminder of the work left ahead.

“So far, I have visited 25 homes,” says Daniel. “I think this method of visiting homes is much better than mass broadcasting. You just connect better.”

To prevent Ebola from reaching Rwanda, UNICEF supports the Government’s National Contingency Plan through community mobilization and engagement, providing information and platforms for discussion through mass media, and developing communication materials on Ebola signs, symptoms, treatment and prevention measures.

UNICEF has also developed educational materials for schools, trained over 10,000 community health workers on risk communication, and supported 24 hospitals, 259 health centres and 21 points of entry with necessary supplies. Over 6 million people have been reached, with efforts ongoing to prepare communities in Rwanda’s 15 high-risk districts.

Source: UNICEF Rwanda

In the calm of her shared hospital room, Jemimah Nyirabimana sits relaxed as she holds her twin babies against her bare chest. Jemimah’s twins were born premature, weighing less than two kilogrammes at birth.

She gently pats one of her babies on the back, looking around the room where she rests with other mothers cuddling their babies.

A few weeks ago, when her twins were born too early, Jemimah was terrified that they would not survive.

“They were both so small…”

Premature babies are more likely to have chronic health issues, some of which may require hospital care. They are prone to infections, health issues like asthma, feeding problems, and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As they grow, these children are more likely to be chronically malnourished, which can lead to stunted growth.

Kangaroo Care

Jemimah’s babies are sleeping peacefully. “The doctors taught us to hold our babies like this,” she says, gesturing gently at the tiny bundles wrapped tightly to her chest. “When they feel the mother’s skin and warmth, they sleep better.”

This “Kangaroo Care” technique also helps premature infants gain weight and grow. It promotes bonding between parents and their babies due to decreased stress and crying.

In fact, the Kangaroo Care room at Gahini Hospital is nearly silent. Although three other mothers occupy the room with Jemimah, none of their children are crying. The room is clean and comfortable, the atmosphere is serene. The mothers chat quietly, occasionally giggling at a private joke.

Mentorship from abroad

Gahini Hospital was not always a haven for mothers with risky pregnancies. Doctors and nurses in Rwanda often lack the training and equipment they need if something goes wrong during pregnancy or childbirth.

“When I had my first child here in 2011, the hospital was small,” she says. “I was nervous about being a first-time mother, but the doctors were not confident when caring for us.”

Jemimah gave birth again in 2015, but this child did not survive.

For every 1,000 babies born in Rwanda, 50 of them will not live to see their fifth birthday. Over 40 percent of these deaths occur within the first month of life – the neonatal period.

UNICEF’s clinical mentorship programme is helping reduce these deaths by providing Rwandan doctors and nurses with more knowledge and equipment to save lives.

In partnership with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Rwanda Paediatric Association, UNICEF brings pediatric specialists from the United Kingdom to spend six months mentoring Rwandan health care providers.

These mentors work alongside Rwandan nurses every day, advising on individual cases and teaching weekly modules on caring for premature infants.

With funding from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and support from the Japan Committee for UNICEF, Gahini Hospital also has new medical equipment. The doctors and nurses are trained to use this equipment and apply new knowledge in a crisis.

“Look around!” Jemimah says. “Now the hospital has enough beds for mothers. Before there were only two; we had to share, so we could not even spend time with our babies.”

While Jemimah speaks, a nurse attends to her babies, adjusting their tiny knitted hats more securely on their heads.

Jemimah’s eyes shine when she talks about her babies. “Our babies are growing well now; thanks to the new advice the doctors give us.”

Source: UNICEF Rwanda

Doctors and nurses in Rwanda are not strangers to situations like these. Doctors and nurses often lack the training and equipment to identify problems and to save the baby’s life if something goes wrong.

But in Nyanza Hospital’s bright new maternity ward, equipped with new essential medical equipment with support from UNICEF, there have been marked improvements in the number of mothers and children who survive premature deliveries.

“We used to have a very small space with questionable cleanliness,” says Jeanne d’Arc. “But now we have a lot of space and modern equipment, and well-trained nurses. These nurses are now able to shine in a crisis because they have the confidence and the proper equipment to save lives.”

Through UNICEF’s partnership with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nyanza Hospital is working with mentors from the United Kingdom who are training nurses and doctors in Rwanda. These mentors have also helped Nyanza Hospital improve their administration processes, developing well-maintained patient records and checklists for better follow-up care with new mothers.

Esther Mukanyandwi lies in the maternity ward with her new baby, practicing Kangaroo Mother Care by keeping her baby wrapped closely to her body. “My child was born two months early and weighed only 1.3 kilograms,” she says. “I was sure she would die because there were many times when she stopped breathing, but the nurses were always able to resuscitate her.”

Dr. Pascal Ngiruwonsanga, the Director-General of the hospital, has seen neonatal services drastically improve over the last two years.

“We can offer better health services now, and we have been able to rehabilitate old facilities,” he said. “With the right medical equipment and competent staff, we can focus on resuscitation of newborns, infection prevention, and education for new parents.”

“We hope to see the number of child deaths reach zero in the few years ahead.”

Source: UNICEF Rwanda

This is the Tugane Ishuri volunteer initiative.

Tugane Ishuri – or “let’s go to school” in the local language Kinyarwanda – builds on Rwanda’s strong culture of solidarity and community cooperation to engage young activists to accomplish social change. Volunteers with Tugane Ishuri work with children in their own communities who have dropped out of school and encourage them to re-enroll and complete their studies.

At just 21 years old, Denise Murekatete became a UNICEF volunteer with Tugane Ishuri to advocate for the importance of education among families in her community. Denise sees herself as a public spokeswoman, helping families face their challenges.

“Volunteering builds a positive reputation for an individual in society, and it can help the country to achieve its goals since the work we do is for the public benefit,” says Denise. “I plan to speak out for every child to be sent to school. I hope to see the number of school dropouts in my community reduce to zero.”

Jacques Muvandimwe is 25 and lives in Rwanda’s Ngororero District. He chose to become a volunteer with Tugane Ishuri to help families who were suffering.

“There are families where the children have dropped out of school, and as a volunteer, I can approach these families and maybe make a difference in their lives,” he says. “If I can do this, the work will have been a great privilege to me.”

23-year-old Vestine Uwimanirinze became a volunteer to help a large number of street children living in her neighbourhood. As a volunteer, she believes it is her responsibility to teach these children and their parents about the importance of education.

“It really helps the community, even if I do not see direct benefit myself,” says Vestine.

At 24 years old, Theophile Masengesho believes that volunteering is important because it gives him an opportunity to transfer his knowledge and skills to another person. In this case, the children he encouraged to re-enrol in school.

As a volunteer in his community, Theophile plans to work hand-in-hand with local leaders on how to approach the dropout issue.

24-year-old Therese Musengimana believes that all parents need to understand how crucial it is for their children to complete school. She knows that school opens opportunities for a child’s future and keeps them away from harmful activities such as drug abuse.

“I have met children who have lost hope, thinking they cannot achieve anything because their families are poor,” says Therese. “But when I approach them, listen to their stories and use information from my volunteer training to speak with them, we see that deep down, they all have goals and dreams, and we can help them accomplish those goals by going back to school.”

Meet the volunteers of Tugane Ishuri!

While the children made friends, took naps, and played with their toys, UNICEF met with Rwanda’s National Early Childhood Development Programme (NECDP) and the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) to inaugurate this new centre on the plantation. A mother and tea plucker from the community cut the ribbon, officially opening the centre while she held her baby in her other arm.

Private Sector Partnership

UNICEF’s partnership with NAEB first began in 2017, following the success of UNICEF’s first private sector partnership with SORWATHE Tea Company. When SORWATHE demonstrated willing investment in child-friendly workplaces for its employees, NAEB and UNICEF saw an opportunity to expand this partnership across the entire tea industry. The partnership now covers all 16 tea companies and 20 tea cooperatives in the country.

Inspired by UNICEF’s Early Moments Matter campaign which promotes family-friendly company policies, tea companies in Rwanda are beginning to transform their work spaces, making them places where children can develop physically and mentally, giving parents the peace of mind to work more productively.

“We are committed to ensuring child-friendly workspaces by providing maternity leave for our workers, flexible work hours to allow for breastfeeding, and investing in on-site ECD centres,” said Thushara Pinidiya, General Manager of the Rutsiro Tea Factory. “These services and policies will impact not only factory and cooperative workers, but also the surrounding communities we work with.”

ECD in Rwanda’s Muslim Community

Rwanda Mountain Tea is not the only one making waves in ECD. Rwanda’s Muslim community has also opened its doors to ECD, inaugurating its first centre this week in the western town of Rubavu.

Singing at the centre with children’s song artist Peace Jolis, little ones in black and yellow uniforms clapped and danced, singing songs about washing their hands and learning to count.

The new ECD centre, hosted within a community mosque, will be open to all young children between 3 and 6 years, regardless of gender or religious affiliation. Two caregivers – one Muslim and one non-Muslim – will spend mornings encouraging the children to learn through play and discovery, following the competency-based pre-primary curriculum approved by Rwanda Education Board. Children will also receive nutrient-rich porridge each morning to help fight malnutrition.

At the inauguration ceremony, the Archbishop of Kigali said, “We pledge, as religious leaders, to advocate and promote ECD programmes in every village, to ensure all children access ECD and grow to their full potential.”

Source: UNICEF Rwanda

“She especially loves singing with me. She likes to invent her own songs. I do not always know what she is saying,” Jean laughs, “but I always try to join in.”

Jean also makes toys for Anita, using discarded materials like plastic bottles. “Her favorite toy is a small car I made from common objects I found lying around.” As he speaks, Anita totters across the yard, pulling the car behind her on a string. She occasionally stops, grinning, to pick up small objects and place them inside the car.

Although Jean finds extraordinary joy playing with Anita, he admits that he was not always such an attentive father.

“With Anita’s older sister, I did not always play with her. I do not think I truly understood the vital role a father plays in helping his child develop.” Through training sessions for parents at Anita’s early childhood development centre, facilitated by UNICEF, Jean has learnt a lot about the important first 1,000 days of a child’s life, and how his involvement as a father is preparing Anita to be successful as she grows.

Smiling brightly while Anita scampers around near him, Jean says, “The benefits are clear to me. She is really growing into a very vibrant and active child.”

Source: UNICEF Rwanda

“My son (adopted) was engulfed by sorrow and solitude the time I found him in the orphanage and in the first days living with us here. I feel so happy now that he can freely interact with us and other children. I sometimes tear up happily when I see him smiling. His life has quite changed,” said the foster mother.

Mukarubuga lives with his husband, their son and fostered 14-year Patrick Cyubahiro in Gahanga Sector of Kicukiro. She makes Rwf25,000 (about $30) monthly while her husband repairs mobile phones, the job that some days earns him with no single coin. They live a moderate life but their limited financial means did not scare them of adopting a child. In fact, the family attempted to adopt three when the couple visited an orphanage back in 2016 but later decided to take in one after deeply planning how they can help the adopted and their own son.

Speaking to IGIHE’s Félicie Tombola, the foster mother says she decided and proposed her husband to adopt a child because she had noticed that children in orphanages were lacking family care. The family has been selected, among other families countrywide, as ‘model parents’ locally known as ‘Malayika Murinzi’ under the National Strategy for Child Care Reform which seeks to transform Rwanda’s current child care and protection system into a family-based care and family-strengthening system.

Approved by the cabinet in March 2012, the strategy targeted to phase down all orphanages in the country and place all children into families by 2015 but statistics show that 2,714 children had been fostered while 1,244 were still in orphanages in June 2017.

Not means but goodwill

Mukarubuga encourages families to adopt children, saying it doesn’t matter which means the family has but it just takes a loving and willing heart to have mercy for the hopeless children in orphanages.

“I learnt of his (Cyubahiro) story and got pity for him. His mother abandoned him at CHUK (referral hospital in Kigali) when he was three months old. He since then lived in four orphan centres and has never known any of his parents,” she says, adding that if adopting was for families with good financial means, hers would not have adopted a child.

“I felt I could play role in shaping his future as I can do for my own son. I felt ready to share with him the little I earn and my husband has a similar mindset. Since we adopted him, we have not declined financially; instead God has blessed us with means to rent house, for meals and we have recently bought a land plot where we want to develop our residential house.”

Cyubahiro is happy in the family and has got a blissful face. He says he can go to visit his friends in orphanages but never wishes to go back into orphanage life.

“I am better off here. They help me to revise my school lessons; I have got people to interact with and joined a church choir which helped me get rid of fighting and insulting other children as I used to do before. I love my mum and dad (adoptive) because they helped me to know my history and are treating me well. I lived in orphan centres expecting my parents to come and pick me because I didn’t know why I was living there,” he says.

Cyubahiro is doing level five of primary school.

Article 19 of the Constitution of Rwanda amended in 2015 stipulates that a child has the right to specific mechanisms of protection by his or her family, other Rwandans and the State.

Dads who play an active role during pregnancy lower moms’ stress levels. And lower stress means a healthier environment for your growing baby. Research shows that dads who are involved during pregnancy are more likely to remain involved once the baby is born—with great results. Kids with dads who are involved in their upbringing tend to do better socially, emotionally, and academically than kids with uninvolved fathers. Research also shows kids with involved dads tend to be more confident.

Before the Baby is Born

Talk, read, and sing to your baby-to-be. Babies can hear during the second trimester of pregnancy, and recognize voices in the third trimester—including
yours!

Attend doctor’s visits as much as you can. During Ob/Gyn checkups, you will be able to see your baby’s growth and development—including his heartbeat. These opportunities to track your baby’s development help you both begin to feel connected to your little one even before his birth day.

Try a class for expectant parents. Classes will help you prep for parenting (diaper changing, feeding, keeping baby healthy and safe), as well as cover strategies for how to co-parent with Mom.

Support healthy habits. Your encouragement helps mom eat the right foods and avoid smoking and drinking during pregnancy. For example, research shows that your support makes it easier for Mom to begin and continue breastfeeding.

Be there for labor and delivery. Both moms and dads naturally worry about the labor and delivery process. Some dads say they worry about doing the wrong thing in the delivery room, seeing their partner in pain, or being left out of important decisions. But they show up in big numbers and most are glad that they did. Moms report that having their partners in the delivery room reduces their anxiety and pain. And many dads find that meeting their baby right after birth is an experience that changes them forever—and helps them bond with their babies from those first seconds.

After the Baby is Born

Continue the conversation. You’ve been talking, reading, and singing to your baby for months. Now enjoy seeing her responses for the first time!

Figure out how to share responsibility for the baby. New dads can do almost everything new moms can do: Change diapers, give baths, share stories, and take your turn walking and soothing when the baby is crying. If your partner is breastfeeding, you can participate by bringing the baby to her, or burping him when he’s done. Sharing these responsibilities right from the start gives you a chance to get to know your baby and builds a strong foundation for your relationship with him.

Pay attention to your baby’s cues. Over time, babies develop their own ways of telling you what they need—through a particular cry, look, or movement. By spending time caring for and playing with your baby, you’ll start to decode her cues.

Today’s dads spend more time caring for their children than their fathers and grandfathers did. They recognize the value of sharing the everyday tasks of raising children—from diapering to discipline. Dads’ choices, and their voices, matter—to them, to moms, and to their kids.

Source: zerotothree.org