Mutoni told IGIHE she was born in Gisozi Sector of Gasabo District in Kigali and is pursuing her studies together with her colleagues Marion Apio and Lokolimoe Susan Hilda at Makerere University in Uganda.
The trio submitted Girls Alive Uganda project for the awards of Mastercard Foundation and The Resolution Project 2018. The project intends to meet the need of lack of sanitary materials to vulnerable girls in Tororo District of Uganda.
Speaking to IGIHE after scooping the award, Mutoni said the project, which started two years ago, will make, distribute and train young girls about making affordable pads to reduce high rates of menstrual-related absenteeism which remains a key barrier to academic performance of the girl child in Uganda.
“We have so far trained 83 girls especially in Tororo’s schools on making pads and taught more about menstrual health. This is the second time we are participating in the resolution fellowship and we are excited we have won. We have not started making the pads but now that we have secured the funding, we are going to start,” she said.
Only 15 teams out of the 272 applications won the social venture with each team earning a fellowship that includes seed funding amounting to $5,000 (about Rwf4.4 million), mentorship and access to a network of young global changemakers to pursue impactful projects in their communities.
Mastercard Foundation Spokeswoman, Ashley Collier, said the SVC aims at supporting the most impactful projects that are owned by young African social entrepreneurs.
“This is a very competitive process because scholars come from across the continent and we encourage those who have not won now to keep applying every year. Three years ago, we had 10 scholars that won, last year we had 20 and this year we have 31,” she said.
Collier said Mastercard Foundation has opened a country office in Kigali recently because “we believe this is such an incredible environment” with access to education and skills
The third edition of the challenge’s finalists included scholars from Malawi, Gambia, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Lebanon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Somaliland.
Rwanda was not featuring among this year’s finalists but a trio of Rwandan graduates, from EARTH University in Costa Rica, won the Resolution Social Venture Challenge at the Mastercard Foundation Baobab Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, last year.
The trio of Annet Mukamurenzi, Gerard Ndayishimiye and Yvette Abizeyimana had put forward their Rwanda Youth Initiative for Agricultural Transformation (RYIAT) at the competition that rewards compelling leadership and promising social ventures led by the youth.
The Mastercard Foundation first partnered with The Resolution Project in 2016. The foundation is implementing various projects in Rwanda including Hanga Ahazaza (Create the Future) and Scholars Programme.
The Canada-based Mastercard Foundation is one of the world’s largest foundations which strives to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty and it operates almost exclusively in Africa.
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