CANAL+ Rwanda donates RWF10 million to Hope and Homes for Children

CANAL+ Rwanda has donated RWF10 million to Hope and Homes for Children to support 118 children benefiting from the organisation’s programmes in Rwanda.

The donation held at Kigarama Community Hub in Kicukiro District, where CANAL+ Rwanda also provided food supplies and school materials to help meet the children’s daily needs.

The event brought together CANAL+ Rwanda Managing Director Aime Abizera, Kicukiro District Executive Administrator Antoine Mutsinzi, representatives of Hope and Homes for Children and others.

The initiative marks the fifth consecutive year that CANAL+ Rwanda has supported the programme, which aims to assist vulnerable children and families while promoting their wellbeing, confidence and prospects for the future.

“Through this initiative, we want to contribute to creating better opportunities for vulnerable children and supporting them in their everyday lives,” CANAL+ Rwanda said, adding that the contribution forms part of its continued commitment to supporting children and strengthening families and communities in Rwanda.

CANAL+ Rwanda is the local operation of CANAL+, the international media and entertainment group that provides pay-TV and digital entertainment services, including sports, films, series, documentaries and other programming.

The partnership with Hope and Homes for Children reflects the organisation’s wider focus on strengthening families and promoting family-based care for children.

Hope and Homes for Children is an international organisation specialising in deinstitutionalisation, helping children move from institutions and orphanages into families and other forms of family-based alternative care.

It also works with families facing crisis to address factors that can contribute to family separation.

The organisation was founded in 1994 by retired British army officer Mark Cook and his wife, Caroline Cook, after they witnessed the plight of children living in an orphanage in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.

It began operations in Rwanda in 2002, initially supporting vulnerable households, including child-headed families, households headed by elderly people and HIV-positive single-parent families.

Since 2010, Hope and Homes for Children Rwanda has worked with the Rwandan government on childcare reform and efforts to close orphanages and promote family-based care.

From 2018, it also expanded its work on disability-inclusive childcare reform, supporting children with disabilities to transition from institutions into family environments.

The organisation says its work continues to focus on preventing family separation, strengthening vulnerable households and reintegrating children and young people with disabilities into families.

Its Rwanda programme has previously reported supporting the repurposing of 16 institutions and orphanages and the reintegration or placement of more than 1,300 children into families or family-based care.

Photos

CANAL+ Rwanda Managing Director Aime Abizera

Kicukiro District Executive Administrator Antoine Mutsinzi.