Thank you for taking the time to visit my fundraising page on iDonate.ie

Summary Description: -

I am fundraising for my visit to Rwanda with CMSI to help Social Enterprises that the Diocese of Shyogwe have developed to employ parishioners & combat poverty.

The Full Story

I've chosen to fundraise for a special visit to Rwanda on behalf of Church Mission Society Ireland. All funds raised here will go directly to this great cause. I am a great believer that combatting poverty in the Global South is about helping local people to help themselves. This is what I hope to do with this particular visit. The people of Shyogwe led by Bishop Jered Kalimba are an incredible example of resourcefulness powered by a wonderful Christian faith. This is their story; it is a privilege for me to witness this while hopefully adding a small bit of outside value in the process.

CMSI have a number of partners around the globe but one of the important ones in Africa is the Diocese of Shyogwe in Rwanda which has been supported over the last 20 years by a number of C of I parishes in Ireland to include my local parish of St Matthias in Killiney, Ballybrack. Bishop Jered K from Shyogwe has been a long-standing friend of the parish and his story is a very inspiring one!

During the civil war and genocide in Rwanda, Pastor Jered survived a number of assassination attempts and was eventually forced to flee the country with his family. He returned in 1997 to a devasted community and was offered and took up his calling as Bishop of Shyogwe. Needless to say, he returned to a Diocese that had very little – even their diocesan headquarters had been sequestered by the government! He started his ministry with 13 very broken parishes following the very tragic and vicious civil war and genocide. Today he has a great diocesan community of 38 parishes, an additional 9 ‘missionary’ parishes in formation, in total encompassing around 24K to 30K people bound together by a great faith. In the process of all of this he has grown a number of business social enterprises: Pineapple Juicing, production of low energy Wood Burning Stoves for cooking, a Furniture Production business, a Farm and a Forestry business. These not only support the Diocese economically but employ local people in what is a largely a rural area where the majority of people are essentially subsistence farmers – with 75% cultivation small-holdings of less than 0.5 hectares.

The key focus for my visit will be these 5 businesses, as well as some support organisations (Polytechnic Training School & a Gospel Singing recording Studio) to see if I can help on a consultancy basis to structure and prepare them to move forward and develop, thereby helping the local economy and community.

I hope you can help me by donating whatever you can. Simply click the Donate button above. All donations are processed securely.

I would be very grateful if you could share my page using Share Options below. This is a great way to show your support.

Many Thanks for all your help.

Supporting CMSI visit to Rwanda

Created by Martin Cuppage

Contact Us

Quick Links

Safe & Secure