Let us walk you through a vision of community thriving springing up across East and Southern Africa. This vision centers around local Family Resource Centers: a place where services, developmental opportunities, and tools for health and wellbeing all converge around the needs of the most vulnerable.
Read as Social Innovator Mary Kamanzi envisions what it could look like to see Family Resource Centers in Rwanda:
Rwanda Family Resource Centers will provide a range of services and development opportunities that address the needs of children, young people, the elderly, parents and their families. We intend to begin with three locations but hopefully expand with time to other districts of Rwanda. The FRCs will serve families by:
- The provision of information, on various topics. Information concerning the range of services and development options available locally. A place for families to come and get renewed, through what they see (a variety of local herbal plants, beautiful flowers and learn their names also in Kinyarwanda, see a bit of culture: food, dressing, animals eg how to milk a cow, growing and storing food.) It will be a place for the next generation to learn a love of their nation.
- Delivering education courses and training opportunities; a story-telling place, a library
- The establishment and maintenance of new community support groups to meet local needs and the delivery of services at local level (for example, childcare facilities, after-school clubs, men’s groups, etc.)
- The provision of counselling and support to individuals and groups.
- Developing capacity and leadership within communities.
- Supporting personal and group development.
- Practical assistance to individuals and community groups such as access to understanding relationships including with Jesus, information technology, agriculture ideas, income generating and savings, parenting and trauma interventions
- Supporting networking within the community, including contributing to Policy work.
