Avega Agahozo

Meet the President of AVEGA Agahozo

My name is Chantal KABASINGA, and I am the national president of AVEGA Agahozo.

AVEGA began in 1995. At that time, it was made up of only 25 members, but today we number over 25,000. Initially, the association even lacked offices- there was only the national committee. Today, however, we have decentralized to five centres located across Rwanda.

I have been a member of AVEGA since its beginning in 1995. I was the president of AVEGA East from 1999-2008, and in 2008 I became the National President of AVEGA. This means that I represent AVEGA at a national level at meetings around the country.

AVEGA is made up of two branches that work together closely: the decision-making body and the executive body. The executive body is in charge of implementing AVEGA’s projects on a day-to-day basis. I am in charge of the decision making body, where we make decisions and offer counsel.

In the future, we hope to help our members become capable of helping themselves. We want our members to reintegrate into society, into their families and into their community. AVEGA wants its members to be able to not only take care of themselves, but to be able to be active community members who can help others.

The work of AVEGA is very important because genocide widows have already suffered terribly. They have undergone traumatic events, and so no longer have the force to help them. This is where AVEGA steps in and helps these widows to find the strength to live again.