Having lost his mother at a tender age couple with never having met his father, Jean-Claude Muhire (pictured right) had a tough time growing up. He lacked parental love and struggled to access some of the basic needs as a child. It is through his experience that he was provoked into helping suffering, homeless, abandoned, and vulnerable kids in any way possible, hence the birth of “Love for Kids Foundation, Rwanda.” He is an activist, filmmaker, and author. In an interview with Sunday Magazine’s Joan Mbabazi, Muhire talks about his foundation and his acting career. Why did you decide to start this foundation? I started this foundation in 2016. I lost my mother at the age of 12. I never had any siblings. I was raised by my grandmother who didn’t have any source of income, life was very miserable. After finishing secondary school, I became a volunteer at Kimisagara orphanage, where I worked as a communications assistant. I gained personal experience to support and encourage orphans, as I could relate with their stories and challenges. I knew exactly the kind of life they were living. In 2015, the Government of Rwanda passed a law to close all the orphanages so that children could integrate into local families. That was very challenging because most of the children didn’t have families to take them in but I had always desired to continue supporting vulnerable children in my own ability hence the start of Love for Kids Foundation. The foundation had 17 children when it began. Which kind of support do you give to the children? At the moment the foundation has 103 children. We provide them with school fees and scholastic materials (books, uniforms, pens, among others) from Nursery to Secondary School. You released a movie known as “LIZA” that depicts sexual harassment among young girls, what was the purpose behind it? During my stay at the Kimisagara Orphanage Center, I noticed that some people who adopted children had evil intentions for them, for instance, after taking them to their homes, they violated them, sexually, physically and mentally. This gave me an idea to make this movie “Liza,” in 2015 to bring to light some of the issues that young girls face while staying with people who are not their biological parents, for example, rape. I made this movie while participating in a competition known as Global Dialogue in the United States where I emerged the winner. So tell us, how do you handle supporting all these children? I have partnered with 250 Effect (an NGO that helps unprivileged children), individual partners both from Rwanda and abroad have also given support, in form of money, counseling, mentorship, and many other ways. We also have a group called “Christmas Angels”, this is a group of young people who are employed in national institutions, who visit children in need at the end of the year to celebrate Christmas with them. A number of people have been supportive in all ways. We have about 44 children that we fully support with full school fees and scholastic materials, the rest we assist them with activities like mentoring, family visits to know the problems that hinder them from accessing education. We have been working with Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, Kimisagara, to rehabilitate and support some of the street children and we have encouraged them to come and join us during weekends to share some of the items like books, and also play with them. However, we also train and call upon children to tell and write their own stories as they would be a source of inspiration to other children out there. “I leave you today” is a book that you published in 2017, what is the story behind it? I wanted to address the issue of sexual violence. Women are not sex tools, they deserve respect and need to be heard in case they are abused sexually. No one should doubt them. You recently won an award, do you mind telling us what it was about? The award was the Human Rights Prize of the French Government. It is an initiative of the National Commission of Human Rights in France, which recognizes the work of individuals and organizations in Human Rights across the world. My project proposal that won the award was in advocacy and capacity building for vulnerable families. It was selected among 164 applicants this year. What are some of the challenges that you face at your foundation? There are many beneficiaries who are in need of support and yet the support is very limited. We need to provide basic human needs, yet the children who are in need are many. Poverty is another problem faced at the family level. We are supporting children who come from poor families because if we are to support them in education, they still need other requirements like food, clothes, and many more. Some parents have a mentality that since they are not educated, their children shouldn’t acquire education as well. It takes patience to convince them to let the children study and have a bright future. As a growing organization, it is not easy to get support, but we keep pushing in order to make children have a meaningful future. What have you done to make sure that parents are able to support their children as well? We train parents on the issues of human rights so that they can know how to take care of the children regardless of their low income. We also encourage them to start small businesses.
