Ecobank Rwanda has on Tuesday, October 26 celebrated the Ecobank day with a donation of Rwf 5 million to Inshuti Zacu centre that caters for children with mental and physical disabilities. Ecobank day is the bank’s annual corporate and social responsibility event to give back to the local communities in Rwanda. This year’s event focused on mental health as part of the bank’s commitment towards better health, with a target to reduce stigma and discrimination to the people living with mental health illnesses. With the theme, “Mental Health – Time to Talk and Act!”, the day marked the final stage of Ecobank’s three-year campaign to raise awareness and help prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). In the previous years, the campaign had focused on cancers in 2019, diabetes in 2020 and mental health this year. Alice Kilonzo-Zulu, the Managing Director of Ecobank Rwanda, highlighted that there are still mental health issues in the Rwandan community, hence a significant action is needed. “There are still a lot of misconceptions about mental health, that is why it’s very important to openly talk about mental health without the feeling of stigmatization or taboo,” she said during her remarks. “Our contribution as Ecobank will be using this day (Ecobank day) to get these messages across to as many people as possible, because now is the time to talk and act on mental health! “she added. Sister Emeritha Nyirandayizeye, the head of the centre also echoed in Kilonzo’s words, that stigmatisation is still present in the society. “The kids are often stigmatized in all sorts of manner, but they should also be considered like other kids, that is why we appreciate you for having taken this ‘different’ step and came to our rescue, this initiative is very special!” she said. Nyirandayizeye added that Ecobank is a referral bank because it is not profit-centered, but humanity-centered. Inshuti zacu centre is a home of 25 children with mental and physical disabilities which was started in 2000 by Sister Catherine Nduwamariya Genevieve. She founded the initiative with the aim of addressing issues of disabled children who are often stigmatized in the society, notably by the parents and family members. Ecobank Rwanda is a member of the leading Pan-African banking group, the Ecobank Group. It has been present in Rwanda for the last 15 years, and has eight branches, 32 ATMs, 290 Xpress Point agents, 2,272 merchants and serves numerous customers through its Consumer, Commercial and Corporate banking divisions. Ecobank is also present in 33 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
