Grand Opening Celebration of the Komera Leadership Center

On August 12th 2022, we celebrated a victory of a big dream come true for us at Komera — The Grand Opening of our Leadership Center, in Rwinkwavu Kayonza.

We were joined by members of the local government, Komera partners and supporters, the Rwandan and US board chairs and members, founder Margaret Butler, and the Rwinkwavu community. We officially cut the ribbon to enter into a literal and symbolic new dimension of our programming with an expanded reach. The sentiment of achievement and a great anticipation of what the new Komera home will carry, was visible and palpable for everyone in attendance. 

The ceremony were marked by speeches from various esteemed guests including a member of the Rwandan Parliament Honorable Anitha, The Mayor of Kayonza District Nyemanzi Jean Bosco, and a representative of the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Aline Umutoni - Director General of Family Promotion and Child Protection who all applauded the work that Komera has done to invest in the education and bright futures of young women which is one of the key areas of Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST1). 

The Komera Executive Director, Dativa Bideri Mukomusonera took the stage to extend gratitude to every partner from near and far, who made the launch of the Leadership Center possible. In  her remarks Komera Founder, Margaret Butler also thanked the Komera Team and all the Komera champions who stood with her to bring the vision of Komera to life, including this huge milestone of a home that will amplify the impact of Komera in the community. 

One of the highlights of the event was a moving testimony of our pioneer scholar Janvier who talked about her education journey that started shortly after she met Margaret 10 years ago. Young Janvier, who at the time was a goat shepherd and out of school, is now a university graduate and now working.

The festivities were also embellished with dance performances throughout the event. The Garuka Urebe cultural troupe from Rwamagana, and our scholars dance group put on performances that added to the spirit of celebration. 

We danced, laughed, and rejoiced with our community! 

We want to extend a big thank you to the Komera Team on the ground that has been involved in overseeing the construction work from the beginning and organized a successful launching event. We would also like to thank Bruce Engel and Emmanuel Havugimana of BE Design (Architecture Firm), Brian Halusan and Justin Twizere of Rwanda Village Enterprises (General Contractor), and our generous supporters who helped make this dream a reality. We cannot wait to reach more community members through services that will be housed in this building.