Revolutionizing Breast Cancer Support in Rwanda

Transforming Our Mission: A Human-Centered Approach To Breast Cancer Support And Awareness that leverages the advancement and benefits of technology

For 17 years, we have led Rwanda’s breast cancer movement, championing awareness, education, empowerment, and support. Our journey began in 2007 and in  2008  published the nation’s first public call for a cancer policy, The New Times Rwanda. This pivotal moment ignited systemic change, culminating in milestones like the establishment of Rwanda’s first cancer space, the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence and the first Rwandan Oncologist five years later in 2012.

Through unwavering commitment, we’ve reached over 55,000 individuals, equipping them with vital knowledge, resources, and care to confront breast cancer. Our initiatives span grassroots campaigns, with innovative awareness and screening programs, and the creation of the Pink House—a sanctuary offering community, healing, and support .

We’ve broken barriers of access and stigma by engaging urban and rural communities, the private sector, and government institutions. Our loofah farm stands as a testament to sustainable social enterprise, fueling our nonprofit mission.

Embracing the future, we are pioneering AI-powered solutions and cutting-edge digital tools, redefining health and wellness approaches. This legacy of impactful work, combined with our bold vision, uniquely positions us to scale our transformative model beyond Rwanda, across Africa, and globally.

Revolutionizing Breast Cancer Support: A Transformative Approach To Awareness, Care, And Empowerment

Imagine someone in Rwanda, a woman in a remote village, a student in Kigali, or even a man who never thought breast cancer could affect him, being seen, supported, and potentially saved by a system that feels personal, powerful, and smart.

That’s the future we’re creating. We’re designing the nonprofit of tomorrow, today, in Rwanda.

We’re building a survivor-driven, and community-rooted ecosystem  to tackle breast cancer in Rwanda and beyond, by combining care, education, awareness, innovation and technology, economic opportunity, and data.

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How It All Works Together:

1. We leverage technology and practical, measurable uses of AI to enhance our human-first operation and ecosystem  

We have successfully implemented a practical human-first, AI assisted system that provides tangible value to how we operate, educate, screen, farm, communicate, collect data, and grow.

We leverage AI to:

• Assist smart internal systems for operation, management, execution, decision-making, logistics, finance, HR, and team management
• Provide 24/7 basic education and assistance via WhatsApp to the Rwandan Community
• Scale Education and Awareness content on social media and digital spaces
• Translate and personalize health education and reports from our Village ambassadors, across languages and literacy levels
• Assist our Village Ambassadors/community health workers to serve village members and patients directly in the village where they are
• Assist in powering our Pink Youth Rising, Youth Empowerment Program
• Optimize our social enterprise (loofah farm and supply chain)
  

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2. We Bring Early Detection To The People.

Through the Pink Village Movement and the Pink House we empower local nurses and trained workers to detect breast cancer early, where people live, before it becomes life-threatening. This includes reaching men, too. While less common, male breast cancer exists, and no one should be left behind.

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3. We’re Building The “Pink House” Wellness Campus.

We are expanding our current Pink House to create full infrastructure for Breast Cancer Support in Rwanda:

• The expansion: A hub for training, innovation, education, creative content, community engagement, capacity building through youth empowerment and education, medical screening, housing, healing, and direct services.
  

Together, it becomes a central wellness space powered by survivor spirit.

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4. We Educate And Equip Frontline Health Workers.‍

Our training programs for nurses and community health workers prepares them to:

• Understand breast health
• Deliver accurate, compassionate screening
• Guide patients with the right information and follow-up
• Act as powerful educators and care navigators in their communities

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5. We Raise Awareness Through Comics, Kiosks, And Storytelling, And They Lead To Care.

Awareness saves lives.

We use comics, our interactive AI-powered digital assistant, youth empowerment programs, and storytelling to reach people in public spaces, schools, markets, and clinics. These tools:

• Educate in a fun, relatable, and visual way
• Bust myths and reduce stigma
• Are directly linked to care access, directing people to screenings, follow-up, or support services nearby
• Include sponsorships and branding, offering sustainable revenue‍

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6. We Collect Robust Data  to Change The National Picture.

One of our most important missions is to transform Rwanda’s breast cancer data landscape.

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Right now:

• Early detection rates are low
• 80% of cases present at late-stage
• Case reporting is inconsistent
• Accurate national data is nearly nonexistent

We change that by collecting, analyzing, and visualizing real-time, multilingual, privacy-conscious data, tracking:

• Screenings
• Diagnoses
• Treatment follow-ups
• Awareness levels
• Geographic and gender-specific trends
• Program success and impact

This data will shape national strategy, save lives, and power global research.

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7. We create unique funding opportunities for sustainability.

We create engaging mainstream awareness and education IP (publications and digital media)  that create sponsorship and advertising opportunities for corporations and local businesses.

We create programs that generate participation fees from the private and public sector like our “Taking Awareness to the Workplace Breast Cancer education program” tailored to both private and public sector entities.  

We create licensable community awareness and education software products that can be utilized by other NCD organizations

We host community events that attract relevant audiences for corporate/company/local business sponsorship and advertising

Our social enterprise includes a thriving loofah farm, which:

• Creates jobs for youth, women, and breast cancer survivors
• Produces eco-friendly raw and finished products
• Provides a training ground for sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship
• Funds our nonprofit programs
  

We leverage AI to support this too, from implementation, management of growing operations to inventory to processing.

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8. Survivors Lead Peer Support our Superpower ‍

Our survivor community is one of our greatest assets.

They run peer support groups that offer:

• Emotional guidance
• Practical advice
• Healing through shared experience
• Motivation for those newly diagnosed or in recovery
  

These groups are proven to increase treatment adherence, mental health outcomes, and survivor leadership.

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9. We’re Building A “University Of The Mission.” - Pink Youth Rising

We are not only a breast cancer initiative, we are a movement to create purpose-driven talent.

Rwanda’s youth make up 80% of the population, they are the future of the country and the key to improved outcomes!

Through Pink Youth Rising , we invite youth and young adults to:

• Learn hands-on skills across tech, health, media, farming, operations, and social impact
• Join as apprentices in real projects
• Grow into full-time team members or launch ventures of their own
  

It’s an education-to-employment pipeline, rooted in mission, purpose, and innovation.

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In Short...

We’re reimagining what breast cancer care and community empowerment looks like, by fusing tech, love, data, and sustainability.

Our impact will be felt in:

• Lives saved through early detection
• National case reporting and screening data
• Increased awareness and reduced stigma
• Trained professionals and inspired young leaders
• A self-sustaining system built by and for the people

From the heart of Rwanda, we are reimagining what a nonprofit can be. We are not a charity, we are  a catalyst. Rooted in the rhythm of our communities and powered by the intelligence of our time, this mission is a living blueprint. We are the intersection where AI meets empathy, where survivors lead the way, and where youth rise not only to learn, but to build. We are cultivating healing in fields and in hearts, weaving awareness into every story, and building an ecosystem that honors every voice, where women, men, rural, urban are all seen, all supported.

This is a new model of care, of creation, of continuity, born in Rwanda but designed to echo across Africa and beyond.

Rwanda Is The Pilot. Africa Is The Vision. The World Is The Goal.

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