Car Free Day’ Sports Drive: Geraldine Trada Foundation Steps Up the Fight Against Non-Communicable Diseases
The event took place on Sunday, January 18, 2026, during the well-known Car Free Day, which brings together people of all ages, both adults and children, from different parts of Kigali. Held twice a month, the initiative unites residents from the city’s three districts to take part in collective physical exercise aimed at promoting healthy living.
Participants joined either in groups or individually, often gathering at designated meeting points before walking together to the exercise venue. Members of the Geraldine Trada Foundation, founded by Mutesi Trace Trada, assembled in Gisozi Sector, where they began a group walk to ULK Stadium, the site of their mass sports session.
Brigitte Ishimwe, a professional City of Kigali coach with five years of experience and now aged 20, described sports as a cornerstone of her life. She said that in addition to promoting good health, physical exercise helps keep young people away from harmful behaviors common among today’s youth, including drug abuse.
She also urged parents to play an active role in introducing sports to children at an early age, noting that many urban children live largely sedentary lifestyles. “Most children today spend their time watching television and movies, and even going to school requires a car. We have become physically inactive,” she said, calling on parents to bring their children to sports activities and nurture a culture of exercise from a young age.
Another City of Kigali coach, Hamisi Urimubenshi, who was deployed to lead the session in partnership with GT Foundation, emphasized that physical exercise is essential for everyone, regardless of age. However, he cautioned people living with non-communicable diseases to seek medical advice before engaging in specific activities.
“We do not provide specialized exercises for people with hypertension or diabetes,” he explained. “It is important for them to first consult a doctor, who can advise them on which exercises are suitable and which should be avoided. As coaches, we offer general exercises that are not tailored to individual medical conditions.”
Urimubenshi added that medical teams are present at such events to screen for non-communicable diseases and provide guidance based on individual results, ensuring that participants exercise safely and responsibly.
At the closing of the event, Ben, a representative of GT Foundation, thanked participants for turning up in large numbers. He reaffirmed the foundation’s mission of working with communities to promote health by preventing, fighting, and controlling non-communicable diseases.
“These diseases are extremely dangerous because many people live with them without knowing,” he said, noting that they are among the leading causes of silent killer”.
Ben revealed that during the health screenings conducted that day, at least six Participants discovered that they were living with diabetes and high blood pleasure these conditions can be prevented .
According to research by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), nearly 50 percent of people affected by non-communicable diseases are unaware of their condition. This underscores the importance of regular medical check-ups, many of which are offered free of charge during mass sports activities. RBC further notes that most medications prescribed for these conditions are covered by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) through the community-based health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Santé.
The Geraldine Trada Foundation was established in 2019 on the initiative of Mutesi Tracey Trada, following the diagnosis of her daughter, Geraldine, with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12. This came shortly after the death of her grand father (Tracey’s father) who passed of type 2 diabetes complications in 2018. And her daughter Geraldine lives with type 1 diabetesto the same illness. The experience was deeply distressing for Geraldine, prompting her mother to bring her to Rwanda to connect with other children living with diabetes and to learn how families cope with the condition despite limited resources.
Today, GT Foundation continues to serve as a platform for awareness, solidarity, and hope in the national fight against non-communicable diseases especially Diabetes and high blood pressure.
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