KIGALI — Sixteen years ago, Isabelle Kamariza walked into a hospital carrying a few homemade meals for patients who had no one to feed them.

Today, the organisation born from that simple act of compassion serves more than 12 million meals to patients and schoolchildren across Rwanda.

On this Friday evening, Solid’Africa celebrated its 15th anniversary with a gala dinner at the Kigali Marriott Hotel, marking a journey that has transformed nutrition from an overlooked need into an essential part of healthcare.

The celebration brought together First Lady Jeannette Kagame, government officials, development partners, business leaders and beneficiaries under the theme “15 Years and Beyond.”

For many, the anniversary was not just about numbers. It was about a new way of thinking.

Solid’Africa was founded on a simple belief: food is medicine. While Rwanda’s health insurance covers medical treatment, many patients, especially those without relatives to support them, still struggle to get nutritious meals during recovery.

Kamariza first encountered that reality in 2010.

During a prayer meeting hosted by a woman known as Mama Zouzou, she suggested praying for sick people. Instead, she was encouraged to visit a hospital and help them directly.

She found patients recovering on empty stomachs.

Many had no relatives nearby. Others simply could not afford food.

Kamariza began asking friends for small donations. She cooked meals herself and delivered them to patients at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

What began with dozens of meals soon became a movement.

Later that year, Kamariza, together with Mama Zouzou, Audric Mitraros and Ariane Inkesha, formally established Solid’Africa.

Fifteen years later, the organisation has grown into one of Rwanda’s largest nutrition-focused social enterprises.

It now operates five industrial kitchens.

Every day, it prepares medically tailored meals for at least 1,500 hospital patients.

It also provides nutritious meals to around 30,000 children attending public schools.

More than 7,000 Rwandan farmers supply vegetables, fruits and other produce through the organisation’s farm-to-plate model, creating income for rural communities while improving nutrition.

One of its biggest milestones was the opening of the Mike Stenbock Gemura Kitchen, Rwanda’s first industrial-scale nutrition kitchen. The facility made it possible to prepare thousands of meals every day while maintaining food quality and safety.

Speaking during Friday’s celebration, First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame praised Solid’Africa for improving the health and well-being of thousands of Rwandans through better nutrition.

She thanked the organisation for its commitment to serving patients and schoolchildren and pledged that the Imbuto Foundation, championed by the First Lady, would continue supporting its work.

For Kamariza, however, the anniversary is not the finish line.

“Today, Solid’Africa turns 15,” she said.

“What started as a simple belief—that dignity and access to nutrition should not be a privilege—has grown into something far greater than I could have imagined.”

She credited staff, volunteers, partners and supporters for helping build what she described as a movement rooted in compassion, resilience and shared purpose.

But she warned that the work remains unfinished.

“The need is still great, and so is our responsibility to keep showing up, to keep innovating, and to keep building solutions that truly make a difference,” she said.

She called for stronger partnerships and greater ambition as the organisation enters its next chapter.

Solid’Africa’s growth mirrors Rwanda’s broader effort to improve healthcare by looking beyond medicine alone.

The organisation has helped place nutrition at the centre of patient recovery, arguing that treatment is incomplete if patients leave hospital hungry.

What started with one person carrying a few meals into a hospital has evolved into a nationwide system serving millions.

For thousands of patients and children every day, that simple idea continues to prove that healing often begins with a plate of food.