“You need God’s help and there’s no doubt that you can achieve what you’ve put your heart to.”

Anitha is the Senior Regulatory Systems and Quality Management Systems Strengthening Technical Advisor for USP Rwanda; a NGO that is focused on building trust in the supply of safe, quality medicines. She also serves as a pharmacist and has worked in this profession for 13 years. When she was a child, she watched her mother (who was a nurse) start a private pharmacy. Anitha remembers helping her mom in the pharmacy, witnessing her mom’s passion for her work, and the fulfillment that it brought to her life. Due to her mom’s encouragement and the example that she set, Anitha decided to pursue pharmacy.

Anitha’s family immigrated from their home country in Rwanda, to a small village in Tanzania, where Anitha was born. Her parents made sacrifices to ensure that their children went to school, and raised them with passion and confidence to work hard and believe in themselves. Today, Anitha thanks God for giving her parents who invested and believed in her. 

In high-school, Anitha gave her life to Christ. Initially, she struggled to balance her newfound passion for evangelism and her studies. However, when reflecting on her studies she says, “The Lord told me to work hard and make that my priority and he helped me.” Anitha gives credit to God for the opportunity to obtain a masters degree in public health in Australia and for the scholarship she received. She specialized in health policy and management, and after completing this degree, she decided to return to Rwanda to contribute to the development of her nation. 

Since then, Anitha has worked for the ministry of health as a Healthy Systems Strengthening Officer. More specifically, her role involves quality assurance, staff training, and resource development for other practitioners. She is grateful for the mentorship she has received within her career and for her education that has equipped her with the skills she has needed to be successful. She is also thankful for her husband, a fellow pharmacist and Christian, and the mentorship and support that he provides her. Together they have four children.

Anitha is passionate about empowering others through her leadership; especially other women. As a woman in a leadership position, she sometimes struggles to find balance; in her roles at home and at her workplace, as well as in her desire to lead others with strength, confidence, kindness and compassion. Therefore, Anitha is excited to join the Abundant Leadership Institute in order to develop these skills. She is also looking forward to learning “how to stand out as a leader in a world that is really messy, and how to lead while not compromising your faith and values.” Finally, she wishes to develop her skill set in order to help others become better versions of themselves.

Thank you for supporting Anitha’s leadership journey!