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January 2005
It is with pleasure that I write to you about what’s happening with our program in Rwanda.
There are currently 1,292 women participating in our program here in Rwanda. They all send their warm greetings and appreciation! This quarter 442 participants graduated from the Sponsorship Program and how I wish I could send you a picture of their happiness!
We recently hired a new Income Generating Coordinator, Specioza, to help us create more opportunities for women to improve their family’s economic situation. Specioza will identify new vocational skills training that are viable in our local market. Currently, Women for Women International – Rwanda provides all vocational skills training out of our offices in Kigali. One of Specioza’s responsibilities will be to identify other organizations that are already providing vocational skills training classes. We hope to partner with these organizations so we can provide a greater variety of classes, and so we can offer classes to women that live further away from the office. In 2005, we hope to use these partnerships as well as our own vocational skills trainers to provide new trainings in areas such as hairdressing, leatherwork, catering and food processing, welding, ceramic kitchen utensil production, batik or tie-dye, and jewelry-making.
In Rwanda, we recently completed a 16-day campaign led by the Ministry of Gender aimed at ending violence against women. According to statistics provided by the national police, a woman is raped every four hours in Rwanda. Events included hearing from government and non-governmental organizations and women survivors of rape and violence. Women for Women International is doing its part by including training on ending domestic violence and abuse of women in its rights awareness and leadership education sessions that women attend during their time in the Sponsorship Program.
In 2005, Women for Women International hopes to expand the types of training we offer as part of our rights awareness and leadership education program. In November, we met with a representative from the Urunana Health Organzation in Kigali. This group currently has an audio program that provides health information to women in Rwanda through BBC World Service Radio. We are exploring a partnership with Urunana to use their expertise to expand the health training portion of our rights awareness training, as well as to bring the radio program to the women we serve.
Clotilde's Story
Clotilde is a member of Urugero Group.
There are so many success stories from the women in the program – here is just one story that I wanted to share with our sponsors. Thank you for the good work you are doing to support women in Rwanda!
Clotilde is a widow who is 41 years old and has three children, all boys. Clotilde’s husband was the sole provider for the household, and since his death she has struggled to support herself and her boys. She tried to find temporary jobs in housing construction, but often did not get hired because of her age.
When Clotilde joined Women for Women International – Rwanda in September 2004, she used her sponsorship funds to buy charcoal from a wholesale distributor and resell it on the local market. Investing just a small amount of money in the business at first, Clotilde has increased her sales so that she can support her family’s basic needs – her family is now able to have two full meals a day, and they have new clean clothes. She has also started her first savings account. Clotilde now plans to expand her business to include growing and selling vegetables so she can continue to improve the status of her family.
On behalf of the participants and staff, I wish you a happy and joyous 2005. Thank you for all that you do!
Yours sincerely,
Berra Kabarungi
Country Director, Women for Women International -- Rwanda
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