March 2004

The last few months have been relatively calm in Rwanda. The new government is up and running and though there are always adjustments to a new system, things are moving forward. The repatriation of Rwandan refugees from neighboring countries began again (there are still thousands of Rwandan refugees in Africa – in particular in Uganda and Congo). This repatriation has occurred in waves since the end of the genocide, but the Government of Rwanda, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is hoping to move toward the conclusion of the repatriation. Unfortunately, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the international court established in Arusha, Tanzania to try high-level genocide suspects, is moving more slowly than most Rwandans would like. The domestic rural court system for lower-level offenders, called Gacaca, is also plugging along, but not without controversy. Rwandans have little faith in the court procedures and because the process is so time consuming, their interest is beginning to diminish. There is also increasing fear of participating in the trials due to backlash against witnesses. With the 10 year anniversary of the genocide approaching (April 7th is considered the first day of the genocide) Rwanda is preparing both emotionally and physically to both address the past and move forward constructively.


Women for Women International – Rwanda moved forward with its goal during recent months to open a formal Chapter of Women for Women International in Rwanda. Until now, we have implemented our program in Rwanda through a local partner, “Speak, I Am Listening.” In February we received official registration as an International NGO working in Rwanda. This transition will allow us to bring a greater variety of rights awareness and leadership education, vocational skills training, and income-generation support to the women we work with. We look forward to future collaboration with Speak, I Am Listening and they will be our new neighbors, but we are also excited about entering this next phase in our growth and success!


By the end of March, we hope to be operating 100 percent out of our new office and should have most of our new staff on board. We selected the site because of its easy access to participants and its high potential for providing both rights awareness and vocational training on site. Our new Program Coordinator is working very closely with all of the staff to improve the quality – in particular the lasting impact – of the Renewing Women’s Life Skills (ReneWLS) rights awareness and vocational skills training programs. She is training our Manual Trainers, who provide rights awareness and leadership education to the women in the Sponsorship Program, to use creative ways of communicating the lessons to the participants in the program. By incorporating more discussions and role plays, participants are retaining the information and are gaining a better understanding of the value and purpose of each topic. We are also very fortunate now to have an Administration and Finance Director guiding us through the seemingly endless procedures associated with operating in this country.


In the meantime, nearly 400 participants graduated from the Sponsorship Program in Rwanda in recent months, with a nearly equal number of new women starting the program. We have maintained a balance of urban and rural participants – dedicating two days a week to workshops in the city of Kigali and the other two days to field visits in villages around the country. Many of our new groups of women have opened savings accounts to which they are contributing portions of their sponsorship funds. They are also developing plans for how to invest their funds in projects that will generate income throughout and after their year in our program. Many women in Berwa, for example, have purchased start-up materials for their stalls in the local market. The women of Masoro have pooled funds to purchase a large sugar cane plot. They hope to have their first harvest soon and they will be selling their crop to local sugar producer Kabuye Sugar Factory, the only sugar factory in Rwanda.


One of my favorite stories about our participants is that of Concessa Mukarusagara of the Masaka group. Concessa, a widow with four children, recently began the program and has already put her sponsorship money to work starting a business in her village. She did get a slight head start as Concessa participates in a “tauntine” with other women in the Masaka group. Each month she and other nine other women contribute RWF1,000 each, the equivalent of about $2.00US each, to a kitty (“kibina” in Kinyarwanda) and every month one takes it home to use as she wishes. She was an early “winner” of the kitty and she used this money to buy stock for a shop. Among the goods she purchased were rice, sugar, beans, tomato paste (foods that are easy to stock), soap, candles, and kerosene (used for local night lamps called “katadowas”). Concessa did a particularly impressive job of budgeting for her shop and has laid out a detailed plan for reinvesting two-thirds of her profits in growing the business and using one-third to purchase goods for herself and her family. She is looking forward to buying herself new shoes and some fabric with which to make clothes for herself and her family, and eventually to buy livestock.


Concessa’s progress is commendable, but what is more impressive is her interest in helping others to improve their own situations. During our last discussion with the Masaka group it became clear that the other winner of the “kibina,” Rose Zihinjishi, had plans for a tomato business that would have resulted in a quick loss. Concessa took Rose under her wing to work out the details of initial costs and potential profits. I hope they will both find success in their new endeavors and look forward to following up on their progress later in the program.

Best regards,

Wendy Shapiro
Country Director, Women for Women International -- Rwanda