Women Who Inspire Us
Written by: Jenn O’Neill
We have so much to share! While we meet many new groups every year, today we followed up with two women’s cooperatives who received savings bonuses in 2022 to see how the funds benefitted their businesses and lives.
Through our partnership with Africa Hope Initiatives, one of the benefits of a women’s cooperative is to share fellowship with other women, learn from each other and find community support and encouragement during tough times.
Our first stop was Rweru where the women’s cooperative is growing. We met with the farming women’s cooperative as well as a new second group who they are mentoring.
The new group is determined to create a business to earn money that will contribute to the family’s needs. Right now they cultivate land for others and each woman contributes a small amount to weekly group savings which is equal to 25 cents (USD). The group’s President, Marie Gorette says “The journey is long but we continue to have hope. We are determined to work hard and change our lives.”
For the farming group, their desire is to leave behind a legacy for their children. Life is very hard in this area of the country primarily because the climate here is so dry. With their savings bonus in 2022, they purchased a second field where they grow corn, beans and sorghum.
They also continue to grow watermelons. Their biggest challenges are carrying heavy buckets of water up from Lake Burundi to irrigate their crops and planting fruits and vegetables without knowing if they will even have a harvest because it depends on how much rainfall they receive. However, their hard work and savings have paid off. With their earnings, they built a preschool that opened last September with 3 volunteer teachers. The pastor provided materials for the windows, floor and roof and the women built the rest themselves. Two of the women also built their own homes. Their hope is to provide a better life for their children; a life that is not as difficult as theirs.
It appears the children are already benefitting from the school and are tomorrow’s future leaders. A toddler led the children in prayer. After watching their parents, they lead the community in dancing and when we shared our Fruit of the Spirit activity, the children gave great examples of how they show joy, faithfulness, goodness and love.
After a delicious village lunch, our next stop brought us to Mbyo. This is a young group of women. The majority of them are in their 30’s and many of them have very young children. This group is very community oriented. Every year, the group pays health insurance for 5 women who are the most vulnerable. They also purchase a mattress for one family every year. They are able to do this because of their increase in personal group savings. Since 2023, the women went from giving 2000 Rwandan francs weekly to 3000. The savings bonus allowed women to add capital to their businesses and if they have to borrow money, they pay it back along with an extra contribution to the group’s savings.
The best part was walking to the center of town with the women. We visited 3 of the women’s businesses: Jeanne’s new clothing store, Jackie and Aline’s hair salon and Josephine’s vegetable business where she grinds cassava leaves that can be mixed with other vegetables. It smells so good!
These women continue to inspire us every day. They are making us proud, receiving the gifts that we are giving them and building a better life for themselves and their families. You can see the changes in these photos of Josephine from last year to today. She is happy and healthy!
