Where It Began and a Better Future
Written by: Heidi Kittredge
Today we visited the Gasarbwayi women’s cooperative group and met with a new cooperative from the Northeast region of Rwanda. I don’t always have an opportunity to visit Gasarbwayi on my annual trips. So, today was a blessing. Gasarbwayi holds a special place in my heart. It is where I began learning about the challenges the women faced ensuring their children eat daily meals and attend school.
We spent the morning with the children reading Noah’s ark, doing a coloring activity and sharing juice and biscuits. Although our focus is meeting with women’s cooperative groups, we believe sharing God’s love with the women’s children is another important part of what we do.
After spending time with the kids, we reunited with the women that were and continue to be the inspiration of AWHI. Rosa, now Vice President of the cooperative reported that there has been no rainfall for over a year. Majority of the businesses in the cooperative group of 19, sell vegetables. In spite of no rainfall, the cooperative maintains a group savings of over $2,000,000 RWF (approx. $1,500 USD).
Maintaining this level of savings for over 5 years is an accomplishment under these circumstances. The women continue to send their kids to school and are still doing their businesses despite these challenges.
Rosa and the group are determined to change their lives for the better. What started as friendship and a partnership is now a sisterhood. Their strength, determination, and courage continues to empower me to come alongside many more women in East Africa to break the cycle of poverty.
In the afternoon, the team met with 3 members of the Imbereheza (“Better Future”) cooperative group that traveled 2 hours by bus from the Northeast area (Mutara) to the Eastern area (Kayonza) where we are staying. The cooperative started in 2019 and their businesses consist of selling variety of fruits and vegetables, and salt. The cooperative’s goal is help one another. In 2019, they decided to save $1,000 RWF ($1.00 USD) a month as a group. For the first year, they took the monthly savings to buy a woman in the group a goat. After 3 years, each woman had received a goat. Next, they started an initiative called “Make the Bed”. Again, they used the cooperative’s monthly savings to buy each woman a mattress. After 3 years, each woman in the cooperative group received a mattress. The group’s next goal was to invest in themselves and their abilities by starting a small business. They distributed the groups’ monthly savings to one woman each month so that she could start a small business. After one year each of the woman had started a business. This group is hard working and determined. I cannot wait to hear their stories of continued success after each of them receive their $50 microloan.
Today was a day of inspirational stories of hard work, determination and faith in the abilities God has given them. It was an honor to reunite with my sisters and meet new sisters.
