In the Rusenge sector of the Nyaruguru district, 20 single women have been rescued from desolation by Plan International. This non-governmental organization helped them to learn a trade in order to live in dignity.
The 20 single women had been sexually abused in their teens. They were knocked up and gave birth to babies they were not prepared to raise.
“A girlfriend asked me to accompany her to visit her friend. And I fell into a trap that was set for me,” said Delphine Mutuyimana, 32. Tears begin to well up in her eyes. “Let’s move on”, she says, clearly unable to relive the scene from 14 years ago.
“I hid my pregnancy from my parents. I had to go from house to house looking for accommodation. Family members saw me again after I gave birth,” she reveals. Afterwards, she became pregnant again due to her difficult living conditions.
“When you are a single woman, life is not easy. You meet a man and he offers you money to buy soap, but in return he wants to sleep with you. If you are in need, you become an easy prey,” she laments. Delphine had to have a second baby and lead a miserable life.
“Plan International did me a great favour. When they took me in, I was like a mad woman,” she says.
Today she does braids, hair for both men and women.
“My social situation has changed. Now I am on good terms with my parents. When they have a financial problem, I intervene, I own two pigs and two goats,” she says.
“Every month I can save 30,000 frws after paying all expenses. Now I can’t be caught in a trap,” she says.
Anita Nzayisenga, 26, was knocked up at 19. “During the pregnancy period, I was abandoned by my family… When you have already given birth, you become a servant in your home,” she complains.
She learned to work in a hair salon when her baby was two and a half years old. She has mastered braiding and putting products in the hair.
“My child goes to nursery school. I never run out of ways to meet her needs,” she says.
Plan International’s role undeniable
According to the Executive Secretary of the Rusenge sector, Speciose Muhimpundu, Plan International, as a partner, has brought together these single women, trained them and given them materials for hairdressing men and women.
“They are now free, they pay their children’s school fees, some have bought cattle,” says the Executive Secretary of the Rusenge sector, Speciose Muhimpundu, showing how much the fate of these single women has changed.
From the start, they received training on reproductive health, and attended the Technical and Vocational Training School (TVET) in Ndago for their six-month certificate. Five learned welding, including three boys, and 20 others learned braiding and hairdressing. The latter have formed a cooperative.
“We helped them to set up a hairdressing salon. We bought all the equipment. The chairs, the clippers, the hair dryers. We taught them how to save money so that they could pay the rent and take care of their children after one year,” said Sharon Kiconco, Program unit manager of Plan International in Nyaruguru.
The organization had paid the rent for the whole of the first year while it prepared them to stand on their own two feet. About 12 million frws were spent to support these single women. They have become economically independent and now rely solely on the fruits of their labour.
Gérard Rugambwa
