Kindernothilfe Kindernothilfe e.V. Kindernothilfe e.V.

Rwanda

Rwanda: Hand in hand - united against poverty!

During the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 almost one million people were killed. Many people still suffer from this national trauma. Especially widows and orphans live in severe poverty. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) help to improve the situation. The group members experience solidarity and empowerment and develop self-confidence. All of the groups save money and after a while the group members take turns in borrowing money to start a business or make other investments. (Project 67002/AE/12)

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The Local Situation
Rwanda, the smallest country in East Africa - is still affected by the genocide and civil war in 1994 which took the lives of almost 1 million Rwandans. Within only 100 days members of the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias, the so-called Interahamwe. Even today Rwanda remains a society in recovery from serious collective trauma. During the war social structures were destroyed and high numbers of orphans and widows were left behind. Rwanda also has a high rate of illiterates as teachers were killed and schools were destroyed during the war.

The Project
To reach the poorest of the poor Kindernothilfe and its local partner African Evangelistic Enterprise have been implementing the Self-Help Approach in five regions in Rwanda since 2002 - in Kigali, Butare, Rwamagana, Byumba and Gitarama. Meanwhile 748 Self-Help Groups have been founded with a total of 29.458 members, supporting 106.160 children (October 2006). The Self-Help Approach aims to realize social, economical and political empowerment of extreme poor people.

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The project addresses children and youth from child-headed households and widows who care for many orphans. The intention of the project is to bring these people together in self-help groups. Between 15 and 20 people from the same background meet once a week getting the chance to talk, to discuss certain topics or problems, to support each other and collectively safe money. This helps the marginalized people to escape loneliness and social isolation. In the group they experience solidarity and empowerment and develop self-confidence. Given the trauma a lot of Rwandans still face due to war and genocide the groups also help to cope with the past experiences and contribute to the reconciliation and healing. SHG members also support each other in case of illness. They help with the field work or provide credits in case of financial emergency.

Not only the social development is important, but also the economical empowerment of the poor. The money saved in the SHGs is used to give credits to the group members to initiate income generating activities as the members shall be enabled to care for their families without outside support. Every group has its own bank account.

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The third aim of the project is the political empowerment of the people. Therefore the members of the SHGs vote representatives in a higher-level group who take care for the concerns of the whole community e.g. improvement of water supply or vaccination campaigns. These representatives are more likely to be recognized by governmental authorities as they represent large numbers of people.

KNH's partner supports the SHGs during the initial phase of the implementation. Staff members attend the group meetings and facilitate workshops on topics like health care, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, conflict management or organic farming. The support is gradually reduced as the groups shall be able to work independently. The SHGs initiate literacy classes or day care centres for children without external support.

For the Self-Help Approach it is impartial that the projects are initiated by the local people and that local authorities are supportive. The Self-Help Approach supports the community in setting-up and implementing their ideas in order to guarantee sustainable development.

The social and economic lives of the community members improve resulting from being members of the self help groups and the community children benefit from this improvement. Due to meeting regularly and participating in leading SHG meetings and in group decision making, their self esteem and confidence has increased. They also learn how to do viable small business, and they start by using their small group savings. This will bring an increased family income, and as a result, the children's dietary habits and their health will improve. More of the SHG members' children will attend school due to increased family income and increased knowledge on the need for education.


Success story:
Muteteri is a 35 year old lady who has three children.
"I became widowed in 2004, and life became so difficult for me. I joined the SHGs when I was very poor and I got the basic trainings. The trainings challenged me to work so hard, and I decided to look for many odd jobs of digging for people so that I could get some money to save in the group and to feed my children. After a short while, I got a loan from the group and I used it to buy foodstuff and sell it at the market place. I also bought two female pigs which I reared."
With a smile she adds that, "My business slowly grew and I was able to supply the needs of my children, including putting them in school. The pigs multiplied tremendously and recently I sold them at a good price. I have been staying in a very small house and I decided to buy building materials with the money that I got. The SHG members gave me free labour and I managed to get a bigger and decent house. My children and I now live in a conducive and spacious place. I'm really so thankful to the people that brought the SHGs to our area."

If we receive more donations than we need to realize the project described above, we will invest your donation to support a similar project.
Annual Report Annual Report 2009 (pdf, 2,5 MB)


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