Case studies (6)

The work of CARE Rwanda, in partnership with community organisations is impacting real women, real lives, families and communities. Women are stepping forward, becoming successful businesspeople, supporting themselves and their families, having greater equality in their relationships, speaking up and being heard, choosing and articulating their rights. This is gender justice in action: 

Men Engaged: Rebuilding Relationships

Jeannette is a member of a VSL group from which she takes loans to invest in income generating projects. 

Her and her husband, Joseph, didn't have any land of their own, so they decided to build a house on the land of Jeannette's parents. At first, they were comfortable in their own home. But their relationship deteriorated when neighbors began telling Joseph that Jeannette was cheating on him. Because of this, Joseph and Jeannette began arguing all the time and their relationship was no longer based on caring love.

A Role Model for Vulnerable Women

Marie Rose is from Matyazo Village in Huye District. She has been part of CARE's Vulnerable Women Program since 2008. As a member of a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), she was trained through a CARE project to make cookstoves. 

 

Women's Voices in Business

Rwanda is recognized as a world leader in promoting gender equality and offers an encouraging example of how post-conflict countries can seize the reform momentum after conflict ends to support women’s empowerment. Radical reforms in the aftermath of the genocide have set the platform for transforming women’s role in society.

The Most Significant Changes in CARE's VSL Project

NIYIMPAYE Epiphany is a single mother, 27 years old living in Byimana sector, Ruhango District.  She lives with her mother- disabled- her son and two young brothers. She was born in one of the poorest families in the locality. At 16 years old, she got pregnant by a man who promised her a job in Muhanga town as a servant in his bar. 

 

Zanzibar: Growth and Sustainability Through Financial Inclusion

VSLA Overview:

Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), modelled on CARE’s project in Niger (commonly referred to as the Mata Masu Dubara or MMD model) have attracted much interest because of their promise to attain outreach to very poor and rural people better than formal, centralized, microfinance institutions. While the model is being widely replicated, few detailed studies of its performance have yet been undertaken.

MUKABAHIZI Domitilla: The Bread Winner of Her Family

As reported in a previous economic growth report in August 2011, MUKABAHIZI Domitilla is a member of the Abizeranye VSLG in Nyanza district, Ntyazo sector, Bugari cell, Rugarama village. She is married with 5 children.