Achieving social transformation for the most vulnerable people does not necessarily oblige spending millions of dollars to implement
supporting projects. It instead requires to put in place a well-planned approach that allows the target beneficiaries to have a voice in
determining a positive change they want for themselves, as well as giving them an opportunity to make own-inspired decisions and to work towards
that change. Such is evidenced by
Blessed to Bless’ Young
Unmarried Mothers Empowerment (YUME) project, implemented in Burera District, Rwanda in 2022,
with an association of 30 young single mothers, whose lives were at stake, due to their lack of psycho-social and economic support to care for
both themselves and their children.
Teenage and adolescent pregnancies have been on the rise in Rwanda, with data indicating an increase from 5.7% to 21% between 2007 and 2015 among young girls aged 19 countrywide.
Teenage pregnancy often causes teenagers to drop-out of schools, affecting their job opportunities, as well as long-term financial security. This forces the young unmarried mothers to live in poverty, and unable to find work, they face different forms of exclusion from families and communities; and may be tempted into sex exploitation to gain some income to cater for their children.
In 2022, with the funds of
Taraja Resource Network, Inc.,, through its Business Modeling Facilitation Approach (BMFA), Blessed to Bless conducted capacity building sessions ranging from gender empowerment, leadership, goal setting, entrepreneurship and business planning with its partnered association: “Ishemaryacu”, which translates, “Our Pride”. The association comprises 30 young and adolescent single mothers who were at a difficult position with regard to finance; which made it hard for their children care, including preschool educational arrangement. The weak financial position also affected their mental and physical well-being, social relationships, employment, community security and other aspects, all of which led to their premature leave out of school.
Members of Ishemaryacu association were mobilized and trained in principles of personal empowerment and business facilitation.
Taraja Resource Network, provided a small grant of 5,500 USD to support the implementation of the association’s planned
“Bull Rearing Business”,
as well as to boost its
"Saving and Loan Fund" that provides low interest loans for members to initiate individual income generating projects. By 2022,
all members of the association had obtained loans which were used to initiate 30 individual businesses. Moreover, the association initially bought 15 young bulls as part of the bull rearing busness
After 6 months the bulls were sold and with the profit from the first sale, the association increased the number of bulls to 25 bulls. The plan is to initiate a Crop Selling (beans, corn, sorghum)
as the second business with the profit from the next sale.
Interestingly, the Gender Empowerment and Leadership Training sessions led to 7 members of the association return back to school after regaining their confidence.
Two of the school returnees have passed the national examination test and have qualified for a university scholarship. The trainings also enabled 3 members of the
association to stand for votes during 2022 local representative elections, with one member elected in a village leadership committee and 2 others elected in a youth committee at Sector level.
Ishemaryacu association is currently under the process of being registered as a legally recognized cooperative to strengthen its credible status as an institution and to have access to more funding
opportunities.
The success story of Ishemaryacu association serves as a strong indication that
Blessed to Bless’ BMFA approach can make a big difference in the lives of many unemployed individuals and
the youth in Rwanda. We appreciate and encourage everyone who is passionate about making a difference in the life of a person to support us in the best possible way they can to contribute
to our cause of breaking the cycle of poverty, one family at a time.
