This family is new to our sponsorship program this year and we are so glad! Kabaganwa Eugenie is the mama with two daughters: Muhoza Nelly and Mudahogora Henriette. Eugenie’s family is Rwandan but they moved to Burundi (near borders with Rwanda and Tanzania) when there was unrest in Rwanda in the late 1950s. They returned to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis and Eugenie has been renting a house in this local village for the past 20 years. Thankfully, she has a good relationship with her landlord and he gives reasonable increases in rent, though it is still a struggle for her to have enough income for these expenses.
Eugenie is very enterprising and works hard to find work in different areas. Sometimes, she can help with masonry work by carrying materials at a construction site. Other times, she takes some of her income from that work and goes to another nearby town to buy tomatoes to resell at the market. She has also recently been starting to do some buying/selling of rice. She has some familiarity with purchasing rice from Tanzania (neighbor to Rwanda) since she grew up near there. She has been working to find customers near where she lives now that would want large quantities (25kg or more) of rice. We are hoping that this business will continue to grow for her!
When asked what her dream was, she answered “to be a very good businesswoman”. She would also like to be able to own a house to have more security for her family instead of continuing to rent their home. She is very thankful for this first time of having health insurance for the whole family. We are grateful that we can come alongside this mama and her daughters, helping with school fees and other benefits that can encourage them towards fulfilling their dreams!
Thank you for joining us in making dreams in Rwanda come true!
Hannah Ingram
Program Director