Its mid-morning and Esther Aminatha is busy preparing several local dishes, including dodo and beans, cassava and sweet potatoes and local spices used in making traditional dishes thrown into her steaming cuisine.
Soon, visitors, many of them tourists, will visit her workplace in Nyamirambo to order for the food which they normally eat with relish. At the end of the day, she will have something to take home and feed her family.
But nine years ago, the story was different. Aminatha had two children, the last born barely two years old. She had no husband and no job to take proper care of her young family. She used to scavenge the neighbourhood, looking for any sellable object to sell in order to put food on the table. Life was just a daily struggle for survival.
Birth of Nyamirambo Women’s Center
Her change in fortune, however, began in 2007 when she and a group of fellow women, all of them going through similar experiences, put their heads together and decided they must a put to a stop their suffering. That meeting led to the birth of Nyamirambo Women Center (NWC).
What’s more, Aminatha, who didn’t even step into a classroom, grew up thinking that women don’t work. But when she started working, she felt empowered – realising that she does not have to stay at home and that she can pay school fees for her children. She eventually started learning English and continues to learn today.
Nyamirambo Women’s Center, which was launched at the end of 2007 by 18 Rwandan women living in Nyamirambo on the outskirts of the capital Kigali, aims to address gender-based violence, gender inequality, and discrimination. Today, NWC’s mission is to provide education and vocational training to women who do not have the means to pay for such training on their own, so that they can gain better opportunities for employment.
“We were friends from the same neighbourhood, mostly domestic workers selling fruits and vegetables. Two used to work in the supermarket while the rest of us had no stable source of income,” said Marie Aimee Umugeni, currently the president of Nyamirambo Women’s Centre.
Uncertain start
In the early days of the organisation, Umugeni remembers, no one gave them a chance that their infant project would survive. But now, this infant has exponentially developed and given birth to other projects they undertake to sustain themselves.
The teething problem they faced at the time was lack of space to accommodate all the women, in addition to insufficient capital to launch a large-scale production of their works. Most of them also lacked the requisite skills.
Devine intervention
But luck came in the form of two women tourists Jasminka and Vlasta who, having seen and been touched by these women’s industriousness despite the challenges, facilitated renting of special a classroom opposite their spartan workshop, where they were taught reading and writing skills in addition to tailoring skills.
The combination is a perfect way of improving communication with the customers, especially those unfamiliar with the local language.
“Every Saturday during Umuganda, we make announcements inviting house maids to come for lessons too. We provide them with an option of studying in the evening after finishing most of their domestic work. Most of them have been able to start their own businesses within a short period of time,” says Umugeni.
In order to enhance the tailoring, computer lessons were introduced in 2009 but that was not enough because understanding the English language was necessary before using the computers.
“English classes up to now are conducted and there is no age limit for application, whoever wants to join is welcome,” said Umugeni.
Volunteers and partners
There are several volunteers and partner organisations that have continued to offer training opportunities to a growing number of women who now belong to the wider Nyamirambo Women Center community, not just the original founder members.
Three years ago, these industrious women formed a cooperative called Umutima, which means “heart” in Kinyarwanda, through which now, every member has access to a development loan accrued though their monthly savings.
Different members, different stories
Jeanne Nyirakizimana, 31, was already a tailor but had failed to get more training on various designs. After joining the association, she was taken through a series of steps and learnt English which helped her, especially in dealing with clients who don’t speak Kinyarwanda.
“The money for school fees and health insurance comes from here, but I also have bigger investments such as farming,” she adds.
Hadijah Umutoniwase, 20, says she had to drop out of school in primary five and had no skills for any job or business, but is now proud since she developed valuable skills after joining Nyamirambo Women Center.
“I can now use all the machines for tailoring and I am positive that one day I will start my own business in designs and fashion,” Umutoniwase explains.
