I came here to assist the Tubahumurize Association, a relatively young NGO based in the neighbourhood of Kabeza, Kigali. The Association’s mission is to support and empower women victims of violence living in Rwanda.

Tubahumurize serves socially and economically marginalized women living in this country, regardless of their age, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. The beneficiaries are: genocide survivors; victims of gender-based violence and oppression; women living with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses; single mothers, grandmothers and orphan girls heading up households; and widows. Sadly, many of the organization’s beneficiaries fall into more than one of these categories. The organization also indirectly serves children, including orphans (from the genocide or AIDS) and other dependents that may be incapacitated due to illness or age.

My initial goals

The goal of my internship was to use my work experience in the areas of fundraising, project design and evaluation, and communications to help the Association to maximize the use of its current resources, and at the same time, to build its overall capacity by developing project ideas and links with potential partners and funders. With work experience primarily in community-based conservation,  I hoped to learn more about the field of social work and its relationship with development.

In addition, I was very curious about Rwandan culture. My partner is originally from here, and it was important to me to spend some time living here to better understand his past and his culture.

My first goal upon arriving here was simple: to begin to understand the conditions and problems that the beneficiaries of this organization face. How could I possibly hope to help this Association if I did not first take the time to get to know the women that it serves- women whose lives are so vastly different from mine? I needed to get a sense of who they are as people, of what their lives are like, and of what their hopes for the future are.

I have had the opportunities to do this in a number of ways. First, I immediately invited beneficiaries to sign up for English and Yoga classes at the Centre. The classes were so well received that we soon expanded to our current schedule of four English classes and two yoga classes each week!

English classes

The English classes are of real interest to the women because of the Rwandan government’s policy of introducing English as an official language. Rwanda’s recent integration into the primarily Anglophone East African Community means that more Rwandans will be doing business in English. I have some previous experience as an ESL teacher, and really love it. The classes are relaxed and fun, and usually involve lots of laughter.

I have also learned a lot about the beneficiaries of Tubahumurize through these English classes. One particularly memorable lesson was one of the first ones, on counting. To practice the numbers from zero to ten, I asked the students, one at a time, to tell the group how many children they have. Most said “I have (four, five, or six) children.” Several were raising orphans as well, bringing the total number of children in their care to over ten. This stimulated both my deepest admiration at their amazing fortitude, and also an opportunity to expand our counting lesson into the teens. But I was just about heartbroken when one elderly woman said in a quiet voice, “I have zero children.” Her entire family, she later explained, was killed during the genocide, including her husband and her seven children, and even their grandchildren. I cannot even begin to imagine her loss. Sadly, she is one of many members of the Association who share this story, and who are now completely alone.

In this way, English classes have been an enriching opportunity for me to get to know the women of the Association, and have created little windows for me into their lives. I have learned about their favourite colours, their families, and their struggles. I have got a sense of their tremendous curiosity, and their senses of humour, of their individual personalities, and above all, of their shared desire to enrich and improve their lives. And of course, the English classes are fun!

Category: On location, Rwanda // Add Comment »