And in the end on dreams we will depend
on Rose Hardman (Rwanda), 29/Sep/2010 19:21, 34 days ago
I obviously spoke too soon as today did not simply involve waking up, going to work and then coming home. Well, actually that is exactly what it involved. But work today was not like my normal office routine. Today I had the great privilege to meet some of YWCA’s members. An American friend of the President of YWCA was visiting, and she potentially might be able to help us when she returns to America, so everyone thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce myself and the friend (we’ll call P) to the work of YWCA.So the President brought P over from Kigali and whilst P and I got to know each other over cake and bananas everyone else had to sit in a meeting (I think we got the better deal!) Once the meeting had finished, the President, two of my colleagues, P and I headed out to Shogwe to meet one of the women empowerment groups, working with women with HIV or AIDS. First we were taken to see the mill that the working group owns. As always we were immediately surrounded by a huge group of children- which continued to grow as it was the end of the school morning. I showed one of them how to use my camera so I now have some very interesting photos of feet and ground- I obviously wasn’t a very good teacher!The millThe school childrenFollowing this, we were taken to meet the women in their community. They spoke to us (with my colleague translating) about the group. It began with some women in the community discussing common problems like poverty and malnutrition and it has grown into a YWCA working group of over 20 women who now have an agricultural business! It was extremely inspiring and a real pleasure to see all the great work the women have done. They told us that mushrooms are the current favourite commodity- apparently you can earn a lot from them as they are deemed to be very nutritious. Who would have thought that fungus could be so popular!Following the visit to the women’s empowerment group we went to visit an Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) group. YWCA works with groups of vulnerable children and orphans who have no support to help them find a suitable parent figure and to teach them skills so they can develop a sustainable livelihood. The groups of children choose one person within their community to be their mentor. If that person accepts they become a mentor for quite a large group of children (about 20) on a voluntary basis so it is a very selfless thing to do. We met one of the mentors and two of the children today and they were truly inspirational. Apparently the mentor was an obvious choice for the children as she had already been supporting them before the children formed a YWCA group.The children work on two projects. One is the group project which brings in an income to help the group to operate. So this group grows pineapples, tomatoes, peppers and carrots to sell. In addition, each child works on their own sustainable livelihoods project with support from YWCA and the mentor. Each child is encouraged to create a dream picture. On it they document an immediate dream, a long term dream and their principles. It was really encouraging to hear that most of the children have met their dreams already. When this happens they are encouraged to draw a new dream picture with new aspirations. JB, one of the orphans, had drawn a picture of a vegetable garden as his immediate dream, and a picture of a cow for his long term goal. He proudly showed us his patch of land planted full of vegetables, and then introduced us to his very loud cow. He will need to draw a new dream picture very soon! He is an extremely intelligent young man who now, thanks to his perseverance and help from YWCA and his mentor, has his own business and a sustainable livelihood.Dream PictureWe then met F. When F was 15 her parents died leaving her to look after her siblings. Her brother had children and then he passed away so she was left looking after 4 young children at a very early age. I imagine most people would fall apart in that situation but not F. With support from the same mentor and YWCA she now has a cow, a pig and chickens- again, all things depicted in her dream drawing.It was a real honour to be welcomed into the homes and lives of these women and children and to hear their stories and successes. Whilst I knew that the work that YWCA carried out was worthwhile today proved to me just how essential it actually is. The people we met today have aspirations, they have options, they have a support network, they have a voice. The people we met today have a future.It feels odd to summarise this day in a few paragraphs as there is no way I can do it justice. I am aware of overusing the word‘inspiration’ but each and every woman and child I met today really was an inspiration. These women and children have faced multiple challenges and yet they were positive, welcoming and full of hope, aspirations, and the drive to fulfil their dreams. We could learn so much from them.P.S. I was going to leave it there as a‘powerful’ end to the post but I just wanted to add that I did learn so much from them today! Among other things I learnt that pineapples grow in a bush and banana trees are adorned with a very interesting looking flower!Banana tree complete with interesting appendagePineapple bush