The legacy of the Rwanda genocide was devastating for women. Tens of thousands of women were subject to some of the worst inhumanities known to man, including brutally rapes, torture, lost homes, husbands, children, and means of support, and the relegation to refugee status throughout the region. The emotional and psychological toll on women was equally severe, including a loss of dignity, self-esteem, hope, and belief in a future.

Karen observing the construction site for new WfWI facilities.

Today, it is still hard to reconcile the competing images of Rwanda. Over 17 relatively short years, a country once consumed by mass destruction and despair has transformed itself into a beacon of order and stability, a model for many other countries in the long, painful, and often incomplete transition from war and conflict to peace and prosperity.

Rwanda is governed by the firm hand by President Kagame. It is an ambitious state governed by the rule of law as well as strict rules of engagement for its citizens. The military still patrol the streets from 3:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly to ensure the full security of people and assets. Government agencies, local officials, and even the private sector work according to a “master plan” that’s designed to move Rwanda along a defined path to a better future.

The government has placed the advancement of women across all strata of society at the forefront of the country’s political, social and economic development strategy. This is unique not just across Africa but across the globe. Fifty-six percent of parliamentarians are women and several key ministerial posts are held by women, as well as a large number of mayors, governors, and other elected and appointed officials.

Karen with a member of the construction team.

More striking however, is the commitment of government to address the needs of the most poor and socially excluded women, the traditionally voiceless members of society. Women for Women International has also been working these women since 1997, and has served more than 41,000 women survivors of war through a core program that promotes lasting social and economic change for women, families and communities across Rwanda.

The organization’s mission of moving survivors from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency has been aided by some specific governmental initiatives that are having a direct impact on women’s lives:

• Savings and credit organizations (SACCOs) that operate in each village. As a result, 99 percent of women who participate in Women for Women’s twelve month program have bank accounts and opportunities to save and borrow small amounts of credit needed to launch an income generation activity;
• Health insurance for all women for the equivalent of approximately $5 a year;
• Specific laws designed and enforced to eradicate sexual and gender based violence and ensure that all property is jointly held between husbands and wives;
• Women’s investment program through the Bank of Kigali targeting poor and underserved women. The Bank has committed to make concessionary loans available to women who are self-employed or working as part of cooperatives or group businesses.

The government’s Gender Monitoring Office ensures that women’s rights are protected and that there are repercussions when they are not. Women are taking advantage of these and other initiatives to change their lives and by extension the lives of their families and communities.

Take Ange, a recent graduate of Women for Women’s program who lost both her parents in the genocide. Once enrolled in the program, Ange opened a bank account and used her savings to rehabilitate her family’s house which has three small rooms and another five to rent. She is now earning 50,000 Rwandan francs per month in rental income and between 40,000-70,000 Rwandan francs monthly making handbags and jewelry for Kate Spade with local partner Gahaya Links.

Or Cecilia, who never had anything and spent her days crying in misery. Her husband would actually count the pieces of meat she ate to make sure she didn’t eat more than her worth. Her husband beat her when she enrolled in Women for Women’s program but she still found the courage to do so. As she gained confidence and began to understand her rights, she learned that she did not have to keep quiet about the beatings and reported her husband to local leaders, who quickly took action. Today, Cecilia moves about freely and is able to sell her products in the marketplace without fear and her husband actually listens to her when she talks now.

These are just two of hundreds of examples of women who have learned about their rights and are taking full advantage of government programs to drive more systemic change in Rwandan society. As women gain in confidence, ability and are able to earn and sustain an income, they will not only be beneficiaries of such programs but will be the ones leading Rwanda’s on-going social and economic development.

Day 4 – Thursday 24th

Our final day, and it feels like we have been here so much longer – everyone has been so accommodating and welcoming and the group are tired but also so happy to have met the women they sponsor. Our last trip before dashing to the airport is to visit a vocational skills class which is a mixed group of women from many different communities Albanian, Ashkali and Egyptian. I meet Igballe Behluli who recites a poem she has written about her schooling and leaves us with these words;

‘The End of Primary School’

At the end of primary school I received a message,

They are stopping me from going to school.

I was very sad, I started to cry.

The books and school bench was awash with my tears.

Walking down the road I tore up my notebooks in frustration.

I didn’t deserve this.

But truthfully, my father did not do this on purpose.

It was the war and there was poison in every school.

Now I am happy, my dream is fulfilled.

My children go free to school.

]]> http://wfwnotesfromthefield.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/notes-from-kosovo-day-4/feed/ 0 wfwnotesfromthefield http://wfwnotesfromthefield.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/notes-from-kosovo-day-3/ http://wfwnotesfromthefield.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/notes-from-kosovo-day-3/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:00:52 +0000 wfwnotesfromthefield http://wfwnotesfromthefield.wordpress.com/?p=533 Continue reading →]]> Women for Women UK Major Gifts Officer Nora Russell traveled to Kosovo in June. She has written about her experiences and the women she met. This part 3 of 4 in her series. Check back later for the last update. 

Day 3- Women’s Opportunity Center Opening

A gloriously sunny day started with the official opening ceremony, where the newly appointed Country Director of our Kosovo Office, Iliriana Gashi,  was joined by Carol Jackson from the Private Equity Foundation as well as Molly Cronin from Sharon Davis Design Studios.

The official ceremony featured speeches from Iliriana Gashi, Carol Jackson, Molly Cronin and Ramize Rexhepi, a graduate of Women for Women’s year long programme in Kosovo.

Carol said “I have been inspired by your resilience and determination. Our CEO Shaks Ghosh can’t be with us today but she sends her congratulations. The Private Equity Foundation was delighted to fund this centre and it will be a leading light for women in Kosovo. I know from my visit that this centre is an excellent hands. I have learnt so much about the amazing work of Women for Women International.”

Molly Cronin added that, “this is not just a building – it will be a safe space for women to meet and share and continue their learning.”

Iliriana thanked the trainers of the Women for Women programme: “Thanks to our trainers who go 4 or 5 times a week to remote villages, in snow or sunshine to deliver our programmes and support women with literacy and vocational skills.” After hearing Besa’s story earlier this week, I truly believe this too.

Next to speak is a graduate of our programme, Ramize Rexhepi , who chose to specialise in horticulture and food processing and has now set up her own women’s cooperative producing pickles, Burek and Ajar.

Ramize said,”In the beginning I was only interested in learning about gardening, but through the Women for Women course I decided to take some of my produce to market and on the first try I made 46 euros. It was so good to be able to buy things for my family and now I led a cooperative of women making food for sale at market. I can only say – Women, participate in as many fairs as you can!”

The ceremony was closed with a beautiful rendition of ‘Songbird’ by singer and UK supporter of Women for Women International  Laura Comfort.

After the ceremony I had the chance to catch up with Ramize and hear her story of moving from survivor of the war to active leader of a 17 woman strong cooperative.

Ramize cultivates everything she needs: cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes.  ”I took part in all the trainings available, particularly the food processing course and a course on making 13 different types of cheese. The most difficult parts of the training was the literacy classes as during the war she had missed a lot of schooling.”

Now she is in a group of 17 women and they are trying to get funds to increase the ability for them to unify their production, so that the goods can be marketed easily and they can increase production.  When she first started taking produce to market her family were bemused, they asked “What is the fair for? They felt it was a shameful activity for a woman to sell goods at market and were worried people would laugh at me.”

Ramize laughs, “Now we have no problem and it is seen as normal, in fact now my family are always asking – when are you going to the next fair?”  Her father is so impressed that he has given the cooperative  5 km square to support the development of their business, which they hope to build a processing factory for pickling and preserving . She says her most profitable product is the jars of Ajar, a red pepper paste and Pinxhur and similar product that is made from tomatoes.

The guests then shared a lunch of traditional Kosovar food, catered by graduates of the Women for Women programme and were able to browse a women’s product fair, featuring handicrafts, food and honey.

Supporters then also had the opportunity to tour the new WOC facilities and visit different training activities and classes in a open house, including an opportunity to view our Life Skills classes, Vocational Classes and letter writing.

After the Opening ceremony we took a bus trip to the old city of Prizen, walking to the top of the City Fort, once built by the Ottomans. Our guide tells us how she and her family were unable to leave the city during the war (unlike many of the city residents) and that as an 8 year old child she watched how the city burned and the fear this struck in her.

Ramize Rexhepi, WfWI-Kosovo graduate, addressing the attendees at the inauguration of the first Women's Opportunity Center in Kosovo.

Day 2 – Wednesday June 22^nd 2011

Life Skills Training in Henc

Henc is a small village, with a few shops and a primary school – which is where we meet. This year is the first year Women for Women has worked with women in the village and in fact it is the first year any NGO has come to offer support. We met a class of women who have recently enrolled on the programme and are here for their second week of training. They are so positive, so excited for the opportunity to learn, and they want to know all about our lives. What do we do in the UK, what can we achieve. Julie shares her day to day life with then and it seems pretty normal to us all but to these women, who before this programme very rarely left the house, for them it is almost unimaginable. Their stories are heartbreaking and many of us cry. When they find out that one of our group has recently met the sister she sponsors you can see the excitement in their faces, stretching their heads to see this lucky woman. Besa tells us that it is often not the money they care for but the letters that is held so dear. Besa leads the class in some of the key words that they will hear repeatedly during the course of the year, safe (this is a safe place, to share all you want to, it is confidential it is a place of friendship), sister (your sister is the woman who sponsors you, who you may not ever meet, but who is always supporting you and cheering for your success on the other side of the world), participation (here Besa wags her finger – ‘you must participate! Participation is not just about turning up to class and signing you name! It is taking part in the discussion, sharing and listening and learning together), listening (particularly active listening) What wonderful words to remember  and guide us in life let alone a one-year class. I wonder what they will feel like and think of the programme one year on?

One of the women comes up to me and says ‘Thank you for bringing me here, this is the first time I have had the chance to come and visit the school where my children go, it is only 500 metres away but I never go out, the children always go on their own.’

By the time the class is over the local kids have heard who has taken over their school for the day and are waiting for us outside for pictures and shy smiles.

In the afternoon we head to a village near Mitrovica, a town which is still divided between Serbs and Albanians and where some of the most brutal atrocities of the war took place. Mitrovica is the town where everyone was a refugee, and men were taken out of their homes and shot in front of their families regardless of age.

Here we are greeted by the most amazing spread of delicious food and drink and are hosted by an all women’s Bee Keeping Cooperative. The Cooperative has grown from some initial funding from the Herman Miller Foundation and with support from our Income Gerneration Coordinator, Faruk Beqa.  The Cooperative is made up of 40 women from Runik and 35 in Prekaz and together they have survived through their first winter with their beehives only making a few loses.

Initially, the cooperative lacked everything they needed to start a successful business, from protective clothing to a computer. By pooling their resources and money saved from their sponsorship contributions they have been able to set up an office with computer and printer and to hire equipment that they all share such as the centrifuge for separating the clear honey out from the bees wax and the lower quality honey.

We meet the group a group of exited supporters and including representatives from the Private Equity Foundation and Neal’s Yard Remedies, at the departure lounge in Gatwick, London. The short (3 hour) flight to Kosovo is filled with expectation and the knowledge that as soon as we land it will be all systems go! As we fly over Kosovo, you can see the strips of land, divided into thin sections. I am shocked to learn that in this country of such fertile land, 80% of the food is imported and in the past year food prices have risen 50%. For the average family on an income of 250 Euros per month this has had significant effect upon their ability to afford the ‘luxuries’ of school books and a nutritionally balanced diet. More and more families rely upon remittances form relations working abroad.

I meet Faruk Beqa, WfWI Kosovo Income Generation Coordinator and Vehbi Kllokoqi, the Income Generation Manager and they take myself, Lauri Pastrone and Simon Wheeler, our photographer to visit the local Green Market. The Income Generation staff teach women to grow vegetables for their own family nutrition and then to expand and sell some of their produce in markets like this one. Vegetables fetch 10 times more than standard crops of wheat and corn which are more staple and popular with farmers.  Main crops include vegetables, strawberries and cherries in June. They also teach our participants how to grow onions, potatoes, carrots and cucumber and peppers, a favourite for pickling in preparation for the harsh winters. Cabbage is also popular as it is the main ingredient of a local cabbage & salt water drink prepared especially for the winter months.

The day ends with a beautiful and traditional meal of many courses on the hills overlooking Prishtina and as the sun sets Besa, one of my Kosovo colleagues takes courage in telling me her own story of experiencing the war, which officially started in 1997, but which was the result of many years of segregation of the two communities – Serbian and Albanian Kosovars.

Besa was 16 years old when the war began, she was living with her parents, her nine year old brother and her grandmother. When Serbians entered their home they were given 3 minutes to pack and leave. Her parents were taken to a village and Besa, at 16, took on the responsibility of getting her grandmother and brother across the border into Macedonia. They took a bus. And then the bus broke down and they walked across the border, setting up a makeshift shelter amongst the other 500,000 refugees who had fled Kosovo into Macedonia. They stayed there for 5 days until they were able to take a place on Germany’s quota for refugees. Besa says she chose Germany as it was the closest to Kosovo and easier to get home. She was always thinking of returning home.

Whilst in Germany she heard that there had been a massacre in the village where her parents had been taken and not knowing whether her parents were alive or dead she waited by the phone to hear of news of them. The phone lines were cut when Nato bombed the Post Office and all main communication routes. Besa refused to go to school in Germany although she sent her younger brother and she says he was hysterical, crying and having nightmares every day.

Finally she heard the good news that her parents had survived the war and were safe and after 9 months they were able to return to Kosovo and found her parents. Besa now leads our women participants in life skills training classes.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, I thank her and tell her she is brave for telling her story, and she shrugs her shoulders and says; ‘This is everyone’s story. Everyone at this table has a similar story.’

To me this is amazing, she is the same age as me; could quite easily fit into my friendship group in the UK and yet at 16 she wasn’t studying for exams or going gooey over her first boyfriend. Instead she was fleeing for her life, responsible for two vulnerable family members and without her parents to turn to for help.  She sits opposite me with such resilience and composure and now she is working to change the lives of women who have similar stories every day.

We were mesmerized by how similar the gorillas were to humans and how calm and peaceful they appeared. We even learned that when the gorillas pounded their chests, it was not done in aggression but rather in camaraderie. Although we had seen photos of the mountain gorillas, nothing could have prepared us for this experience. The silverback, the dominant male of a gorilla family, was three times the size of the average man. Although his size was surprising, we were more interested in the mother and baby. The mother playfully held her four-month-old baby with tenderness and care, just as you would find in our culture. We laughed at the little baby’s fluffy Mohawk and were sad to leave.

After the trek, we watched a local soccer match and took photos with the children. They were so eager to be photographed and to look at photos of themselves on our camera screens. It was amazing to see how something that seems so normal to us, such as taking a photo, was completely foreign and exciting for there children.  After spending the night in the lodge, we set out for another day of trekking. This time, we did a much easier trek in a more densely forested setting and we were lucky enough to see twelve gorillas all at once. On the ride back, we yet again consumed granola bars, but this time we decided to eat while watching our surroundings. The rumors were right: Rwanda is definitely the Switzerland of Africa.

Our first activity upon arriving in Kigali was to visit the Genocide Memorial. Although it was extremely sad, we were happy to go and finally learn about the genocide. Learning the extent of the horrors that occurred amazed us. After visiting the Genocide Memorial, we can now fully appreciate how willing Africa was to forgive and move forward. Berra, the country director of Women for Women International-Rwanda, stressed the importance of sharing the story. She told us to “go home and tell everyone.” At that moment, we realized our role as the next generation. We learned that knowledge and understanding are the most powerful tools in fighting genocide.

After the memorial, we visited the Women for Women offices and classrooms. We were greeted by dancing and singing women. We were honored by the welcome we received and grateful for their openness and acceptance of us. We went to a Social Networking class and observed an average lesson for the women. The teacher explained to the women that relying on and working with their neighbors is more effective than working alone. It surprised us that this was not second nature for them.  “Ubudehe” means to work together, and this is one of Women for Women International’s most important messages. They acted out skits demonstrating times when having friends was beneficial. At the end, the women were given the opportunity to ask us questions. They asked us to say hello to everyone in America and wondered if we had cooperatives back home. They said they were grateful for us taking the time to visit and learn about their culture, but we felt the opposite was true. They certainly had given us more than we could ever give them. Unfortunately, one baby did not feel the same way. He promptly burst into tears when our crazy pal Liz tried to pick him up.

After the class, we were given an opportunity to buy handmade goods from the women. We also ate lunch with employees and listened to their stories. One thing that really struck us was how every single person we met had an equally touching past. We felt insignificant hearing what they have gone through and comparing it to our lives. Another surprising aspect of the lunch was learning that the women did not know to say “Thank you” when we purchased their homemade crafts. What is second nature to us did not even occur to them. Women for Women teaches their students aspects of our lives that we take for granted such as the following: health, cleanliness, family law, education and management skills.

The next excursion was one of our favorites because we were greeted with such excitement! The whole group went to visit a school and as soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by little girls and boys. They seemed so happy to see us and immediately sang for us. They grabbed our hands and took us to their classrooms where they jumped and laughed with us. Seeing them so excited with our visit made us so happy. The impact we seemed to make on them made us grateful for the opportunity and we realized that although the kids were the ones jumping around in excitement, the excursion was just as exciting and gratifying for us, if not even more so.

When we went to visit a women’s cooperative, we were once again greeted by song and dance. It was very interesting visiting the cooperative because it showed us what the women take away from Women for Women’s training. We saw how each woman received their own plot of land where they harvested different crops. We all went through one plot of land grabbing bean pods, and we saw how fast work goes when we work together. Although each woman maintains their own individually plot, they work together and act as a community which makes the work easier for everyone. They gave our group two pineapples to thank us for visiting them although we felt that we should be thanking them for sharing their lives and stories with us. Pineapples take about a year and a half to grow, so we were especially touched by the generosity.

While at the pineapple farm, we had the opportunity to speak with an extraordinary woman whose story only reaffirmed the importance of Women for Women’s work. The single mother shared the story of how her life changed with Women for Women. Before joining the organization, she was abused by her landlord. When she could not pay exactly when he wanted, he would steal her two children’s food and beat her. She and her children often went to sleep hungry and scared. When she joined Women for Women, however, she learned that she did not need to tolerate this treatment. She also earned enough money to buy her own small house and a calf, feed her family, and send her children to school. We were both shocked and inspired by how much the women’s lives had changed as a result of participating in Women for Women International’s program. We were saddened by their personal struggles and deeply proud of their great accomplishments.

Another excursion that we found particularly interesting was our trip to the Commercial Integrated Farming Initiative (CIFI) farm. Women both raise animals and grow many different crops on the CIFI farm. We were amazed by how the women utilized each and every part of the land, wasting absolutely nothing. The way they organized the animals and the vegetation was incredibly efficient and practical. For example, there was one structure that housed three or four animal groups on top of each other. By placing the rabbits on top, the rabbit debris fertilizes the grass which the goats underneath eat. They even use horse dung to generate power. These inventions and structures utilized everything resource available at the far in order to produce as many products and as much profits as possible.

After visiting the farm, we went to Gahaya Links. Gahaya Links employs many Women for Women graduates. These women create baskets and jewelry that are sold both to visitors and to big companies in America, like Anthropologie and Kate Spade. It was really cool to go behind the behind the scenes and see how products we buy at stores in D.C.  One of the greatest aspects of Gahaya Links was how Joy, the founder, required the women to practice good hygiene and to save their money, reinforcing the skills the learned through Women for Women’s program. She genuinely cares about the women she employs and this is something that cannot always be said about employers in the developing world.

Having visited the businesses of Women for Women graduates, we were lucky enough to be invited to Women for Women graduation ceremony. Although we arrived late, the women were thrilled to see us, and five or six of the women shared stories of gratitude. We were touched by their personal stories, and we felt that we did not deserve their praise. They are the incredible ones, not us. After these speeches, a few women performed a skit. They depicted a woman with two kids and an alcoholic husband. The drunken husband did not understand why the woman joined Women for Women, and so the children explained all of the benefits of the organization. After beating his wife and getting drunk a few more times, he finally realized that the organization benefited the whole family by giving them the tools they needed to obtain a steady income. Women for Women taught the mother to fight the abuse, and eventually convinced the husband that man and wife should have equal power in the relationship.

On our last day in Rwanda, we once again saw how the genocide impacted the country. We visited an orphanage that was open during the genocide. It houses the children of genocide victims and protected them in 1994. We spent the day cleaning up the area with the kids, because every last Saturday of the month, all Rwandan citizens participate in cleaning up the country. This, as well as the plastic bag ban, is a cleanup measure that the country has really benefited from. After cleaning up with the kids, some of the teenagers showed us their rooms. One bed particularly made an impact on us. Rather than having a blanket or even sheets, it only had a Twister mat on top of a mattress. Despite circumstances like this, the kids were extremely joyful and hula-hooped with us. We taught them to play Limbo and played soccer with them.

One problem the orphanage faces, however, is what to do with the kids once they turn eighteen. They do not have the funding to send them to university, nor do they have enough money or facilities to keep them at the orphanage. It was heartbreaking to see the difficulties an organization that is doing so much good faces. We vowed to help as much as we could, but learned that mailing blankets and art supplies was not always helpful as  items are often stolen before reaching the orphanage.

This was perhaps the most difficult part of visiting Rwanda. We saw so many people and places that needed our help, but we did not always know how we could help. Seeing women and children so optimistic and happy with so little made our desire to help even stronger. W learned that one surefire way to assist was just to share our experiences. By telling everyone we know what we saw and how we felt, the opportunities for additional aid for and knowledge of Rwanda increases. Knowledge is the most important tool in both preventing future genocides and doing our part to help the victims of Rwanda’s genocide. Sharing our experiences is the least we can do after the people we met and the stories we heard gave us more than we can possibly express.

I have arrived in Bukavu to facilitate three staff M&E trainings – one at the main office and one at each of the two sub-offices Uvira in South Kivu and Goma in North Kivu. Today we begin with the largest group: 30 men and women who work in community outreach, enrollment, data collection, translation and skills training. Together we discuss the implementation of current data collection tools; methods to improve their effectiveness in the field and mutually problem solve ongoing issues.

Tailoring instructor in Bukavu, DRC.

The perspective of our staff is enlightening and extremely valuable. It is often easy given language and distance for disconnects to arise, my goal is to address as many of these as possible before returning to DC. I am given the opportunity to speak too many of our staff one on one and learn about their lives, their families and their work. Through these exchanges I am reminded of the dedication and capacity of those who work day in and day out in this challenging environment.

The final day in Bukavu consists of a visit to Panzi training center where we collect evaluation information from participants who are graduating from the program. At the training center women are taking classes on tile making, business skills, tailoring and culinary arts.

Data Collection at Panzi Training Center in Bukavu, DRC.

We meet Jeannette Sifa who entered the WfWI training in 2004, she proudly carries her original participant ID card in her purse. Jeannette is now a trainer in tailoring, where participants learn to make measurements and assemble small paper bags. The final products will be marketed to local grocery stores to use in place of plastic.

The training center is completely serene and in stark contrast to the crowded and chaotic streets outside. It is truly a safe and calm space for women to be together and learn. After many days of traveling, working and absorbing the scenes around me – I sit on a bench and peacefully watch a women working in the demonstration garden, who wouldn’t want to spend their day here?

Training group in Bukavu, DRC