In a sea of people who came that day to pick up the tools of their new trade, a little three-year old boy stood out. While all the adults would easily and joyfully pick up the heany boxes with new sewing machines and other tools , Nkusi struggled to pick up a smallish blue metal box with large red writing across it: RIVER. It took all of his strength to get that box off the ground, and carry it over - to his mother.
She was sitting nearby, calm, and with a determined and steadfast look in her eyes. She gently embraced Nkusi and took the blue box her son had just brought her. To Mignonne and Nkusi, this box means a safer, more prosperous future.
Mignonne is only 18. She had Nkusi at the age of 15, and she’s been HIV positive for a few years already. “I lived with my mom, and to make some money I’d wash people’s clothes. That was it. No school for me.” she starts. “When I heard of this project, Ubaka Ejo, I thought they might give me an education, so I went.”
Ubaka Ejo provided Mignonne with much more than just an education. Thanks to this project, funded by USAID through PEPFAR, and implemented by a local Rwandan organization AEE, Mignonne was able to get on much needed medication for suppressing HIV, receive education about living with HIV, chose a trade to learn, get training and an internship.
“I chose to be a car mechanic. Not many girls choose this, so I think I have a chance at more work. Today I received my new tools, and Monday I’m starting an internship at Tamaka Garage here in Kigali. I’ll walk to work, and my mom will take care of Nkusi,” Mignonne speaks confidently about her new vocation. “It will not be enough to just be in that garage. I will have to push myself, take on jobs, talk to customers so they trust me. That is the way to make money for me and my son.”
5,141 adolescent girls and young women graduated from this program in 2022, and live dignified lives, trained and employed. Girls like Mignonne are now working as driving instructors, car mechanics, building painters, shoe-makers and welders all across Rwanda thanks to the large DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) program, under which Ubaka Ejo operates.
To find out more about USAID health-specific programming in Rwanda, please click here.
Click here to read more about the DREAMS partnership.
Ivana Lawrence, USAID/Rwanda