Generose N., 43, is currently a widowed mother of 4 children. She lives with and takes care of her children alone. She witnessed all the episodes of the civil war and was obliged to drop out of school due to poverty in her family Teenager. At 15 years old, she got married, as the sole option for her to care for her siblings. “Every day was a struggle for us to survive.”, she confides.
“My marriage didn’t last because I also lost my husband who got killed in the war several weeks after I gave birth to my 4th child”, she says with some tears. As if that was not enough, Generose’s husband’s family rejected her and prevented her from digging in the family plots of land and other properties of her late husband. She has had to struggle and find a way to raise all her children by herself. Hopeless, jobless, and with no strength, Generose got lucky enough to meet the TCA team which later motivated her to engage in community development projects.
‘‘I was desperate and scared, unable to feed or provide clothes for my children. However, integrating into the VSLA Program was very helpful in shaping me. It brought me an undreamed family of women living in the same challenging conditions as mine and encouraged me to undertake a small business. As I wanted to become a teacher, I listened to sessions of the NYIGISHA (Teach-me) literacy program and therefore became the instructor of other women. Today, my children are performing well in their studies, and I have been able to initiate 5 VSLAs in rural areas after sharing with them my testimony and what TCA stands for. Today, I cannot believe how my life was transformed.’’
Besides VSLA and NYIGISHA programs, Generose volunteers also with the Feeding Program with other 20 women. She helps by giving porridge to pupils suffering from malnutrition before they can attend school. She has been actively participating in the extension of the VSLA Program to reach other vulnerable women and change their lives.