Empower women through financial access & service

One of the project outcomes for the THRIVE Project (Transform ing Household Resilience in Vulnerable Environments) is to increase household incomes and assets. This has been achieved in so many ways where the income of the participants is diversified through off-farm opportunities. The Youth Ready Project (YRP) is the youth-focused part of the THRIVE project. It ensures that youth have access to similar opportunities and are thriving on the ladder of life. The YRP is aimed at equipping youth who cannot continue their formal education. It gives them the chance to receive training in skills like tailoring, mechanics, welding, hair dressing, construction, catering and chauffeuring. The course work usually takes six months and equips the kids with practical life skills to help them strive towards self-reliance.

Yvette (19) is a YRP beneficiary in southern Rwanda. When she finished her Senior 6 final examination, she had hoped to score high enough to earn a government scholarship and go to college. Unfortunately, her results turned out differently, and she suddenly stopped her schooling. “The day I realized that I did not qualify for a scholarship, my hope for the future was gone. I am one of the seven children, the fourth in line. My parents and siblings had a lot of hope in me, and that hope stopped the day I missed my scholarship,” says Yvette. “I became a huge disappointment to my parents because they had sacrificed all their little savings, so I could stay in school because my elder siblings had all dropped out. I had won several awards from the first lady as the best student in my village, and those awards made my parents believe that nothing would stop me from going to the University,” Yvette adds.

“When I lost the scholarship, I started isolating myself from people...many times, I thought of leaving home and going far away so I could detach myself from that shame, but I had nowhere to go,” says Yvette, breaking into tears.

Fortunately, a miracle came her way through World Vision’s Youth Ready Project. Yvette was picked among children that were no longer in school due to lack of funding. She was given the opportunity to choose her favorite vocation. Yvette decided to pursue tailoring. Once she will graduates, she will become a professional seamstress. “My dreams and hopes for the future revived when I got this opportunity. During this period, I was able to join the savings group. I could go home, ask my neighbors to give me an offer to make school uniforms for their children at a lower cost, and I started getting money to save,” says Yvette.

“From my savings over the last six months, I managed to buy four chickens, and I hope to have 32 chicks by the end of this year. Once they grow, I will sell them and buy my own sewing machine,” says Yvette. “I have a plan of bringing together all my colleagues, so we can work together and create a sewing cooperative because I believe that if we work together we will get far. I now believe in myself and my family is now happy that I am contributing to their wellbeing,” Yvette shared. “World Vision has brought back my hopes and dreams for the future and I am so happy and forever grateful,” says Yvette in her last comment.