Redeemed Hope

25-year-old Drocella, did not do well in her final exams for her senior six, she consequently could not go to university nor get an employment though she had graduated. ‘’It has become very hard to get a job when you complete only secondary school here’’ Drocella explains. She did not even tempt to look for a job using her Diploma of her education level, she continues. Hard conditions, she studied in, are the main causes of her poor performance in school, she says.

‘’I relied on myself for schooling. School fees, uniform and even for food’’ she says.

Drocella says to come from a poor family that couldn’t provide to her needs during her schooling. At times, she would decide to go to sell labor so as to respond to her urgent needs. She missed in, many classes; she regretfully recounts. When she finished her secondary school, she went back home to wait for heavens to take her out of the extreme poverty she was in. She had an idea, she decided to mobilise other unemployed youths of her locality, those who went to school and those who did not.

They started an association of shoe makers. When we started we were not sure of what to do, we had limited knowledge on how to make the shoes, but we continued encouraging one another; Drocella says. They did not even have a fixed address, where people could find them. They met in households and products made were not of good quality. In front of increasing unemployment in Rwanda, the Government called upon partners to come in and support. Government aims at creating 200,000 jobs by 2020. World Vision responded to the appeal by supporting existing cooperatives on job creation, basing on what they are already doing. Drocella’s cooperative was part of the beneficiaries; they were trained on improved shoe making and supported with an infrastructure facility where they work from.

‘’With World Vision’s support, we have started to be competitive; our shoes are nicer than the ones we made before’’ Drocella says showing a pair of shoes they make in her cooperative. Outside cooperative activities, the money she is getting from the work of her cooperative, she was able to buy a piglet of her own.

‘’I hope to go back to school once my business flourishes’’ Drocella says joyfully.

In the only area of Nyamagabe District, where Drcella comes from, World Vision Rwanda has supported more than 20 cooperatives, especially for both educated and non-educated youths, to strengthen their entrepreneurship skills, depending on their needs.