Joseph, a ray of hope in his community

By Charity Beza Uwase , Communications Officer

49- year- old Joseph has proved that one can move from vulnerability to  self reliance and become an agent of change in the community. The father of six  lives in the Western province of Rwanda in Rusizi district.

Joseph was a cyclist for a number of years from which he started selling sweet potatoes but still riding his bicycle. He later got an accident and was admitted in hospital for about 5 months. He spent time in hospital and he was left with a disability. Joseph says that he was not able to feed his family as a result of spending a lot of money on his treatment. Everything in his life had come to a standstill.

“I got selected for the Empowered World View training because the community knew my vulnerability. The training that aimed at mindset, heart and pocket change truly changed my whole perspective of live,” says Joseph.

He was sensitized on possible activities which would help him earn an income for his family. He joined a savings group and started saving some little money. Today he saves in over five savings groups.

Joseph says that he given a cash transfer of $30 through World Vision’s Ultra Poor Graduation Model, he then got a loan in his savings group and bought a male pig. Since he was the only one with a male pig, neighbors bring their female pigs for procreation and pay some money.

“Today I have three male pigs from which I get over $90 per month. I was able to connect my home to clean water. My children no longer have to collect water from the neighborhood. They access water at any time of the day for household use. The time children used to walk in search for water is now used to revise their books and this has improved their grades in school,” he says.

From his pig project, Joseph says that he was also able to rent a piece of land where he grows crops for family consumption. Although he is in the first category, today he sure that when the Ubudehe (Wealth ranking program in Rwanda) is revised, he will graduate to the second category. He has now become an agent of change in his community. He sensitizes people on the importance of savings groups to help them pay medical insurance for their families.

“I thank World Vision for the training and support they gave me. I am who I am today because of the Empowered World View training,” concludes Joseph.