How USAID/Igire- wiyubake activity saved a Mother of nine children

UZAMUKUNDA Amina, a Mother of nine children who lives in GAHANGA Cell, GAHANGA sector in KICUKIRO district, was always worried that all her children will drop out of school because she and her husband were not able to provide them with school fees and materials.

Amina and her husband are unemployed, the family lives in a rental house, and providing for all the needs of their children and themselves comes at a high cost.
Amina and her husband were always worried for her five boys and four girls aged between 24 and 6 years old who were at high risk of school drop-out due to poverty and unaffordability of basic needs.

Amina says that “My children were always kicked out of school because we had school payment arrears from the previous school terms and this discouraged my children because we were not able to provide for them even the basic needs such as food and education.".

In 2022, during the enrollment of OVC comprehensive beneficiaries,

Amina’s family was prioritized for enrollment. As part of the comprehensive package provided for OVC comprehensive beneficiaries, Amina’s household was assigned a CMV who conducted a Risk and Vulnerability Assessment to identify the household risks and vulnerabilities to inform the development of their individual care plans based on the identified needs and to provide services tailored to their needs.

As part of the identified needs, Amina’s 5 children out of 9 were prioritized to receive education support and school materials.

With support, Amina testifies that she and her husband were always worried and wondered where the money to support all their children to remain in school would come from. Now that 5 of her children are being supported by USAID/Igire-Wiyubake to receive education support and school materials, this has eased their burden and they’re now hopeful for the future of their children.

In addition to school fees and materials, Amina’s 3 daughters also received 6 packs each of sanitary pads to improve their menstrual hygiene and enable them to remain active in school.

"One of my daughters once told me that she can’t go to school because she was on her period and I didn’t have money to buy her sanitary pads. She didn’t go to school for three days." Amina regretted.

The day we received the education support and pads, we all knelt and prayed and thanked God now that the risks of my children missing school have been minimized." She added

USAID/Igire-Wiyubake Activity also supported Amina to join a savings group, and she believes that she will be able to save and borrow some money from the savings group to support her other remaining 4 children to continue their education and possibility start a small income-generating business.