TATIANA NYIRANDORA

My name is Tatiana Nyirandora, I was born in 1969. I am married and I am a mother to 7 children.

Before the start of the project, I used to make clay pots for sale and work in my neighbours’ gardens. These activities however, were not contributing much to our welfare as both activities do not cost much.

Since then, the project has completely changed my life and that of my family. Today, my family is dressed properly, we have at least one meal per day, my children are in school and thanks to Martha’s spiritual guidance, my husband and I are officially married since the 14th of September 2018.

The benefits of this project are numerous apart from providing income to our families; it has also brought knowledge and confidence to us. I used to feel unworthy as I did not have any skill that I would be happy to share with others but today, I am a proud embroiderer. I do quality bags and cushions and I am satisfied with myself. I have also been able to teach my children how to embroider. This gives me much satisfaction as a human being. I feel respected by my colleagues and my family.

Another benefit is that the project has united us as a community. Before each one of us was struggling on her own but today, we have the opportunity to share what is going on in our lives. I no longer feel the burden of carrying my problems alone or think I am the only one with challenges but thanks to the project, I now have friends to share with. We are a community, we support one another during good and bad times. The Project has contributed to giving us confidence. By sitting in meetings with our trainers and project initiator, we learnt how to value one another, how to respect each other. I am no longer identified according to my tribe but just as a colleague. I am happy to be part of this group. We sit and discuss on issues that affect our project and always agree on the way forward.

The challenge we face is the quantity of bags or cushions we make per month. We would wish to see our production increased however, we do not have enough stock of materials here in Kibeho as the materials are sent from Pretoria to Kibeho. It would be good to plan the stock every beginning of the year to enable us continue to work on a regular basis without interruption.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have initiated, trained and supported us from the beginning of the project. I would like to thank those who are keen to always pay a visit to check on us. This encourages us and gives us the strength to continue to meet and work hard.