Some of teen mothers in Bugesera District in Ntarama Sector say their hope of life was retrieved after being trained in sewing and their children were helped in the Early Child Development Centers (ECD) thanks to ‘Mama Courage’ Project which gave them hope of survival.
Marthe Nyiragasigwa, one of these beneficiaries said: “After being pregnant, I started to worry about my future and my education stopped immediately. But now because of ‘Mama Courage’ I feel that my dream of becoming an entrepreneur is about to come true. ”
The 20-year-old Ishimwe Sandrine, one of the 21 teen mothers in Ntarama Sector who gave birth prematurely was helped to learn the art of sewing by the ‘Mama Courage’ project. These teen mothers were given certificates on May 13, 2022.
Marthe Nyiragasigwa was also impregnated at her early age, and she is one of the beneficiaries. She told IRIBA NEWS that she suffered pain and trauma caused by her mother’s insults.
“Since I was impregnated until I gave birth to this child. With the support of Mama Courage, I felt confident because here they taught us and raised our children and gave them food and porridge, so, we feel happy when we are learning the art of tailoring. ” Nyiragasigwa said.
“They also taught us about sexual reproductive health and family planning, hygiene and how to prepare a balanced diet. We all came here without knowledge about these subjects. ” she said.
“The beginning was not easy, but there is hope to enter in a better future basing on the current situation.
“We started with 21 teen mothers, but we have the capacity to accommodate 25 teen mothers between the ages of 17 and 25,” said Laetitia Umulisa, Executive Director of Mama Courage.
“Our journey began in 2021 with these teen mothers who had a lot of problems and trauma, but today you see that they are beautiful girls who are clean and have the skills to sew different clothes and we have taught them languages, now they have basic skills in French and English they use in their work. ” Umulisa said.
She added that in addition to giving them hands on skills in tailoring, they also set up an ECD Center for their children to be cared for and fed while their parents are studying.
She pointed out that although the project has been a success for some time now, it has other future projects in mind.
“We started with egg-laying chicken project, some of which we feed the children, and some of which we sell to get money, but we want the authorities to help us expand work place to teach them and make a kitchen garden to prevent children from malnutrition.” She added.
Batamuriza Mireille, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender and Family Development called on the girls to take advantage of the skills provided to them by Mother Courage and to participate in government programs.
“It’s a good time to go and share the good news from here and participate in government programs including family evening gatherings, village kitchens and more because your voice and your thoughts are needed there […].I would also like to say that you should always remember to register your children in the civil status books and you should first know that you have registered yourselves because if you do not, there is a lot of chance that you can lose.” Batamuriza said.
Executive Director of Mama Courage project says they are going to buy tailoring machines for the 21 teen mothers who have graduated, and help them to form a cooperative in collaboration with the Bugesera district’s authorities. She added that they will be able to find markets for these teen mothers.
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