Confiance Manishimwe is a 24-year-old girl who lives in the Gicumbi District, Muko Sector in the Northern Province of Rwanda. She lives with her grandparents and is a teen mother of a six-year-old daughter.
This made it very difficult for her to take care of herself. Confiance’s family was experiencing hardship; her father had passed away, and her mother had remarried, resulting in a difficult life for her family.
“Afterward my father’s death, we suffered a lot because our mother did not have enough money to provide for us. We often went to bed hungry.” Confiance said.
When Confiance was only five years old, her mother remarried another husband. She went to her grandparents and she grew up there. At the age of 19, Confiance got pregnant and her life became the worst.
Confiance said, “I faced serious abuse and harassment from my classmates and neighbours where they held regressive views and constantly harassed me for being a teen mother.”
She did not stop studying. She persevered until giving birth. She went to take the national examination when her daughter was only one month old and managed to pass in Literature, Kinyarwanda, and Kiswahili.
In 2021, Confiance was admitted into the YouthCan Project, and she chose to be trained in agriculture. She expressed her motivation, saying, "When I joined the YouthCan Project, I had in mind to receive training in agriculture because I want to make money speedily to support my daughter. My grandfather was not happy with my choice, but I didn’t see any other alternative to earn money."
After just six months, Confiance graduated in agriculture, and YouthCan provided her with vegetable seeds. Confiance added, "My life started on the day of graduation. YouthCan gave us cabbage seeds to implement what we learned."
In three months, I was awarded the contract to supply cabbage to the school near my home. I managed to earn RWF 450,000 (340.3 USD) out of it and saved RWF 300,000 (226 USD) at the bank. This was the first time I had opened a bank account, thanks to the YouthCan project.
My second source of income was the stipend from my internship. Confiance said, “When I started my internship with the YouthCan Project, we were given stipends of RWF 70,000 (53 USD), which helped us cover transportation costs. I used all the money to purchase a piglet because I completed the internship at the Sector headquarters, which was very close to my home.”
As of now, Confiance has six pigs worth RWF 700,000 (529 USD) and she is dreaming to become becoming a pig farmer and aims to have 100 pigs within the next five years.
She emphasized that the sole way to eliminate poverty is by working hard until you reach the set goal. She said; “I had to wake up very early in the morning to prepare my daughter, clean and cook after that and would sleep very late.” Life became increasingly better.”
Now, Confiance is able afford everything she wants, support her grandparents, and take care of her daughter. Her business is doing well, and her savings have reached RWF 500,000 (378 USD).
“I am deeply indebted to SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda and YouthCan for getting me out of isolation and empowering me with skills. My only pledge is to work hard, develop myself, and pay the kindness forward to others.” Confiance is gratefully expressed.