Tite Ndekaze’s life’s journey is a tale of perseverance and hard work. Once a destitute, hope seemed to be a mirage for Ndekaze, a resident of Gisozi cell, Nemba sector, in Gakenke district  

However, like the adage goes that it is not over until it is all over, Ndekaze’s fortune started unfolding when residents at a cell meeting  chose Ndekaze and a few other people as the most vulnerable persons who deserved  support to improve their social-economic status.

"I was extremely poor and used to till people’s land for survival. I was later chosen by local residents as one of the poorest to be supported by Ubudehe programme. I was given Rwf45, 000 to start a small business of selling local sorghum beer,” Ndekaze says.

Ndekaze  started his business in 2005. He used to make local sorghum beer twice a week for sale.

"I used to supply jerrycans of beer to people who owned small pubs and made between Rwf 4,000 and 8,000 a week. I worked for a year and bought a cow. I applied manure in my little land and the agricultural produce started improving,” he says  

The cow produced a heifer which he sold at Rwf 100,000 and added on the savings he had made from selling sorghum beer to buy a small plot of land at Rwf150, 000, in 2007.

With a cow, a business and a small plot of land  in a short period, local leaders appreciated Ndekaze’s efforts and recommended him for a bank loan. 

 Working with banks

Ndekaze could not get a big amount of money since the  business was still small.  He was, however, able  to secure a loan of Rwf90, 000 in Bank Populaire du Rwanda which he used to buy a small piece of land.

He then used the land he acquired and his other property as collateral to secure another loan of  Rwf400, 000.

Ndekaze then started dealing in food items in 2009 and made profits.  He says he started selling food items as a retailer but often sold in large quantities to other retailers in Gakenke markets.

 Since then he has never looked back and his business has grown. 

"Selling food boosted my economic status.  I could make profit of about Rwf200, 000 per month,” he added.

 "I kept working closely with the bank, depositing and withdrawing and I became a permanent client. Before the end of 2009, I had serviced the loan and had some money left on my account. I applied for another loan and I was given Rwf990, 000,” he adds.

 Supplying  food to schools

 It 2010, Ndekaze won a tender to supply food to neighbouring schools, APRODOSOC Nemba  and later College Communal de Nyarutovu.

 " I had enough capital and could easily access bank loans. I got Rwf990, 000 from Bank Populaire du Rwanda and added on personal savings to start the food business with neighbouring schools,” he said, adding that he started with over Rwf3 million.

 "I started with one school and I supplied food items such as Irish potatoes, Sweet potatoes, Maize floor, beans and fire wood among others,” Ndekaze  said.

 But as the business expanded,  he went to Bank of Kigali in 2011 and got a loan of Rwf5 million.

"I have been supplying tonnes of food items to schools and I also have a good working relationship with banks. I have cleared all my debts with banks and can now apply for another loan but I do not have to,” he says

 Ndekaze says he earns Rwf500, 000 per month after paying his employees and meeting his tax obligations.

"The life I lived before  Ubudehe bailed me out taught me to remain focused and determined,” he said

"I thank the government for working hard to solve the plight of the poor. Hadn’t it been their support, I could have remained a slave of poverty,” Ndekaze says.

 He appeals to Rwandans to work hard and start with the liitle they have.

Currently, Ndekaze has won a tender  of Rwf10 million at College Communal de Nyarutovu.

 Shared story

 Ndekaze is not the only person who has developed himself thanks to Ubudehe programme.  Theoneste Dushimimana, 32 a father of three and resident of  Nemba sector dropped out of school due to poverty.

He trained in tailoring but failed to get his own sewing machine, resorting to one that he rented per month. He was named among people who could benefit from Ubudehe programme and received Rwf 45,000.

"I bought a sewing machine  and after one year,   I managed to buy two other machines. I trained five other people from a local Non-Governmental Organisation and I was paid Rwf300,000 for six months,” he says.

"I signed a contract with APRODOSOC Nemba to sew school uniforms for their students. I employed other people to help me complete the task as there were too many clients at the school,” he adds.

"With the clients from the school and other clients, I had  saved Rwf3 million on my account by 2009. I applied for a  loan of Rwf600, 000 and I built a rental worth Rwf7 million,” Dushimimana says.

Three tenants who occupy his house pay him Rwf50, 000 per month. He says his total earnings from the rentals per month is between Rwf150, 000 and Rwf200, 000.

After that he also worked hard and bought plots of land and he is building a residential house.

"My living conditions have changed. I no longer lack food and other basic needs. I also know I will have property to bequeath to my children when I die,” he said   

About Ubudehe

Ubudehe is a Rwandan system of intra-community co-operation based on collective and individual actions. It is initiated and implemented by Rwandans themselves at the level of the decentralised administrative entity nearest to the recipients (the cell/villages.)

It is a socio-economic development programme where the local people are empowered to actively participate in the improvement of their welfare through activities like constructing houses, roads and resource mobilisation.

The first phase of the Ubudehe programme started in 2002, and its second phase came in 2005. This programme is ongoing in its fight against poverty.

Local community members themselves identify development issues and decide on priority actions to fight poverty in their neighbourhoods.

 Ubudehe programme is under the Ministry of Local Government and is jointly funded by the Rwandan government and the European Union.

In 2008 the programme received a United Nations trophy as the best managed and implemented development programme beating over 150 countries from all over the world that participated.