Jeanne Nyirahabimana enters her home at 7:30 in the morning. Her eyes are heavy with sleep, exhausted, hungry, and all she can think about is getting some sleep before her next shift later that very day. She must also attend to the children in the course of the day. But exhaustion is killing her, after all, working as security night guard is no easy feat.

In yesteryears, the idea of a woman leaving her home at dusk to work as a night guard was unheard of. In this era, it still isn’t easy to find a female security guard, more so one who works at night. However, Jeanne Nyirahabimana braves the cold nights and wee morning hours in Kicukiro - Sonatube neighbourhood to work towards a better future for her family.

You’d think that after working all night, one would try to catch as many hours of sleep as possible. Sadly for Nyirahabimana, there’s still a lot to be done.

Nyirahabimana, who leaves work at 5pm, says that after getting home and having some porridge, she rests for only three hours.

At 11am, she gets up and starts her domestic chores which involve cooking and taking care of her four children.

She has to make time to relieve her husband of the duty of taking care of the children.

"We work hand-in-hand. My husband’s part time job sometimes helps us out when my salary has yet come through,” she says.

Nyirahabimana, from Kamashashi Cell, Nyarugunga Sector, in Kicukiro District, has four children aged 12, 10, 6 and 4. Two are in primary school and the little ones are yet to join nursery school, however, financial constraints set them back. 

"At some point, I was forced to hire house-help but realised that I could basically do the work myself if I planned my days properly. Also, it would save us some money,” Nyirahabimana notes.

"Harsh living conditions pushed me to get this job. We needed money, our family is not small and so my husband’s earnings alone wouldn’t suffice. Even the part time jobs I had managed to get still didn’t generate enough money. So this is a suitable job because I can work at night, help my husband out and take care of my family during the day,” she says gleefully. Nyirahanimana’s husband is a casual labourer.

"Sometimes with the house girl, you’d find the children hadn’t had a bath, and their clothes weren’t washed. They would get sick all the time because of the girl’s negligence and it just dragged us further down the poverty lane. So I decided to take over myself,” she says.

Nyirahabimana urges women who are forced to use maids to keep a keener eye on them and monitor them every chance they get for the well being of their children.

"Some women of course don’t work night duty and are therefore unable to be home with the kids during the day. It would be great if we could all take care of our own kids. Even if the pay isn’t great, as long as you can feed your family, we should do whatever it takes to spend more time with our kids,” she says

The hardships

Nyirahabimana says that she never worries about security at work just because she is a woman. Her only focus is to work hard and get paid, and take care of her children.

She says she is prepared for the job because she is trained to handle it.

"I joined the security training course and managed to perform well in all the exams which helped me pass for the job. I am qualified,” she says.

"I sometimes walk to work when I do not have transport fare so I have to go early in order to not be late for work,” she says

What can women learn from Nyirahabimana?

Kicukiro District’s Vice Mayor and Social Affairs in-charge, Emmanuel Baingana, says that Nyirahabimana’s story can serve as inspiration to all women. He says it is in line with the government’s empowerment programme and believes that the country needs more women in fields such as this.

Baingana says that Kicukiro District has various empowerment projects and many women can join and improve their livelihoods. 

33-year-old Francine Nikuze finds Nyirahabimana’s kind of work heroic and that the fact that she is a woman makes it even greater.

"It is quite unimaginable, but it depends on a person’s choice. Personally, I don’t think can do it but I would never discourage someone who wanted to. Many women have resorted to dishonorable ways to survive, like prostitution for example,” Nikuze notes.

 editorial@newtimes.co.rw