Growing up, Amina Umuhoza hoped to one day offer any kind of assistance to underprivileged girls, especially those who couldn’t afford essentials, like sanitary pads.

In 2017, at the age of 21, she started a home décor company, Saye Ltd. With this, she was able to pursue her dream to help vulnerable youth, especially girls—to empower Rwandan girls mentally, socially and economically, and fight teenage pregnancies, through a programme called ‘Dukataze’.

Before starting the initiative, Umuhoza did some community outreach in Nyamiyaga School in Kamonyi, Dove Global Prep School, Kimisagara Youth Center and Gacuriro Vocational Training Center.

Some of Umuhoza’s wall decor. Photo: Courtesy

She says that while starting her project, naturally, she didn’t have the money needed to conduct the activities, but used the resources that she had.

She got access to free venues from Kimisagara Youth Center where she would gather the youth for small events, but as time went by, she got opportunities to go for entrepreneurship programmes from YouthConnekt, DOT Rwanda, and Segal Family Foundation, among others.   

She acquired entrepreneurship skills and capital to grow her decor business, and used that to boost her social activities to ensure sustainability. She started with community outreach programmes to donate pads, advocate for eradication of menstrual stigma, and raise awareness of sexual reproductive health and rights. 

Umuhoza says that unintended pregnancies are more common among poor adolescents. And so she uses money made from her company to sustain the activities of ‘Dukataze’ to generate revenue for the girls, mostly from vulnerable families, between the ages of 13 to 21.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, she says that her programme would have community outreach programmes every month, and has no doubt that the activities will resume as soon as the pandemic ends. However, she is active on online platforms and social media where she interacts with some of her beneficiaries. 

"The beneficiaries that have income generating projects mostly do sewing and crafts, we help them by increasing their sales through producing decor items that we sell, such as pillowcases, tablemats, vases and wall decor,” Umuhoza says.

Beneficiaries share their experience

Giselle Mugenga, a 25-year-old resident of Kamonyi District, joined the programme when she was 21, and is now a chief peer mentor.

She gave birth when she was only 16 years old, something she says stole her innocence. She lived in despair until ‘Dukataze’ reached out to her.

"They talked to me and showed me that the best way to heal was to speak out; they encouraged me, saying that even if life seemed difficult, it wasn’t too late to achieve my dreams. I followed the process until I became one of the peer mentors, and I now help others to ensure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to other girls,” Mugenga says. 

Her programme also reaches out to boys as the fight against teenage pregnancies concerns them. Hopefully, this way, girls will stop dropping out of school due to early pregnancies—and boys are also sensitised to avoid menstrual stigma.

For example, 21-year-old Ibrahim Elyse Ngarambe, a resident of Gasabo, says that he has learned more about what issues girls face, and how he can play a role in ensuring a better life and future for them. 

He explains that having two sisters that look up to him became his responsibility, to protect their vision of achieving their full potential. It made him realise the importance of empowering the youth mentally, socially and economically and most of all, having his own part to play. 

A passion for décor

Umuhoza didn’t choose a decor business out of experience, rather, a love for decoration since childhood. She loved arts and poetry at an early age, and whenever she visited a fancy home, she picked ideas to redesign her parents’ home. Her parents let her rearrange things and implement every crazy idea. With time, she got really good at it.

She says she was, however, dispirited that Rwanda is blessed with materials yet people still import them, which makes them expensive for many.

Umuhoza started reading more about decor, creating and implementing designs, and beautifying homes. While starting the decor business, Umuhoza designed a few homes that she took photos of and posted on Instagram, and that’s how clients reached out to her.

After being contacted by a number of people to revamp their homes, she was certain that it was time to make money from it.  She has never looked back, and now has 10 employees.

Her company locally produces all decorations with raw materials available in the country, some of these include wall decorations, floating shelves, decorative pillows, decoration lamps, flower vases, among others.

The decorator and her team visit homes where they advise on decoration items that best suit the place. 

Recently, office owners started to reach out regarding office decoration and partitions and she is happy to stretch to business spaces as well.

"For our home décor, we have both online and physical shops where our customers can access our products, and we are grateful for the many recommendations we are receiving,” she says.

Asked to weigh in on the decor business in Rwanda, she says, "It is growing but many Rwandans still think that decoration is intended for hotels and big houses. Such people don’t value the fact that their homes can also ‘shine’ without spending millions. However, I believe that their views will change because my company is ready to offer beautiful and affordable decor items.”

She aspires to dominate the market by putting customers’ wishes as top priority while accepting criticism and constructive feedback, as this will help her grow.

Umuhoza’s prices range from Rwf4, 000 to Rwf50, 000 for home decor items, but items—exterior and interior—are priced according to the quality and quantity of the requested product.

Naturally, the pandemic affected her business and she lost some of her clients, which decreased her sales. For now, she mainly operates in Kigali but has hopes to branch out to other provinces.

She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in international business at Mount Kenya University.