Burera is said to be the district with the highest number of teen mothers, and this drove two university graduates, 26-year-old Charline Mugeniwayesu, and 25-year-old Marie-Odile Ndayishimiye Uwineza, to find ways to improve the well-being of young women in the area.

On phone, the two friends talked about engaging in charity work. In 2019, they started an initiative to support teen mothers, because there was still the chance for them to achieve their goals.

"When we were younger, we both had the same interest of charity work, like delivering food and hygienic products to the sick at the University Teaching Hospital of Butare, which was near our home. When we grew up, we actually realised many of our primary classmates did not finish school because of early pregnancy. We asked ourselves how to help these girls,” Mugeniwayesu says. 

Mugeniwayesu and Uwineza believe teen mothers still have a chance to achieve their dreams but sometimes they lose hope, and it affects them and the country in general.

Poverty and teen pregnancy are among the top issues they realised are hindering the development of women in the country, based on research by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). 

The graduates from University of Rwanda’s College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, identified the districts with lots of potential for agribusiness that could support them in the execution of their project. 

"We looked at districts with untapped potential and resources based on what we studied that could assist residents and fight poverty, so we chose Burera,” they say.

With passion and money Mugeniwayesu had saved while serving as a Red Cross volunteer, and Uwineza’s background in health and a little cash from school bursary, they joined forces and started "Ubumuntu Project”. 

Ubumuntu provides beneficiaries with psychosocial support, community and business approaches. Weekly, teen mothers meet with private psychologists to discuss their struggles and help each other in the process.

Teen mothers also receive therapeutic sessions, where they meet psychologists for individual therapeutic support. The support is backed by trained community health workers, who help identify these mothers in their respective areas.

The project also carries out mental health awareness activities in different schools located in Burera District.

"We conducted sessions in secondary schools for teen girls and boys, we taught them about reproductive health, by doing our best to avail information that can help them as teenagers to avoid early pregnancies.

Beneficiaries during a couselling session.

"We also have a centre where these girls get training, and are mobilised and directed on how to start small businesses. So far, we have given 27 teen mothers a six-month training course on knitting, and seven-month course to 30 in tailoring. Five were assisted in starting up their own small businesses in fashion,” Mugeniwayesu says. 

She adds that the funds were unable to sustain the project, so they applied for funding and received backing from Accelerator Program in 2021.

The funds helped them increase the number of beneficiaries. They work with them for a period of one year, but keep following up to make sure they are still on the right track. 

Most of these young mothers are below the age of 21, some are engaged in animal farming, such as rearing pigs and chicken. Five out of 96 beneficiaries have gone back to school, and, the activists believe, this has had a big impact on family promotion, and positively changed the livelihood of Burera communities. 

Mugeniwayesu talks to students about reproductive health. 

The project is implemented in four sectors of the district, Rusarabuye, Rwerere, Cyeru and Butaro, but they hope to expand to other areas as well.

"We believe that empowering a woman is empowering the family, hence the community. When a woman is doing well emotionally and financially, it positively impacts family, community and the country,” the humanitarians say.

However, there is still a gap in helping people seek mental health assistance, which sometimes results in suicide.

"We believe that joining hands with other young people can help cut down these issues and make a better community,” they say.

Some of the young mothers during tailoring training.  Photos/Courtesy