Stand by your dreams no matter the odds

Odetta Nyiranizeyimana, 40 years old, is  a resident of Cyeza sector. Her story is compared to walking from the valley of death to paradise. She had for many years been a victim of Gender Based Violence (GBV). She narrates that her husband battered her every night and brought in many concubines because she was unemployed. She adds that given her standing she was accused  of having  no significant contribution to the family.

With time, she abandoned her teaching profession and started a mushroom project with other five people- who later abandoned her on grounds that the activity had no future and was unpredictable in terms of profit.

She never gave up on her dream, but instead extensively grew more mushrooms and onions- which earned her recognition for innovation in the district.

Nyiranizeyimana began earning from her numerous projects- of training residents in mushroom growing and making charcoal saving stoves (Rondereza) among many  other forms of livelihoods. This also earned her recognition from the Ministry of Agriculture and she was rewarded with an exotic cow.

Since then, she has never been assaulted by her spouse. She used the income to buy more cows. Today, she has built a house worth Rwf8m  complete with an  installed solar panel which cost Rwf1.3m.

In her dairy project  she gets 15 liters of milk per day. She also employees 8 laborers, helps one orphan and meets educations costs for her four children.

Her advice is that all women must work hard and contribute to the family in order to break the continuous family conflicts caused by dependence on spouses.

Ends