Teen mothers face many challenges; physical, psychological, and social, to name a few. For example, there’s the constant need for support, the inability to plan and make decisions, lack of maternal skills, abandonment by family, and of course economic hardships. These, and so many other barriers, like stigma, stand in the way of their development, making their future and that of their children, seem dull. This is why Gloria Girabawe, in 2020, decided to establish ‘Flove’, a small start-up which produces eco-friendly bags, also known as tote bags. The enterprise seeks to boost the livelihood of teen mothers by providing job opportunities, training and, counselling. 22-year-old Girabawe is doing International Business and Trade at African Leadership University in Kigali. She describes herself as a women empowerment, women promotion and women development enthusiast. In her own words, she had many dreams before finding her calling now. Yvonne Niyomuhoza at work. “I really never thought that I would be in the business industry. I had many dreams growing up as I was passionate about women empowerment. I didn’t know how to combine entrepreneurship and my passion for women empowerment,” she says. How it started Girabawe was inspired by a supervisor who pushed her to start her own business while working as an intern at a logistics company. “After noticing the spirit in me, I started thinking of a small business to start,” she says In school, Girabawe’s fellow students seemed to love the tote bag she carried, asking where they could find a bag like it. She then decided to use her little savings and produce only five bags, which, she says, she simply shared on her WhatsApp status, only to find that the bags were sold out within a week. One of the workers at Flove. “I was so excited. I asked my friends for feedback and it was positive. I told myself that it could be a business opportunity. It was a sign, I could start and expand my business to local markets,” she says. “I didn’t have a specific plan, but it didn’t take me long to start. It took me a month to think of better ways to do it,” she says. The impact Girabawe decided this would also be a good way to empower girls—like teen mothers—and she now works with 10 teen mothers. She is looking for ways to expand the business to be able to provide more job opportunities to other teen mothers. The initiative uses its social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, to serve the local market. One of the beneficiaries at Flove, Yvonne Niyomuhoza, says that she is very grateful for the opportunity that the company has given her as a teen mother. “I am thankful for this opportunity; my living condition wasn’t good at all before I started working here. Since I started, I have made new friends and we discuss different topics, particularly our future. I was able to see a brighter future through this initiative. I have bought two sewing machines through my earnings and I hope the best is yet to come,” she says. Girabawe notes that they experienced a boost, even in the lockdown period. “I had seen the power of social media in the business industry. Using social media platforms has given us a big number of customers where over 45% of our customers are from the lockdown period only,” she says. However, like all other start-ups, Girabawe reveals that they have encountered different challenges, including finding local resources, when they come from abroad it is very costly, and they take too long to get here. “We are looking for ways we can multiply the Made in Rwanda products we use. Our goal is to be better,” she says. On her advice to the youth who are still afraid to join the business industry, she says that all they need is to get out of their comfort zone as there are many opportunities awaiting them.
