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Through programmes like Green Graduation, your donation can go towards supporting vulnerable women to transform their lives through training and cash transfers - women like Aloyiziya.
We first met Aloyiziya back in 2023 in her village in Gisagara, Rwanda. A single mother, she was living with her three children in a communal house they shared with two other families.
Life was tough for Aloyiziya. She left the house every day at 6am to work in the fields until noon, to earn 700 Rwandan Francs (around 41 cents). However, that work was never guaranteed. She told us: “If I don't find any casual farm work, we don't eat. Like today – I stayed at home and so we won't eat for the whole day. There are many times we go without eating. As a mother, I feel sad a lot. I am always crying.”
Aloyiziya dreamed of a better life for her children, a life free from insecurity. She said: “I would love to open a small business. I would be able to find food for my children without struggling. I could improve my standard of living, and be able to buy clothes for my children and myself. I could take care of my children. I could give them meals the whole day - at breakfast and lunchtime. They would look good. I would wash them. As a parent, I could change their history.”
In 2023, Aloyiziya was one of 1,400 vulnerable households chosen to participate in Concern’s Green Graduation programme. This Irish Aid-supported programme aims to create pathways out of extreme poverty through livelihoods, social empowerment, financial inclusion and social protection - all while using sustainable practices that protect our environment.
Two years later, we revisited Aloyiziya and her children to see how things had changed through the programme. Through the cash transfers and business training she received, Aloyiziya now rents land to farm on, and feeds her children with the crops she harvests, as well as selling tomatoes and avocados at the market to generate further income. She is now able to afford school fees for her children, as well as providing balanced meals twice a day for the whole family.
“We eat rice, sweet potatoes, cassava, beans, vegetables, small fish, so that the kids can have a good balanced meal,” she told us. And through her participation in the local village savings and loans association, Aloyiziya has been able to buy her children school supplies and clothing, as well as being able to renovate her home after it was damaged by rain.
It’s not just the improvements in her financial situation - Aloyiziya feels more confident, there is more harmony in her home, and she happily told us she feels like a “completely new person”. “The kids play – they like being here under the tree, they play with the soccer ball. They play here and they look so happy.”
Your donation will help drive Concern’s mission across 26 countries, where every programme - including Green Graduation - is rooted in the principles of equality, respect and dignity.
Thank you so much for your support today.
