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A Child-Headed Household
Marie Josee Nyirabisabo
RwandaGALLERYCONVERSATION
Our house was destroyed during the war. Since then, we haven't been able to reconstruct another home. We live in a house borrowed from a...
The YWCA helped us piece our life back together. I joined the YWCA in 2003 when they began a program to assist child-headed households. They taught several projects that could benefit illiterate youth, such as myself, teaching us embroidery, batik, and making postcards from banana leaves.
For my future, I will practice my skill of embroidery in my village, and sell my crafts in Gitarama, the closest town. I can also make five postcards in half a day, each selling for 89¢. With the money I earn, I want to buy and raise some pigs. I hope that we will have enough money to construct our own home. I want very much that my brother and I have stability, like our neighbours.
Papa died during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He had remarried, but after his death our step-mother left us. She was still young and wanted to get remarried herself.

Our house was destroyed during the war. Since then, we haven't been able to reconstruct another home. We live in a house borrowed from a neighbour. The life of an orphan is not something that one deals with easily.
The YWCA helped us piece our life back together. I joined the YWCA in 2003 when they began a program to assist child-headed households. They taught several projects that could benefit illiterate youth, such as myself, teaching us embroidery, batik, and making postcards from banana leaves. I have already learned to embroider and to make postcards. I have also received training in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and micro project management. Today I am enrolled in the literacy program in the Mata centre, which is also sponsored by YWCA.
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