Our Blog

With funding from the Nuremberg Jesuits, Service Yezu Mwiza (SYM) has initiated the Income Generating Activities (IGA) project for its vulnerable beneficiaries. Some of them are widows who have children to feed and educate. By implementing this project, SYM has already raised the standard of living of over 470 of its most vulnerable beneficiaries.

Mrs. Mariane, a widow who lives in Bujumbura province with her 4 children is one of the beneficiaries of this project set up by SYM:

What was your daily life like before joining this project?

Before being integrated into this project, I was only taking medicine with the mobile clinic of Service Yezu Mwiza but my life was really hard. Imagine a widow with 4 children to take care of, to find food for them and to pay their school fees without a cultivable land, without any support, it is not an easy thing, because I have to go and find where there is a need for labor to find the daily ratio.

Is there an improvement in your family after joining this project?

My daily life has completely changed, I learned how to set up a kitchen garden thanks to this project, today I no longer fear that my children will sleep on an empty stomach, because even if I came home late from where I am went to work in the fields, I can take vegetables from my beautiful kitchen garden and prepare something for them. Also in this project I was given 2 rabbits, they multiplied and I have 8 now. As for my group's work, we have a goat breeding project together and they are also at my house. These rabbits and goats produce manure, which helps me to enrich the soil in the kitchen garden. There are times when I sell some of the vegetables to provide for some of my family's needs. The neighbors are even curious and surprised to see this change.

What is your relationship with the other members of the group?

A relationship of mutual understanding, because Service Yezu Mwiza has made us a family. Already the fact of implementing an IGA project together, it brings us very close and we look after each other, because we share the joys and sorrows.

What is your ambition in your breeding project?

My ambition is to see these goats multiply, we will be able to sell some of them and as far as I am concerned, I will be able to use the fruit of this sale to buy my own land to cultivate, this is my dream; because with my health I know that I will not always be able to go and work in the fields of others for money.

To sustain the achievements of this project, Service Yezu Mwiza carries out follow-up activities in the implementation of these income-generating activities, to provide them with advice that can help them to have a better return.