A story of change was collected from BIHAMATWI Bosco, a man who has undergone the Men engage program while his wife was in the Core program
Since March 2019, Women for Women Rwanda is implementing in collaboration with ICRW the men engage for gender norm transformation program in Rwanda.
The project is being implemented in BUGESERA District and has two comparative zones which are:
Treatment zone (Mareba): whereby women are enrolled in WfW programs (core program), and their male partners are benefiting from the men engage program, and
Control zone (Gashora): whereby women are enrolled in WfW programs, but their partners are not benefiting from the men engage program.
This project is implemented for many reasons. First, traditional gender norms in Rwanda and levels of Violence Against Women (VAW) challenge women’s equality and empowerment. Second, existing men’s engagement programming in Rwanda has had significant results in the areas of health outcomes and gender-related behavioral outcomes
Here is the story of change collected from BIHAMATWI Bosco, A man who has undergone the Menengage program while his wife was in the Core Program, and then she died later. The story is based on his courage and devotion to continue the initiatives his wife has started for the well-being of the household.
They were married for nine years, and God blessed them with 3 children (Boys) unfortunately his wife passed away. Bosco was a less responsible husband, he used to abuse drugs and alcohol, and could not contribute to the development of his household until they were selected to attend WfW-Rwanda programs. He told us that at the beginning of the program, his wife told him that they have met a golden opportunity, and they must take it seriously. “She started applying the learnings from the health and wellness part, I saw our children becoming clean and healthier than before,” said Bosco
From the economic part, she asked him to seize the platform of VSLA as a channel of development. From the Men engage training around positive masculinity, he as well gained the skills of transformation
“I started supporting my wife. Since then, we started planning together, saving together and I started reducing the consumption of alcohol”
His wife’s business plan was to buy pigs, but she died six months later when they already bought 4 and expanded their house. He continued to attend the VSL group, and he was the only male in the group. In the first year, their savings were 176,000Rwf. He kept attending all the Saving groups she was in. these helped him to achieve their dreams and he is taking care of the children.
“Today we have 10 pigs, and I hope to expand that business. Our children are healthy, and I was selected among the male Champions” he added