“My aspiration is to get more capital to buy more machines so that I can expand my business and train more women”.
Jeanette is part of a Village Savings and Loan Association which has enabled her to expand her embroidery business with a loan to buy a machine. She has now been selected as a potential women entrepreneur that could benefit from business mentorship - support and advice in marketing, business skills, growing her business and creating opportunities for herself and others.
Gender Justice is only possible when women are able to realise economic justice, and support themselves and their families. Yet still, even when women are able to earn, they do not retain ownership of their own money – in many homes, families or social contexts money is assumed to belong to men, irrespective of whether a woman has earned it. CARE Rwanda works to see women’s economic justice, not only in the provision of community support through Voluntary Savings and Loan Associations, entrepreneurial skills training, and connection to formal and informal financing, but also by working with couples, men and women to redress gender injustice in family and society.
Voluntary Savings and Loan Associations often as entry point to share information and provide opportunities for training. From there, it is possible to support women, inspire confidence and share resources. These savings and loan associations also create access to loans for new ventures for when formal financial funding is not available or feels out of reach.
Once these Associations are established, CARE Rwanda working through community partnerships, can then connect women to formal funding providers. This creates even greater opportunities for sustainable businesses that can grow and advance.
This programming has adapted to the needs of the women and men that it is designed for: Literacy and financial literacy training programs were introduced for business support, and so that women could engage more fully with the training process.
The Village Savings and Loan Associations have not just provided practical and financial benefit, they have also built confidence, to make business decisions, and to speak up.