Deniece (front) holds one of the baskets
she has made. |
Deniece and her three siblings struggled for income until she found the support
of Giving Hope. Now that she is earning an income, she says, "We don't
eat it all -- some goes to savings. I don't want my kids" -- her
siblings and two others she has taken in -- "to miss the chance
to go to secondary school." As chair of her "Giving Hope" group,
Deniece explains that now their households are becoming stonger -- and
they are all taking in other orphans. "We don't want them to suffer
like we did!"
"With our new mothers," she says, referring to social worker Janviere and the group's nkundabana, Martha, "we don't have problems. They encourage us. They love us as their own children. They are ready to help and advise."
Their nkundabana, Martha, has seven children of her own. She says that these Giving Hope children can come to her and talk; she is happy they are open with her. "They are good children," she says, "and they love each other."
YWCA program director Epiphanie congratulates the group in Kibungo and tells them she appreciates them. They had been children who didn't want to talk and were sad. Then their social worker, Janviere, called her and told her to come to visit and they shared a meal in the restaurant. She could see they were much changed. Their group had taken hold.