Empower 200 Rwandan Girls To Move Out Of Poverty

Dear Donors

The focus group session occurred on this quarter at Aspire Rwanda. The discussion was facilitated by Aspire staff and they used a questionnaire. The purpose of the focus group was to gain insight on how the women’s lives have changed since the completion of the training program—looking at the financial and social impact as well as challenges encountered.

Findings

The findings from the focus group are outlined below with questions grouped in themes.

Livelihood and Economic Status

What has been/is your main occupation since graduating from Aspire Rwanda?

All the young women have been working either in the food or hairdressing industry. Therefore, all of the young women, started income generating activities using the skills learned from the program. In particular:

• 18 girls are working in the food industry
• 22 girls are working in the hairdressing and beauty industry
• specifically, 29 of the young women have their own businesses and 11 young women are employed in a restaurant and hairdressing

 What are some of the challenges you have encountered since graduating from Aspire when it comes to income generation and how have you addressed/attempted to address them?

The main challenges the women identified are as follow:

• Low capital to start a business
• Maintaining profit when competition increases
• Not getting paid on time
• Need for internships in salons to improve their skills

Five of the girls interviewed initially formed a group and started a canteen. Unfortunately, competition in their location increased, and as result their profit significantly decreased. This was compounded by the fact that they needed to split the profit between 5 people making little profit individually. Consequently, they decided to dissolve the business and start individual businesses instead. They all still work in the food industry (i.e. selling fruits and vegetables, selling samosas and chapattis, and working in a restaurant) and they are doing better individually.

Two young women who work in the hairdressing and beauty industry said they are not able to begin an official salon business because the equipment needed (chairs, mirrors, electronic machines) is too expensive. In addition, space rental is also costly and if they register their business, they will have to start paying taxes which they are not able to do at the moment. They have addressed this challenge by operating mobile salons. With this system, they have a list of customers, they visit in their homes to do their hair or nails.

 In addition, all young women said that the hairdressing and beauty industry is challenging because fashion and hairstyles change often. They said that they would have liked to get internships in salons to improve their skills and learn from professionals. They feel that this is why only very skilled students end up selecting hairdressing and beauty as an income generating activity after the training program.

 The employed girls made the comment regarding delayed salary payment. It does not happen all the time but sometimes employees in business are not paid on time which can make it challenging to plan household expenditures.

 Two girls said their businesses are going well and they have not encountered challenges.

 How do you feel about the money you earn per week/month? Is it sufficient to take care of the basic necessities (food, school fees etc.) for your family?

The women reported the following weekly earnings:

• 5 reported earning 15,000RWF/week
• 13 reported earning 12,000RWF/week
• 2 reported earning 10,000RWF/week
• 9 reported earning 8,000RWF/week

Twenty nine of the young women said that with these amounts, they are able to contribute to the household income and assist in taking care of basic needs such as school fees, and food.  Additionally, all the young women reported challenges in managing to save a bit of their income. Their current earnings do not allow them to save easily so that they can continue to improve their socio-economic status. What they earn is still too little to spend on household expenses and also save consistently.

If you had not gone through Aspire’s training program do you think you would be in the same place today? Why? Why not?

All the young women agreed that they would not be in the same place today. In particular, for all the women, the program allowed them to have an income generating activity which has changed their lives. Without the program, they strongly believe they would still be unemployed.

 Are you more confident in your ability to make decisions in your home regarding your family, children and IGA since coming to Aspire? How so?

All the young women reported increased confidence in their ability to make decisions. In particular, they stated that they are more independent and able to voice their opinions.

 Conclusion

Overall, from this discussion, it is clear that the training program was beneficial to the women. All of them used the skills they learned to start their own businesses or gain employment. However, although their lives have improved, they are still struggling with saving money to continue to advance. In addition, most women work in the food industry because it appears that the hairdressing and beauty industry requires more skills and experience to break into. Therefore, in hindsight, they wish they had had internships opportunities in salons upon graduation.

We would very much appreciate if you can share about this project with your friends, family and who feel strongly about girls' education.

We encourage you to donate monthly here. Even a few dollars a month will go a long way. Please also share this with your contacts and invite them to consider supporting this ongoing project.

With great appreciation