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The women with a grim past and a better future
A lone musician stands playing a home made instrument on the sun-scorched earth of a banana plantation. This village in the Kiramuruzi sector is the heart of Africa – it seems beautiful, hot and happy.
The truth is rather more complex, however. All the women living in Abishyizehamwe, an hour-and-a-half from Kigali, were raped during Rwanda's genocide. They also lost family members and are now living together and running a co-operative. The boy playing and singing of his love of the nation is not an entertainer but a guard; he is there to ward off thieves who come in the night to take the fruit which provides the women's livelihood.
The money generated, from selling bananas and making bags from the leaves, is not enough for the 13 women. They cannot afford to buy the fertiliser needed for a better harvest on top of paying the guard and
buying their own medicine.
For these women also, the plantation, run with Cafod, has been a lifesaver. Many of them say they "would have been dead" by now had they not got involved with the project.
The co-operative also passes on the leaves from banana trees to a group of weavers, who use them to make bags. This might sound like a niche industry but Rwanda's decision to ban the
use of plastic carrier bags for environmental reasons has opened up a long-term market for the ladies.
"Now I feel I have 12 sisters," said Philomene Mukamutara.
"The money from Cafod helped us do that. It cannot change our past, but it has given us a future."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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