Hi all,
I am 3 weeks + 1 day into my time here in Rwanda and I think I probably owe you all a bit of an update about the whole reason why I even came here in the first place! It's taken a little bit of time to get into a routine and figure out what it's all going to look like, but today after a staff meeting I am feeling that I am in a good place to explain it to you :)
So, I'm assuming you all know about the work I am doing here (if not, please read here or here or ask me!)
The program has now been running for close to 2 months and we have seen some encouraging results. As I wrote about briefly in my previous post, the women have a very strong work ethic. This is a positive thing, but also something we need to manage as sometimes they would prefer to work than to participate in the other programs we have for them (counseling, Bible study, health education, etc).
To explain to you a little bit more about my role in this big beautiful project: I am working in a team of about 9 or so Rwandan women. We have a program coordinator, a business coach/director, a financial/administrator, a counsellor, two social workers, a peer support person, and two people working on the creative/jewellery side of things. I have been able to participate in staff meetings where we discuss the ins and outs of running this program, which I have really been enjoying. We all bounce ideas off each other and are able to come up with solutions that we think will produce the best results for the women. My specific responsibility, though, is to work with the social workers. Their role is to be a point person for the women outside of our work space by completing home visits. We have found that there are things the women will tell to the social workers in a one-on-one private setting that they would not otherwise share in a group setting. The social workers will then feedback to the rest of the team at our weekly staff meetings so that we can address any issues that may be occurring. I am not able to participate in this myself as I do not speak the local language (Kinyarwanda), so I will be overseeing the work that the social workers do and training them to use the educational knowledge that they have.
We are already beginning to see the trust that has been built between the women and all of us involved, but there is still progress to be made in those relationships, and also in the relationships between the women. If you are someone who likes to pray, you could pray for continued trust to be built, and also for the women to bond and grow close to one another so that they can also be a support to one another.
I'll leave it at that for now - there is so much more that I could share, and I will do so as the time goes on :)
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
And if you have not already, please consider donating to our program here or here - it is greatly, greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU!
Bronte
I am 3 weeks + 1 day into my time here in Rwanda and I think I probably owe you all a bit of an update about the whole reason why I even came here in the first place! It's taken a little bit of time to get into a routine and figure out what it's all going to look like, but today after a staff meeting I am feeling that I am in a good place to explain it to you :)
So, I'm assuming you all know about the work I am doing here (if not, please read here or here or ask me!)
The program has now been running for close to 2 months and we have seen some encouraging results. As I wrote about briefly in my previous post, the women have a very strong work ethic. This is a positive thing, but also something we need to manage as sometimes they would prefer to work than to participate in the other programs we have for them (counseling, Bible study, health education, etc).
To explain to you a little bit more about my role in this big beautiful project: I am working in a team of about 9 or so Rwandan women. We have a program coordinator, a business coach/director, a financial/administrator, a counsellor, two social workers, a peer support person, and two people working on the creative/jewellery side of things. I have been able to participate in staff meetings where we discuss the ins and outs of running this program, which I have really been enjoying. We all bounce ideas off each other and are able to come up with solutions that we think will produce the best results for the women. My specific responsibility, though, is to work with the social workers. Their role is to be a point person for the women outside of our work space by completing home visits. We have found that there are things the women will tell to the social workers in a one-on-one private setting that they would not otherwise share in a group setting. The social workers will then feedback to the rest of the team at our weekly staff meetings so that we can address any issues that may be occurring. I am not able to participate in this myself as I do not speak the local language (Kinyarwanda), so I will be overseeing the work that the social workers do and training them to use the educational knowledge that they have.
We are already beginning to see the trust that has been built between the women and all of us involved, but there is still progress to be made in those relationships, and also in the relationships between the women. If you are someone who likes to pray, you could pray for continued trust to be built, and also for the women to bond and grow close to one another so that they can also be a support to one another.
I'll leave it at that for now - there is so much more that I could share, and I will do so as the time goes on :)
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
And if you have not already, please consider donating to our program here or here - it is greatly, greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU!
Bronte
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