How Collective Action Is Empowering Rural Girls and Women: The Transformative Approach of Local Leaders, Local Communities, Program Beneficiaries and Women Plan Rwanda 🌱🏘️✨
Across rural Rwanda, change is happening through teamwork, empowerment, and shared responsibility. Women Plan Rwanda (WPR), organization founded in 2023, is at the heart of this transformation. The organization focuses on empowering vulnerable women, children, and youth by providing skills, financial independence, and educational support. By collaborating with local leaders, community members, donors, and program beneficiaries, Women Plan Rwanda is showing that when people are supported, they can also support others. 🤝💪
Where Love Builds Homes: Consolatrice’s Story 🏠❤️
Consolatrice, a single mother of five from Ruhango District, spent many years raising her children under extremely difficult conditions. Her old house was unsafe and leaking, and every rainy season brought fear and sleepless nights. Despite her best efforts, life was a daily struggle, and she often worried about the future of her children.
Through the Single Mothers Empowerment Project (SMEP) by Women Plan Rwanda, with the generous support of donors and partners, Consolatrice’s life has taken a remarkable turn.
“I cannot express the joy in my heart. Thanks to Women Plan Rwanda, I now have a safe and beautiful home. This house means more than words can explain. It is truly a dream come true for me and my children. Thank you for changing my life,” said Consolatrice.
Her words reflect the deep emotional impact of having a safe, dignified home for the first time in years. The house was built strong, fully equipped with essential items like mattresses, chairs, and other household materials, ensuring that Consolatrice and her children could finally sleep peacefully without fear of rain or collapse.
But the support extended beyond housing. To help Consolatrice gain financial independence, Women Plan Rwanda provided pigs and chickens so she could start small-scale livestock activities. This initiative not only provides her family with a steady source of food but also a reliable income to build a more secure future.
“Before, I was constantly worried about providing for my children. Now, with the pigs and chickens, I can feed them and plan for their future. I feel empowered and hopeful,” Consolatrice shared.
Education was also a priority. With donor support, WPR sponsored her son to attend a boarding school in the tourism sector a unique opportunity that the family could never have afforded on their own. This step opens a path for him to break the cycle of poverty and pursue a strong career.
Tackling School Dropout Together 🎒📊
School dropout remains a serious challenge in rural areas. Women Plan Rwanda works closely with local leaders, teachers, and parents to identify the root causes: domestic conflicts, drug abuse, child labor, and lack of parental involvement. Parents acknowledged that conflicts between adults often affect children’s education.
Women Plan Rwanda interventions:
At GS Kaganza:
Children previously absent without reason reduced from 32% to 0%
Actual school dropout reduced from 15% to 0%
Students performing in the top positions increased from 9% to 13%
General academic performance improved from 36% to 83%
“These numbers show the impact of community engagement and coordinated support. Teachers, parents, and local leaders all play active roles, ensuring children stay in school” The Head Teacher of GS Kaganza appreciated Women Plan Rwanda’s interventions 📈✨
Students as Community Champions 💪🌍
Women Plan Rwanda goes beyond supporting families it empowers students to help their communities. During the July 2025 Holiday Program, DOP beneficiaries visited vulnerable families to provide practical support.
Kaganza Village: Students helped Kanyamibwa Yoramu, an elderly genocide survivor, build a toilet. Despite initial reluctance, students worked together fetching water, preparing mud, and constructing the toilet.
Vunga Village: Students helped Widow Ingabire Dorothea build a toilet, overcoming challenges like fetching water from far uphill. By the end, students were motivated, proud, and learned teamwork and compassion.
These activities show that supported beneficiaries can also become change-makers, strengthening the link between schools, students, and the wider community. 🛠️💧👏
Economic Empowerment Stories 🐓💰
Esther’s Journey
Esther, a young single mother, was once isolated and hopeless. Through SMEP, she joined a savings group and received a pig. Over time, she expanded her livestock and poultry project to 80 chickens and seven pigs, generating steady income. She proudly shares,: “I was abandoned and felt alone, without hope for my future,Before joining Women Plan Rwanda’s SMEP VSLA group, I didn’t know anything about saving. Whenever I got money, I spent it all. Everything changed when I joined the group. I learned to save, to plan, and to work hard. I received a pig, and after four months it produced nine piglets. I sold them, bought chickens, and started rebuilding my life.My parents began to value me again when they saw my progress. I sold the infertile pig, bought another, and expanded my poultry project. Today, I have seven pigs and 80 chickens.”
“I now see pig and poultry farming as my path to development. Soon my chickens will lay eggs for daily income, while my pigs continue bringing profit.I thank Women Plan Rwanda for lifting me from despair. You helped me discover my potential as a woman. I am determined to keep moving forward.”
Umutoniwase Grace
Grace became pregnant at an early age and felt ashamed and hopeless. WPR’s training in savings, life skills, and small business management changed her life. She shered : “My name is Umutoniwase Grace. I became pregnant at an early age and felt ashamed, devalued, and hopeless while still living in my parents’ home. Everything changed when I joined Women Plan Rwanda’s SMEP program. Through the training in capacity building, savings, motivation, and life skills, I began to believe that my future was not defined by what society said about me. After joining the VSLA group, I started saving every coin and received a pig that
produced six piglets. From selling piglets and compost, I rented land to grow vegetables, earned more income, and later opened a small salon using money from my harvest. Today I run a barbershop with three shaving machines, employ staff, rent out a bicycle that gives me weekly income, farm cassava year-round, and even have a contract with a school to provide shaving services. I can pay my child’s school fees, buy clothes, eat nutritious food, and create jobs for others. I am deeply grateful to Women Plan Rwanda because without this program I would still be trapped in the shame and hopelessness society placed on me. The support restored my confidence, my dreams, and my future. Before Women Plan Rwanda’s SMEP program I had no hope; today I am on a development journey, dreaming bigger, and becoming the best version of myself.”
Grace says: “Everything I have achieved began with WPR’s support. I am now dreaming bigger and building a future.” 💇♀️🥬🚲
After Women Plan Rwanda interventions, parents reported improved school attendance, better motivation, and children performing well academically. Many redirected resources to livestock, savings, and household stability, creating stronger families.
Parents also emphasized the importance of discussing sexual reproductive health with their children, ensuring they receive guidance at home rather than unreliable sources. 🌿👧
Building Strong Communities Together 🌍✨
WPR’s impact extends beyond education and economic empowerment. Village leaders, local authorities, community members, and program beneficiaries collaborate to improve health, hygiene, and livelihoods. For example, reusable pad awareness campaigns taught girls proper hygiene and encouraged safe usage.
Through these combined efforts, Women Plan Rwanda demonstrates that development is strongest when shared. Beneficiaries not only gain support they actively contribute to transforming their communities. This synergy strengthens families, schools, and entire villages. 🌟🏘️
The Power of Collective Action 💡🤝
Gustave, one of Women Plan Rwanda’s founders, explains: “When people feel ownership of a project, they care for it, sustain it, and spread it. This is how change lasts not just for a season, but for generations.”
Through collaboration, mentorship, and community engagement:
Women gain skills and income
Youth learn practical skills and leadership
Children stay in school and dream bigger
Communities become more resilient and united
Women Plan Rwanda proves that empower one person, empower a whole village is not just a slogan it is a reality. Change begins in homes, classrooms, and villages, and when everyone participates, transformation becomes sustainable and lasting. 🌱💛
“Every child we help stay in school, every woman we train, every family we support these are not just individual successes. They create ripples of change that strengthen entire communities.Transformation happens one community, one family, and one woman at a time. And at Women Plan Rwanda, we are committed to walking this path with them, every step of the way. These achievements are possible because of the unwavering partnership and support of our collaborators TrustBridge Global, Susk Girls’ United, Isabella Grajczyk (Canada), Global Youth Mobilization, and Annelies & David. Their commitment fuels the change we see in our communities every day.” Gustave concluded 🌱💫
Back to School with Hope ✏️📚✨Thanks to Women Plan Rwanda, these students return to school equipped with the tools they need to succeed and chase their dreams!
