Seeing Opportunities in Challenges
By Scovia Kamatenesi, Komera Administrative Assistant
Angelique is a Komera University Scholar. She joined Komera in 2016 when she had no hope of continuing her studies after secondary school without the support of her family. She had performed well in previous years, but they could not help her go to a good school.
“It was the miraculous day for me when I met a Komera staff member informing me that I was among those who will be supported. I consider myself as the luckiest and blessed person since the time I entered the Komera family,” Angel said with wet eyes and a sweet smile.
Angel did well from the time she entered Komera and behaved well in the Post-Secondary Transition Program. This led her to continue her journey of fulfilling her dreams by joining the University of Rwanda in October of 2019 to study Human Resource Management with a government loan.
As we all know, the whole world faced a pandemic when COVID-19 began to spread in 2020. In Rwanda, all the schools closed and all the scholars went back to their homes. This affected Angelique, as well as other scholars, and she went back to her home in the Eastern part of Rwanda, Kayonza district.
Angelique vegetables selling in the market for the first time
After the country received the announcement from the Rwanda Education Board that the schools will not reopen until October 2020, Angel decided to start a business of making Chapats and Mandazi, common Rwandan breakfast foods, in her home area with the skills she gained in Post-Secondary Transition Program. Later, however, she came to shift to a business of selling vegetables after she studied the market in her community and saw there was a greater demand for vegetables than what was available. She started her business with with just 25,000 Rwandan francs in two weeks had a profit of 13,700 Rwandan francs.
With her profits and time before school restarts, she has a plan of innovating her mother’s house that leaks when it rains. Angel doesn’t only have a business of selling vegetables, but has expanded and bought five goats that she has made her priority business. When she goes back to school in October, she believes it will easy for her mother and three siblings to take care of them even if she will not be around.
Angelique with her goats!
She said that, “the business of goats is really good for me though it takes longer than selling Vegetables. Still, it’s the best as 4 goats in 5 gave birth to 2 kids each.”
Angelique doesn’t want to depend on someone for the rest of her life as Komera has taught her to be self-reliant. In the Post-Secondary Transition Program, she was challenged and taught how to be miss independent in her life.
“After knowing that we will go back to school in October, I had flash backs in my mind of the things Komera staff used to tell us about how we should always use the chances we get and plan our lives with a plan B. I decided to start a small business instead of staying home doing nothing,” Angel said. She added on that she keeps calling her fellow Komera sisters to stay active in this period before going back to school instead of sitting home.
She doesn’t only focus on her family and life, rather she has her whole community in her heart. She has a group of 7 young girls whom she meets weekly teaching them about reproductive health, hygiene, and to be responsible in their homes regardless of the challenges around them.
“After joining the Komera family, I started seeing opportunities where other see challenges,” Angel said with a smiling confident voice.