Ish… Ish… Ishaka echoed the Mission Suedoise hall full of more than 80 adolescent girls in Bujumbura, all between the ages of 14 and 22. Eager to learn about how to use their solar-powered and wind-up Lifeline radios and how to get the most out of the financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health, and life skills programmes created for them by Radio Publique Africaine, the girls listened enthusiastically and participated actively as I conducted the training.
Despite the interpretation time lag – from French to Kirundi and Swahili – the girls were bursting with questions about the radios and the Guardian Agreements. They were impatient to know why only one person had been selected as the safe-keeper of the radio, and if it was a fair process in the Solidarity Groups, as the group’s savings are kept in a locked box that has three padlocks, held by three different girls. The girls, part of a CARE International’s village savings and loans project in Burundi, were some of the most outspoken, articulate and interactive beneficiaries that I have come across in my training sessions and were a real pleasure to work with.
The Iskaha project aims to educate girls to access safe savings and financial resources, as well as improve life skills and social support systems, to enable them to steer the transitions from adolescence to adulthood.
This post was written by Chhavi Sharma, Lifeline Energy’s Project Manager, after a recent trip to Burundi.
Last week I visited Burundi in the Great Lakes region of East Africa for a village savings and loans project in which our Lifeline radios will play a role. Targeted at adolescents girls aged 14-22, this project seeks to provide financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health, human rights and essential life skills information to enable girls to make informed choices and decisions to ensure their economic and social well-being – critical skills if you live in one of the poorest countries in the world. The project will have a radio component to supplement face-to-face training, as educational programming is being developed and Lifeline radios procured to distribute to the girls in the interactive Solidarity Groups.
Conducting a focus group with adolescent girls in a slum outside of Bujumbura
Georgette, a 20-year-old I spoke to in Gitega province, said she had joined her group of 30 girls to learn how to save money, manage her finances efficiently and escape her misery. A secondary school drop-out, she was unable to complete her education as she began suffering from weak eyesight, a direct result of studying by the fire at night. So often my colleagues and I hear heartbreaking stories like this – and of how candles and kerosene have damaged people’s eyesight.
A mother of two young children at the age of 19, Irene in a slum outside Bujumbura echoed Georgette’s sentiments. She said she wants to get into the habit of saving money regularly to expand her small business – buying palm oil and reselling it at a higher price – and providing for her children. She presently lives with her parents, who help with living costs. Irene is excited that the girls in her group get together every week to talk about the problems they face in their day-to-day lives.
A woman giving her testimony during a Solidarity Group meeting in Gitega
Georgette, Irene and the other girls I met were particularly interested in receiving Lifeline radios, as they will provide dependable access to programming especially created for them and their needs. In addition to reviewing savings and loans principles for the girls, the broadcasts will introduce these concepts to their families and larger communities, thereby increasing support and acceptance of the project. Discussions around the programmes will also help solidify relationships within the Solidarity Groups and ensure that the girls strive together for a more promising future.
