TWINAGURE: Women's Trades: a Path to Follow

Sewing and small-scale commerce are activities predominantly carried out by women, directly or indirectly supporting many households in Burundi. TWINAGURE, a Non-Profit Association, has made it a mission to assist vulnerable women, especially single mothers and those rejected by their husbands and society. Despite the endurance and patience required in these professions, these courageous women have responded positively to the training organized by the association.
Women have been organized into groups to undergo training in sewing and business computing organized by the SOPAD consortium. This helps the graduates of these training sessions to initiate income-generating activities and enables them to be competitive in the job market. Through these small businesses, these courageous women demonstrate the will to work to provide for their families, even if sometimes their families reject them. Those who are rejected by their husbands work to financially strengthen their households and become more or less independent. Moreover, these days, there is no need to underline the indispensable contribution of women to the country's economy.
Since 1996, TWINAGURE has focused its efforts on supporting vulnerable and rejected women. In this context, the association has established a sewing training space to help its beneficiaries initiate small businesses. TWINAGURE has, on its record, guided a group of women engaged in embroidery in Kinama. These women manage to sell their fabrics, generate profits, and pool them together to create a fund that, in the future, could help finance their micro-projects or at least solve some daily problems.

Diverse Occupations

In addition to the sewing training workshop, as part of the SOPAD consortium, TWINAGURE has set up a computer training room to build competent individuals, especially young people and women, in the job market. They could even initiate small businesses such as public secretarial services, computer services, or offices for legal or accounting data entry. This computer training room also opens its doors to individuals who want to enhance their knowledge in specialized software and IT solutions.
TWINAGURE also mentors women and single mothers involved in small businesses, mostly selling fruits and vegetables. Since many of these women engage in street vending, a trade that faces many obstacles and is also prohibited by the national police, the association helps them secure spaces in trading centers to move from the informal sector to the formal sector.

A formal setting and professionalism

According to women engaged in street vending near the SOS Children's Village school in Nyakabiga, they affirm that the conditions in which they work are not an easy task. The lack of a fixed and secure address exposes them to theft and rape because sometimes they are forced to work until late at night to avoid the risk of spoilage. Additionally, they are prey to the police who hold them responsible for insecurity.

All these obstacles continue to expose them to sexual exploitation and unwanted pregnancies.
The TWINAGURE association is in the process of setting up shops in various neighborhoods to enable these women to pool funds to run the shop and thus work in a formal and professional setting. In addition to the shops, TWINAGURE also helps young girls, especially refugee girls from the DR Congo, to establish mobile restaurants that not only help these young girls earn money but also create jobs for them.
Editorial, ID