Geoff Bartlett Photography
CAVAP Self-Help Groups
The local Rwandan NGO AEE Rwanda implemented self-help groups in Rwanda's Eastern province, funded by the German Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ) and Kindernothilfe (KNH).
These photos are from profiles of four families whose futures have been transformed through their self-help groups. The images were included in reports to the funding institutions, AEE Rwanda information brochures, and the AEE Rwanda annual report.
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Client: AEE Rwanda
Sprouted sorghum lies drying in the sun in front of Regina’s house. The sorghum is Regina’s business and an important source of income for her family, made possible by her CAVAP self-help group. Regina credits her CAVAP self-help group with financially transforming her life. She can now buy health insurance for herself, her husband, and her two children, and her family is no longer dependent on only her husband’s income.
The drying sorghum is Regina’s business and an important source of income for her family, made possible by her CAVAP self-help group. Like many other self-help group members, she started with a small loan of 5,000 Rwf to buy bananas to make banana juice. With the profits from selling the first 60L of banana juice, Regina was able to buy more bananas and sorghum. She sells dried sorghum and it is ground into a meal for food and beer. She has since bought a goat and chickens.
Two large love hearts are painted on the walls either side of her front door. Regina, 38, was diagnosed with HIV in 2001 when pregnant with her third child, her infection resulting from a 1996 sexual assault. Her self-help group provides support and additional training on managing her HIV, and she has been instrumental in convincing her self-help group members to go for voluntary HIV testing.
Two large love hearts are painted on the walls either side of her front door. Regina, 38, was diagnosed with HIV in 2001 when pregnant with her third child, her infection resulting from a 1996 sexual assault. Although she lost her third child, her husband and their two children do not carry the virus. From the time she was diagnosed, her husband was fully supportive and she looks forward to a long life.
