Stories

Co-creating new livelihood opportunities in Rwanda

Alight promotes self-reliance in communities of displaced people in Rwanda. Recent initiatives for women and young people include mushroom farming, beekeeping, and a coding school.

Since the 1990s, Rwanda has been host to more than 150,000 displaced people, most of them from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Continued instability in these countries means that the length of stay in refugee camps has exceeded two decades for some. This is why Alight works with communities to co-design solutions that both address their immediate needs and strengthen their resilience and self-reliance. We engage our customers through constant dialogue to ensure that their needs are always addressed. This has helped 90% of the programs’ participants continue their involvement in livelihood initiatives and support their families.

We have recently launched livelihood initiatives for teen mothers and vulnerable women, such as mushroom production, beekeeping, soap-making, hair-dressing salons, and other projects. We’ve also introduced a coding school for refugee and host-community youth.  

These livelihood interventions have significantly improved the self-esteem of community members, giving them hope to pursue their lives and dreams again. As a young mother who became a mushroom farmer in Mahama Refugee Camp tells us, “I now have confidence that I can still do what I envisaged to do in my life. We are now very busy with our projects; thank you Alight for making us shine again.”

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