Byukusenge Jean de Dieu is one of the youth dependents who participated and benefited from the project. His household received a solar light, and he was able to attend entrepreneurship training. After he completed the three-month program of training, he managed to secure a loan from Urwego Bank to strengthen his business. He is in apparel, travelling to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and buying clothes there, and selling them in local markets.
Through his business, Jean de Dieu is now able to make 50,000 Rwf (USD50) a month as profit after paying his loan and deducting all his expenses. This is double the income that he was generating before joining the project. Through the training received, he is able to count and record every transaction to be able to manage the finances of the business more accurately and to track his profit.
Byukusenge received a first-round loan of 200,000 Rwf (USD 198) through the Loan Guarantee Fund at Urwego Bank and repaid it back without any delay. He has now received a second loan of 250,000 Rwf (USD 247) and repayment is ongoing.
"Today I can say my life has changed since I joined this project. I am extremely happy as to what I have achieved since we started. I am among the young persons in my group, which mainly consists of older people. As youth, we learn a lot from these widows especially to be loyal and committed to whatever we are doing. This is the reason I have decided to take a loan and ensure that I am able to pay it back, since the old widows are able to do so -then I should and am inspired to do so too. I have continued my business but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has restricted travel to DRC, I have now diversified into selling crops so that I can continue to make repayments in good time."