Daily Duhu

Divine Akimana
(The family name "Akimana" translates to "of God")

All my goals that I have now were like dreams to me before. Since I joined Duhugurane, I really feel like I am in control, am more focused and more motivated.

I can work on all the stories that I had kept private until now and produce some good novels. Because of Duhugurane, who inspired us, I can inspire some other girls not only in Rwanda but all over the world.

We will never have another Week 1 like this one

From Jamie Boiles, Project Director

As we end our second week of three weeks of Work Readiness training, I realize we will never have another first week of Duhugurane and that makes me excited for the future.

We started with 25 and only 4 have had to drop for personal reasons. To receive a certificate, each participate must attend 90% of the training. I was a little nervous on Day 2 to see who would be returning; most returned.

I have watched an evolution in team work, participation and voice level. The more they work together and participate in class, the more comfortable they get with it.

These 21 girls are beautiful, ambitious and strong. One young lady works several nights a week at a call center, gets off work and then comes to class. Another lady lives a 30 minutes car ride away, but isn't able to take a car, so she uses a combination of bus taxis and her own feet to get to class, taking about 2 hours each way.

Through this training, we are learning how to do things better. I feel like these girls are our first-born; we are making all the parenting mistakes with them, so we will do better next time. (I can say this being the baby of the family.)

We have already determined our goal is not just to churn participants through the training, but walk through these next steps with them and then focus on our next group. And we've gotten to really like and enjoy each and every girl. As we get to know them more, we want to see each one to find success in achieving their dreams.

We are in this together

The word Duhugurane has become more than just the young woman's project, which is very important to me; helping each other, or building each other up has become more than just a name of a project for me. Most organizations have mission statements they can reflect on each day as a gauge to see if what they are working on supports the overall direction of the organization.

The ROC Partners mission statement is: dedicated to investing in the people of Rwanda through education, community development, and faith-based initiatives. As employees of ROC Partners, we seek to be involved in projects that support our 3 pillars: education, community development and faith-based initiatives in Rwanda.

But personally, my mission statement has become duhugurane. Let US help each other, or build each other up. What can I do everyday to work with someone to help and together we build each other up? How can we all work together to build someone up, to mentor them?

When I was home this summer, so many people said, "I just couldn't do what you do." I would laugh and think (and sometimes say outloud), I probably couldn't do what you do on a daily basis. We have all been given unique gifts, it is up to us to use them to glorify Him. Recently, one of the Duhu girls (university students who are learning to be trainers to take what they have learned to other young women) wrote in a blog post: If everyone makes an impact, what impact are you making wherever you are?

God has given me the capacity to be able to uniquely serve His daughters and sons in Rwanda. It is because of your prayers and financial support that we are able to be here together, working side by side. You may not be able to phsycially be in Rwanda, but you can support the work here. We can do this together, duhugurane-style!

We need $1300 to launch our first training in January 2013. I hope that you will consider donating to help us work together to build up young women in Rwanda!  Click here to make your donation

Definition of Success

Personal success must connect with your inner purpose and passion.

We have different meanings of success because we are different. Find your personal meaning of success and you will quickly become successful.

Keep working until the last moment of your life with intention and potential, and with that you will shine one day.

It is also to achieve goals which you set, to overcome the difficulties which you faced.

In brief, success means to get in your daily life what you have dreamed, so that your heart will be shining with much happiness. When you feel it, you can be proud of yourself.

-Darlene

Live the Life of Your Dreams

Believe it or not, you can talk to yourself and begin to build your self-confidence. It won't be easy and you will have to fight with yourself and your inner voice (conscience) to bring about the results that you want.

Faith is the antidote to fear. God's plan for you is to have hope and a future, because you can't give what you don't have.

You can ask yourself these few questions like:

Why are you still alive? What is the purpose? Is there a big reason?
If everyone makes an impact, what impact are you making wherever  you are?
How do you treat others? Does it model how you want to be treated?
How many ways can you say "Fear Not"? What is your source of courage, hope, strength, wisdom...?

After asking yourself all those questions, you will see that it is not a mistake for you to be alive, it is not an accident; it is for your benefit. It is part of God's plan. Trust Him. All things are possible!

Daily Duhu-Giving Hope

Today, I would like to talk about building the hope of girls. In the past, girls or women in general were left behind for a long time. In Rwanda especially, the culture did not allow girls to have the same rights as boys. For instance, girls were not allowed to go to school, they were like house girls, or servants.

I know it is hard, but it is possible to change the mindset of girls. As Duhugurane girls, this is our time to tell all girls that they are able to change their lives. We want them to know that they have value, then set their goals and work hard to reach those goals. This is the main objective of Duhugurane girls.

Daily Duhu-Patricie

I am Patricie Nyiransabimana, a student at Akilah Institute for Women, year two. Let me share with you my experience that I am learning through this training. Through this training, I know how to have a specific goal and how to achieve it. I have learned that I can be a solution to others, specifically young women. I am a role model and good advisor.

In September 2012, I began a small business selling tea and snacks on campus. From this training, I have learned that I can not give up when it gets difficult. I am also learning how to set goals and achieve them.

I believe in me and I have the ability to do anything. In this training, I am learning how to change the world through Duhugurane.