At our March meeting, Bridgend Soroptimists welcomed VSO volunteer Mary Watkins to talk about her life as a volunteer in Rwanda.
Mary, a teacher, first visited Rusizi in Rwanda with her husband in 2013 for a one-year adventure. They fell in love with the country, which they compared to Wales for its scenery, and set about helping to develop educational support for children with special needs. Since that first experience in the country, they have continued to travel back regularly becoming involved with training student teachers, as well as pupils in the 6th Form college. Fundraising has enabled the establishment of suitable classrooms, furniture and books and through Mary’s ingenuity, she had been able to teach students to recycle local items to make resources for the local schools.
Mary also works with the Isooko Women’s Cooperative. The cooperative started when a Soroptimist club in Gwent funded a sewing machine for a tailor in the area. This developed and now there is a group of more than 40 women with 28 sewing machines, all trained as tailors working together in their own shop. The original 7 women are now trainers and mentors to the newcomers. The cooperative targets vulnerable women such as single mothers and those with little or no education. The aim is that the members of the group will be able to improve their living conditions and earn a sustainable income to support themselves and their families. Mary brought along a number of items made by the women, including aprons, bags and soft toys. These were eagerly viewed and purchased by our members.
Mary and her husband will be continuing to support both the Women’s Cooperative and the school through their charity, fundraising to improve education and living standards.
As a result of her talk, SI Bridgend donated to VSO to support their work. Members also purchased items made by the ladies in the Isooko Cooperative and £270 was raised on the night through donations and sales. Mary has since confirmed that, having spoken to her colleagues in Rusizi, half of this money will be spent on the cooperative and half on the school.
The cooperative has recently been offered the chance to make uniforms for the students at the local college. The ladies have been busy upping their skills in making shirts, skirts, trousers and jumpers with the more skilled teaching the others. They have also requested that a more experienced tailor comes to train them to make quality trousers. The money donated by our members will be used to buy materials for them to use to make samples.
As far as the part of our donation that goes to the school…. a requirement from the Rwanda government is that all schools should have a girls’ room exclusively for the use of girls during times of menstruation. The money we have donated will be used to improve the current girls’ room (little more than a large cupboard!) and provide better facilities until a completely new, larger room can be built.
Rayner gave a vote of thanks to Mary saying that everyone had enjoyed the evening immensely and was impressed by Mary’s enthusiasm and professional presentation. We look forward to extending our connection and exploring how we could get more involved in the future.
It was great to see this article in the Glamorgan Star following our meeting. If you are interested in finding our more about the Rwanda Initiative or Soroptimist International, please contact our secretary Rayner at raynerjrees@gmail.com
