Rwanda: Building ‘skills and confidence, not dependency’

Lutheran church empowers women and youth to drive economic and church growth

(LWI) – When the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR) embarked on seminars on Lutheran teachings for women and youth mostly in rural parishes, and training in entrepreneurial skills and self-help groups in 2021, the vision was clear: strengthen the faith of congregation members and empower them to be agents of change in communities with limited access to essential services.

“The results are nothing short of remarkable,” said Rev. Prince A. Kalisa, LCR General Secretary. “All participants received the Small Catechism of Martin Luther, which the LCR translated into Kinyarwanda, and they are now able to understand their faith,” he said, referring to one workshop. “In addition, we’ve empowered 15 groups through entrepreneurship projects, trained 90 women and girls in tailoring, supported 40 youth in horticulture, and most of these people are now self-employed.”

These activities were carried out alongside reconstruction of congregation buildings to comply with the government’s recent requirements that registered faith-based organizations have theologically trained pastors and other professional workers. Also, the places of worship infrastructure must adhere to safety and hygiene regulations, including soundproofing, and sanitation facilities.

Transforming lives

The Lutheran World Federation has been supporting the LCR long-term project through its Member Church Projects program. Among the project’s highlights are women’s agricultural groups that have transformed lives. Equipped with irrigation equipment and training, these groups have turned barren lands into thriving farms. The proceeds from harvests go into local savings and cooperative societies that provide credit to members. Five women’s groups also received heifers, rabbits and piglets for income-generating activities. “We are not just growing crops and rearing domestic animals, we are growing opportunities,” said a group leader from Sakara congregation, in the southeastern parish of Kibungo.

In one of the social entrepreneurship groups, where youth and women learned skills like liquid soap production, tailoring, and mobile money operations, 20 youth are self-employed and contributing to their families’ incomes. “These are not just numbers. These are lives transformed,” Kalisa added.

Beyond economic empowerment, there are significant social impacts. Through seminars on reproductive health, prevention of HIV and AIDS and substance abuse, and responsible use of technology including mobile phones, 500 young adults in LCR primary schools now have the tools to safeguard their health and futures. “In all five LCR primary schools, there have been no reports of early pregnancies, and drug abuse among youth living mostly in town or cities has gone down,” Kalisa noted. However, concern remains over increasing cases of HIV and AIDS among youth in the country, which are partly attributed to low sensitization on prevention. With a population of 14.2 million people, Rwanda has a three percent HIV prevalence rate among adults.

Community effort and resilience

But it is also about the visibility of the Lutheran church, General Secretary Kalisa noted, citing the congregations that are being reconstructed and a youth tailoring center in Sakara through collective community effort. “The church’s commitment to spreading the gospel and contribution to its surrounding communities highlights its resilience and dedication to its mission,” he emphasized.

Despite the project’s overall success —94 percent of the goals achieved—some of the challenges that emerged provide learning opportunities, according to Kalisa. Referring to three cases whereby project participants sold heifers instead of rearing them to increase the herd and provide milk, he said the persons implicated reimbursed the purchase price of the young cows, a decision that was supported by the local community and authorities.

As the project moves into its last implementation phase in the first quarter of 2025, the church’s sustainability into the future without heavy reliance on external assistance remains critical, Kalisa emphasized. Ensuring that the centers built and the women’s groups farming land are owned by the church, and involving the parish stewardship committees and government leaders in selecting beneficiaries and joint monitoring of all activities, are important factors, he noted.

“Our goal is to ensure church members are able to understand their faith in their everyday language as we build skills and confidence, not dependency,” he added.

Creating change in challenging environments often starts small, said Rev. Dr Samuel Dawai LWF Regional Secretary for Africa. “Hope starts to grow when faith is put into action. Raising awareness enables young people to make good choices, the creation of a women’s group leads to friendship, mutual support and improved livelihoods, and learning simple skills can be the starting point for small businesses.”