It's never too late!!!
My name is Francine Nibigira, and I completed the training courses in food processing techniques organized by SOPATRAM. Today, I have mastered the entire process of making passion fruit, pineapple, and hibiscus juices, among others, and I also know the mixing ratios for blended juices. Since learning, through these training courses, how to make fortified porridge flour, I feel ready to join the fight against the malnutrition that is rampant in our neighborhoods…
Since 2020, when SOPATRAM began bringing together young women interested in learning small-scale trades, I quickly joined them at the Kigobe training center, where we learned several processing techniques that would enable us to start our own small-scale businesses. A year later, when SOPATRAM, in partnership with the COPAD cooperative and the TWINAGURE association, established a training center in Gihosha, I learned how to make porridge suitable for all ages—whether for young children, adolescents, adults, or the elderly. Today, I am ready to join the fight against malnutrition, especially for children under 5 and breastfeeding mothers. When I see children suffering from kwashiorkor or chronic malnutrition, or when I come across mothers who are nearly starving to death, tears well up in my eyes, and I wonder what I can do to help them.
“I know full well that for us young people—and especially young women—it’s very difficult to save up enough capital to start a business. As for me, I’ll never just sit back and do nothing…”
I started working alongside the production teams at the processing facility set up by SOPATRAM. I do what little I can to help out, and I earn a small amount of money that I set aside so that later I can start making porridge flour and thus fulfill my deepest dream. In addition to working in juice production, I run a shop in North Mutanga, which was launched as part of the SOPAD consortium to build the capacity of women who work as street vendors. This shop gives me opportunities to meet and interact with young women who work in small-scale trades, and this further strengthens my desire to help others.
To keep myself busy in my free time, I make doughnuts that I sell in local shops, which helps me earn money to support myself. With SOPAD’s support through the small-scale business support program, I participate in training sessions organized for young women, teenage mothers, and single mothers to teach them how to make a living with just a small amount of capital.
Through SOPAD, I’ve come to realize that starting a business or creating a job for yourself doesn’t require as many resources as I used to think. All you need is knowledge and the courage to take the plunge. Besides, no matter how old you are, it’s never too late to get started…
ID Editorial Team
