February 7, 2019
Graduating to Resilience, an Activity implemented by AVSI Foundation and funded by the Office of Food for Peace, USAID gives hope to Congolese refugees like Ndabagyimana Tuyambaze and her seven children
Six years ago, Ndabagyimana Tuyambaze, 36 years old, fled her home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, running away from violence and starvation. Since then, she has been living with her five children, all under five years old, her husband and two older children that she fosters in the Base Camp of Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement in Uganda’s western district of Kamwenge. Life in the camp is not easy. Tuyambaze’s household lives in dire poverty: their primary source of income is a $55 handout they receive every month from the World Food Program. But their situation is about to change. Ndabagyimana is among the beneficiaries of Graduating to Resilience, a project implemented by AVSI Foundation and funded by the Office of Food for Peace, USAID.
“I am excited to be among the selected beneficiaries of this program,” celebrates Ndabagyimana, who is the sole wage earner of the household, since most of the time she is uncertain of her husband’s whereabouts.
AVSI, leading a consortium including Trickle Up and IMPAQ International, is implementing the Graduating to Resilience project in the Kamwenge District, in Western Uganda. The goal of the project is to graduate impoverished refugee households and vulnerable Ugandan households from conditions of food insecurity and fragile livelihoods to self-reliance and resilience.
In October 2018, when AVSI’s team arrived in Rwamwanja, Tuyambaze’s household was selected through a public lottery exercise. They will receive a full package of services including consumption support, core training and skills, savings group support, asset transfer, individual coaching, and additional linkages to basic services for thirty months.
“I expect to learn how to save money, take care of my vegetable garden and even start rearing goats,” says Tuyambaze, who is currently complementing her food ratio by paying a local farmer to cultivate maize, beans, and cassava on her land allocated by the Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR. “I don’t want to see suffering in the face of anyone, especially children. I want to make sure they all have food to eat and can attend the nearby school in the base camp. This project will certainly help me.”
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