Nyiranzirorera and her husband have been married for 30 years. Majority of those years however were filled with so much pain, she narrates.
As a low-income household, their troubles mostly stemmed from financial issues, where the husband used to misuse even the little they had.
“My husband used to spend all the money on alcohol and that brought many conflicts in our marriage. In addition to that, we could not develop economically as we were not united in planning for the home. Poverty, abuse and disputes characterized our home,” she recalls.
In 2018, they joined the couples’ community dialogues on GBV conducted by Haguruka.
With community dialogues, participants gather in order to exchange information, share personal stories and experiences as they also find solutions to their concerns.
In this case, discussions were centred on building peaceful and developed families.
“We learnt that we both have equal rights in the home and on the home’s property. It was a process of change but slowly by slowly, we began making progress; learning to communicate effectively and peacefully and also resolving our disputes constructively.
“As we were united in mind-set, my husband and I joined a saving cooperative and got a loan of Rwf 40,000 to invest in a sorghum business. We later paid the loan off and got an even bigger loan for the business, and later bought a cow that also bore a calf. We have witnessed both relational and economic transformation through these dialogues and our life has never been the same.”