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A Strong Voice, a Beautiful Mind!

Rwanda needs women like Emertha.

Emertha is 28 years old. She is Rwandan. When she was 16, nearly one million people died in her country in just 100 days. This atrocity, as unimaginable as it is, affected each and every family and is still in the minds and hearts of the Rwandan people, as they still struggle to overcome the traumatic experiences of this genocide. Emertha is a strong young woman today. In February 2006 we invited her to Vienna, Austria, as a representative of our "Fit for Leadership"- project in Rwanda. She is also part of the football project "Kicking for Reconciliation" (see "Sports" for more information on that).

Her story is a perfect example for the strong young women of today's Rwanda:

"I'm an orphan, I lost my parents and am responsible for my two sisters and two brothers. I have a passion for women in Rwanda, and I feel that I can develop them both, physically and mentally. As a female child, my life wasn't that good, because I lost my dad in the war when I was young. All of a sudden, my mother also died from cancer. So I had to take responsibilities. But I was among the few ladies who could take these responsibilities, because they are very heavy.
There are so many girls who have this kind of problems in Rwanda. Many of them find solutions, which I think are more problematic than being real solutions for their problems. Instead of finding solutions they find again problems, for example, prostitution.
I did not want to solve my problems, being the breadwinner for my family, like this. I said to myself, that I should be creative on my own, that I should find something to do. Well, I was lucky. The government sponsored my education because I had good marks at high school. I went to university, and when I was there, I thought the situation for women there was terrible, so I formed an association for women there."

Her family had to flee the country and found exile in neighbouring Tanzania, but Emertha always wanted to return. Today, she is living in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, and is studying Business Administration at KIST, Kigali's technical and teaching university. She also joined FAWE, the Forum for African Women Educationalists, as a volunteer because she wanted to do something for the women in her country.

"You find many first year students who are pregnant, and then when you look at their background, they are orphans, have no strong family background. So they are pregnant, and some of them will be dying of HIV/Aids. So I thought something has to be done and I formed a student's association. This is a forum where we can invite women who are more experienced and educated, who are role models, to come and give us their advice on issues like reproductive health. Together with FAWE, we started to form this kind of associations in several universities in Rwanda. Now, every university has an association for female students. That's what I achieved so far, but I'm not done yet... I will go on with my work for women and girls, and not only can I work for their empowerment, but I myself become more experienced and empowered, like, for example, through playing football, which became a passion for me."

Through this on-line platform, you can link up with young women like Emertha from Kigali, Rwanda, who is one of the founding members.
Girls without Borders - Play, Compete and Win!

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