Helping Girls and Young Women in Bujumbura Slum

GlobalGiving October 2025 Narrative Report

From June 2025 to October 2025, different activities were done: trauma healing workshops, Self-help groups (SHGs), Street Business School, income generating activities and the Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment Center (WSEEC) Project.

1. Trauma Healing Workshops

The FWA did five trauma healing workshops for a total of 100 gender-based violence survivors. The first workshop was done on June 26-28, 2025, the second one July 28-30, the third one on August 25-26. All of these three were done at in Maramvya in Bujumbura province. Participants were gender-based violence survivors. At the same time two trauma healing workshops were done for gender-based violence survivors’ refugees from the Democratic of the Republic of Congo. These were done on September 11-12, 2025 in Cishemere transit camp and on September 23-24, 2025 in Musenyi camp.

Stories

“After my child was hospitalized, I came home and found a young woman I didn't know. My husband told me she was his cousin, and I readily accepted. She was kind to me and helped me with housework. Since I leave very early for business and return late, I appreciated her support.

However, my neighbors began to worry. They noticed that when I left, the girl and my husband would lock the door and behave like husband and wife. They advised me to be careful. Eventually, I discovered the truth: she wasn't his cousin, but his second wife. One morning, I overheard my husband and the girl arguing about money He had sent to another woman. During this argument, everything broke out and I understood that this woman was living with me as his wife.

The shock was too much to bear. I went in home in silence, collapsed, and lost consciousness. I later woke up in the hospital. My first words were, “Is it true that she’s his wife?” People tried to comfort me, but I couldn’t be consoled. A nurse eventually asked my husband to speak to me, which helped me calm down.

I believed my husband would change, He had promised to do so after seeing how deeply his actions had affected me. The local authorities had also warned him that if He continued this behavior, He would face consequences. To avoid this, we moved from Kinama to Maramvya. But even then, my husband rented two houses; one for me and one for his other wife.

What hurt me most was that he took all the furniture and equipment from my home and furnished her house with it. I arrived to an empty house. Today, I continue to live with the trauma. It pains me to see my children going to the neighbors’ house to watch television, when we used to have our own.

I am grateful for this training, because I see myself in everything that has been shared. It gives me strength to begin my journey of healing.”

“My husband used to beat me often. Sometimes, he would throw me out of the house, even in the middle of the night. One night, while I was wandering outside alone, I encountered armed bandits. They terrorized me before letting me go. When I returned in house, I discovered that my husband had burned all my clothes. I had no one to turn to. My brother refused to speak to me, fearing that I would claim my share of the family inheritance.

One day, He beat me so violently that I lost my baby. I fell into a coma. Neighbors found me unconscious and took me to the hospital. When I woke up, I learned that my child was already dead. I never even got to see my baby.

He sold our land without ever asking for my consent. Once, I sold a cooking pot to buy a piece of cloth, hoping to cover myself with dignity. But he burned that cloth too. Another day, he ran after me with a stick, ready to attack. I was terrified and decided to run away.

I found refuge with a woman who took me in, and later I managed to rent a small house where I now live alone. The violence, humiliation, and losses I endured broke me to the point I attempted to take my own life several times.”

I lived in constant fear and suffering because of my husband's behavior. He was often drunk, and when he drank, he became violent. He refused to let me work, claiming we weren't compatible, and he humiliated me by inviting other women over. He often beat me in front of them.

One day, he threw a hot pot at me. He said it was because I hadn't bought him cigarettes. My children grew up witnessing all this suffering. My eight-year-old son sometimes warned me, "Mom, run away, Dad is coming." Another time, my husband hit me with a nailed-on wooden board. I screamed for help, and the neighbors came to stop him.

He often chased me out of the house. I thought about leaving him for good, but each time, I saw my children suffering: they were hungry and went to sleep without food. One day, I joined a savings and loan group, but he took all my money. Reporting him or getting him arrested was difficult because he is the father of my children.

Taking the trauma healing workshop was an eye-opener. I realized that many of the trauma symptoms explained accurately describe what I am experiencing. These teachings helped me better understand my situation and gave me hope. I now believe I can begin to make decisions that will promote my healing and bring peace back into my life.

Stories from DRC Refugees

• Adela: I lost my father, abused by my stepfather; my sister was raped and killed in front of me. I live with the guilt of not having been able to bury her.
• Mukumo: I was raped in front of her children; every glance at them reactivates the traumatic memory. I cry every day.
• Ombeni: I arrived in June 2025 and lost my child, who died in my arms without meaning or cause. Isolated, I consider suicide, rejected by those around me who stigmatize me. I am betrayed by my country, the DRC, which should protect me. I will never return there.
• Furaha: I was raped several times by soldiers and then by my in-laws (three brothers-in-law raped me in front of my husband because we had family conflicts related to land. They took advantage of the conflicts in the DRC to hurt me and thus attack my husband, who fled. To this day, I don't know where he is, if he is alive or dead); I was poisoned and sick for 6 months. My 6-year-old child often reminds me of the attacks and violence I suffered in his presence, and I feel powerless to raise him with dignity.
• Sylvie: I saw my 16-year-old son killed, I was raped twice during the escapes, and I lost my husband, who was killed in front of my eyes, and his brothers (kidnapped). To this day, I have no information about them. When I arrived here, I found my five children at the Cishemere site; they are my sources of hope.
• Bahati: I was raped by five soldiers, I continue to bleed despite the medical care I receive here. I don't have underwear or a dignity kit. I saw my 23-year-old son killed in front of my eyes; I haven't even buried him. Two other children are missing. I don't know where they are. I wonder if I can go back there. Even if they can kill me, no problem, because I'm still alive here.
• Claudine: I lost my brother, my essential support, killed during the conflict. I couldn't bury him and live with profound loneliness. I feel abandoned and ignored, and I see others as a threat. I see any man in military uniform as my brother's killer. I deleted all his photos from my phone, but as soon as I have nothing to do, I constantly replay the scenes of what happened when he was killed

2. Self Help Group Testimony

“My name is Evelyne. I have nothing negative to say about FWA, because they supported me when I needed it most. I used to be a victim of economic violence. My husband depended on me to provide for everything and constantly traumatized me with hurtful words on a daily basis.

When I joined the FWA’s self-help group (SHG), I was emotionally exhausted, but it was a turning point in my life. The SHG allowed me to save a considerable amount, which is very difficult for someone who runs a small business.

In 2019, I contributed 1,000,000 BIF towards the purchase of a motorcycle for my husband, while he contributed 800,000 BIF. I did this just to maintain peace in our home. However, he later sold the motorcycle without even informing me. That betrayal was deeply painful.

I also helped cover his travel expenses to Uganda, where He now works as a motorcycle taxi driver. Since then, I’ve found peace in my household.

With my savings, I bought a plot of land in ISARE for 1,000,000 BIF, which is now valued at 6,000,000 BIF. I also bought a pig for 250,000 BIF and sold it for 500,000 BIF just three months later. Later, my friend and I partnered to buy a cow for 1,500,000 BIF. After two years, we sold it for 4 million BIF.

I added this money to what I had saved within the self-help group over the previous two years and bought another plot of land in NYABUNYEGERI at 4,000,000 BIF. Due to the SHG, I am gradually building a house on this plot of land.

Today, I am able to feed my children, save money, and clothe myself and my children. Before joining SHG, all of this would have been impossible.”

• Global_Giving_October_2025_Narrative_Report.doc (DOC)