Before JPRWEE initiative came to Nyamasheke, NTWARI Jeanne, 60’s -year-old resident of Butare Village in Butare Cell, Gihombo Sector was a full-time she’s a widower wife she has 3 children but live with the youngest son she used to work but with no understanding how she can protect and manage her financial situation. She used to say that she has nothing left she is going to eat everything and die because of her situation of losing her husband as a rural women think that she cannot survive alone without a husband.
As a selected beneficiary of the JPRWEE initiative, Jeanne received training on the five GALS+ tools, which she found particularly enlightening, especially the Vision Road Journey as the main one because it opened Jeanne’s eyes in different aspect for example in climate change.
As before she used to work hard on finding dry woods for cooking as she lived with his youngest son he struggled to find them.
Before getting GALS trainings Jeanne faced numerous challenges on using traditional cooking:
Health Risks
Smoke Inhalation: Burning wood releases smoke that contains harmful pollutants that caused her to always cough.
Environmental impact
Deforestation: Excessive use of wood for cooking contributes to deforestation, leading to habitat loss and climate change.
Time and effort
Fuel Collection: Collecting firewood is time-consuming and physically demanding, especially in areas where wood is scarce.
Safety Hazards
Fire Accidents: Open flames pose risks of burns, especially to children, and can lead to accidental house fires.
- GALS tool contributing most to the resolutions of the highlighted problems:
GALS helped her to understand that the method used at home for cooking is risky and inappropriate for the environment.
Vision road journey was the most GALs tool helped Jeanne to understand that even her children have all rights on the family assets and finances.
She understood that she need clear plan and understandings on how she can work hard for her children and improve their lives socially and economically.
Other factors contributing to the change in her mind
Due to the success of the training she learned how she can save for future as she mentioned that before she always struggled to manage money as now she has a bank account even in saving cooperatives and now she is safe and encouraged.
The training taught Jeanne the importance of saving and budgeting. They set up a small savings group with other farmers, enabling them to invest in better farming tools and pay for school fees without taking on debt and able to renovate his family house.
With support from the cooperative and GALS training promoting clean energy, Jeanne received a subsidized energy-efficient cook stove. The cookstove required minimal firewood and emitted far less smoke. Through GALS’ participatory approach, she:
- Mapped her expenses and realized how much money she spent on firewood.
- Visualized the time saved by no longer collecting large quantities of wood.
- Understood the health benefits of reducing indoor air pollution.
Jeanne embraced the new cooking method wholeheartedly. Within weeks, she noticed significant changes in her life. The cookstove reduced her wood consumption by more than 60%, allowing her to collect fewer branches and leave more trees standing. The reduced smoke drastically improved the air quality in her home, and her children’s health began to improve.
Economic Empowerment and Community Impact
With the time saved from firewood collection, Jeanne started a small vegetable garden using organic waste as compost from cow dung . She also joined a women’s savings group, where she began contributing small amounts from the money she previously spent on firewood. Within a year, she saved enough to purchase a land, further reducing her reliance on unsustainable resources.
Jeanne became an advocate for clean energy in her community. Using the GALS methodology, she facilitated workshops for other women in Nyamasheke, sharing her journey and encouraging them to adopt cookstoves. Her efforts inspired over 25 households in her village to switch to clean cooking methods , reducing deforestation and improving gender equality community health.
