Claudine Benimana is a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and whose livelihood changed thanks to the government-funded Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP), as she puts it.

Now a widow, Benimana lives in Gikomero Sector, Gasabo District and after being resettled in a model village built for survivors, she and her children were living a bitter life, "we only took one meal per day,” she said.

The 40-year-old said that only two of her four children were able to attend school and the rest wandered around aimlessly with risks of being trapped in unhealthy habits.

She joined VUP in 2020 under the cluster of public works, meaning that she would get enlisted for public works for which she was paid Rwf2000 per day from digging anti-erosion terraces and clearing roads.

Claudine Benimana  a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi speaks to a journalist in Gikomero Sector, Gasabo District on on March 3.

After saving from her income, she managed to lease a plot at Rwf100,000 per year and started cultivating.

When The New Times visited her, she was happy to showcase her small-scale banana plantation mixed with sorghum that she started cultivating. By selling bananas, she maintains a cash flow for her daily needs.

She also bought two goats, one at Rwf15,000 and another at Rwf20,000, and she plans to sell them after having reproduced so that she can buy a cow for milk and manure.

Benimana says that thanks to VUP, all her children have been able to go back to school and they can now eat more than once a day.

She affirmed that based on her story and other testimonials, one can witness complete economic transformation if they properly use the money provided to them to improve their livelihoods.

"Of course, if there is mismanagement they will always be stuck in poverty, you can’t spend the money you receive in drinking and other things and expect to see change,” she said.

There are tens of thousands of families like that of Benimana, whose fortunes have drastically turned, courtesy of this social protection programme.

VUP was established in 2008 to change livelihoods of the most impoverished families, which stood at 38 per cent at the start of the program and the goal of the country is to have at least below one per cent of people living in extreme poverty by 2024.

Spearheaded by the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), the programme is implemented by Districts in most sectors across the country through local authorities.

It provides direct support and paid public works (Classic and Extended Public Works), such as road maintenance, for people in the former first and second Ubudehe categories, and in 2013 VUP expanded to include financial assistance services and skills development for youth.

We also found Xavier Niyonsenga feeding his cow in a cowshed built in his yard, he said that he has come a long way wealth-wise and plans to renovate his small house from the money he will generate once the cow reproduce.

The resident in Gikomero Sector, Gasabo District is a father of six and a beneficiary of VUP classic works and financial assistance.

He worked as a merchant in the market before joining VUP in 2019. After getting a loan of Rwf100,000 under VUP financial support, he bought two goats which he reared until they reproduced to become seven.

Niyonsenga was able to pay off his first loan from the money he had invested in his business at the market which allowed him to get a second loan of Rwf150,000 that he added on the money he got from selling the goats to buy a cow at Rwf400,000 earlier this year.

As of now, the cow gives 3 litres of milk per day for his family and manure for his garden.

On top of that, Niyosenga who is now in the second Ubudehe category said that he has started saving for his pension in Ejo Heza with now Rwf45,000 in his account.

According to Jean de Dieu Ndayisabye, Social Affairs Officer at Gikomero Sector, said that they use an estimate of more than Rwf10 million in a month across all components of VUP.

He, however, said that the program hasn’t yet reached all people who are eligible to benefit from it but because they select the most vulnerable, they are able to reduce issues arising from impoverished families.

"There are even other governmental programs put in place to alleviate people from poverty, so, when you add this VUP program for someone who has the will to develop themselves, they can quickly graduate from the line of poverty,” he added.  

Through routine monitoring and studies conducted, LODA reported improved welfare, asset accumulation, productivity through income generation, and the exit from poverty by the beneficiaries.