“Helping women gives me strength”

Founding Avega East, a Rwandan women’s association, helped Odette Kayirere find new meaning to life after the murder of her husband in the 1994 genocide.

“I escaped death many times. It’s why I find a meaning for my survival today,” says Odette Kayirere, 54, founding member of Avega East, an award-winning women’s association set up to help widows of the Rwandan genocide.

A million people were slaughtered from April to May 1994, during 100 days of brutal ethnic violence. Around 50,000 women lost their husbands, and became heads of households overnight.

Mass rape, used as a weapon of war, added to women’s trauma. It is estimated that 67 per cent of women raped during the genocide are now HIV positive.

In the months following the genocide, like so many other women in Rwanda, Odette struggled to come to terms with the loss of her husband and the violence she has witnessed.

“Life made no sense, I lost all hope,” she remembers. “I was angry and I wanted to hide from people. I fed my children but that was all I could manage.”

In 1995, Odette heard about a group of women who were trying to support each through their trauma. She joined a few meetings and felt her first glimmer of hope.

“I realised that I wasn’t the only one in pain. There were others suffering even more than me. I thought: ‘Maybe there is something for me to do, to make a change, to help people.’”

Within days, Odette had started Avega East, a widow’s association based in Rwamagana, eastern Rwanda. “I organised about 20 women and told them about Avega and how we could help each other. The first thing was to break the silence, to fight the isolation that women felt.”

From small beginnings, Avega East flourished into a groundbreaking women’s association. Today, it has over 4,000 members and continues to grow.

Amongst its many services, Avega East offers psychological support to help women overcome the horrors they have faced. “We train women in trauma healing, and we offer individual counselling and group counselling,” explains Odette.

In the last few years, Avega East has helped women gain justice in court for genocide crimes including murder of loved ones, rape and loss of property and land. “Many women are not educated, didn’t go to school, or know their rights. The role of Avega is to help them fight for their own rights,” says Odette.

The organisation has trained 80 women, many of whom have never been to school, as paralegals - women who can offer advice on complex legal cases and even advocate in court.

In 2009, Odette’s hard work and dedication was recognised when she won an award for ‘women's creativity in rural life’ from the Women's World Summit Foundation.

“I was nominated by CAFOD,” she says with a smile. “The award was a surprise! I am very proud that people recognise the good work we do. It gives me good dreams.”

CAFOD has supported Avega since 1995.