Mukundente Josephine  

Mukudente Josephine shared how her learning about ABCD through Coady has shifted how she supports women savings groups in Rwanda and the impact for small livestock keeping entrepreneurs:

“After participating in the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) course at Coady Institute, I changed the way I work with community groups in Rwanda. Instead of focusing on the problems communities face, I learned to help people recognize and use the assets and opportunities that already exist in their communities. 

In my work, I support 40 savings groups that are working to improve their economic situation. Many of the members are women. Using the knowledge from the ABCD course, I facilitated asset mapping sessions where group members sat together to identify the skills, resources, and opportunities available around them. This helped them realize that they already had many strengths they could build on.

One group called Ejoheza discovered that several members had experience in small livestock keeping and access to local markets. Through discussion and planning, they decided to start small businesses such as poultry raising and selling agricultural products. Over time, these activities helped members increase their income and confidence.

This experience showed me that when communities recognize their own assets, they become more motivated and creative in solving their challenges.”

The training from Coady strengthened my facilitation skills and helped me support women and community groups to take initiative and build sustainable livelihoods using the resources they already have.