The head of our donations department, Monika Glöcklhofer, travelled to Burundi and Rwanda on her first project trip in May. She writes: ‘I am overwhelmed by the warmth of the people and their determination to embrace and organise their lives despite poverty. I am experiencing so much energy, especially from Kolping members. And a solidarity that is practised so naturally!
The encounters with the families are heart-warming and deeply impress me. They have achieved so much. ‘Kolping has changed my world’ is a sentence I hear so often. I met one woman and her four children whose house had been destroyed by the disastrous weather last year. With financial support from the disaster fund and the help of her Kolping brothers and sisters, she was able to rebuild it in another location. Another woman had nothing but the flip-flops on her feet four years ago. She came to the Kolping office and asked for help. Today she proudly shows me what she has achieved: she lives in a house in the middle of a lush garden. Kolping provided her with a cistern and a cow. The two lively little children are the neighbours’ children. They were severely malnourished, but the cow’s milk strengthened their health.
At the Muramba Vocational Training Centre I met young adults, who are trained to become carpenters, bricklayers, tailors or electricians. What are their dreams for the future? ‘After my training here, I want to study Fashion Design and design high fashion clothes for women in Rwanda. – ‘I want to become the best electrician in my home region.’ – ‘I want to become a Civil Engineer and build houses for the future in Africa’. I have no doubt that these dreams will come true!
Of course, I already knew how Kolping works. But to see the pride people take in what they have created is simply overwhelming.”
