My name is  Nyiransabimana Eliane, I am 37years old, iam married with four kids. My husband and our one child  are infected with HIV/AIDS. We learnt about our situation following a voluntary testing organized by PACFA now Imbuto Foundation, an organization founded by the First Lady of Rwanda.  Since then we started receiving free Antiretroviral (ARV) through a government program and some support to our family like medicine, clothing, and The Imbuto Foundation later introduced us to Gahaya Links where we were encouraged to learn and adopt an income generating skill such as basket weaving. At Gahaya Links I enrolled in a two-week basket training class. This was the first time I was weaving baskets for sale. The training on new designs was very hard for me but I was determined to learn something that would contribute to our family’s situation. We needed an income to support our new lifestyle due to the illness yet we hardly had any money since both my husband and I couldn’t find hard labor jobs.
During training, I was among the best weavers, which later earned me the title of a master weaver. Since 2006, I have been selling my baskets and earning a weekly income. Our lifestyle has greatly improved, we can now afford good meals, my husband, our child and I can now take the ARV which we had stopped taking because they made us weak if we didn’t eat a good meal.
I have now trained my husband to weave since it’s something he can do without leaving the home. With our baskets income, we pay our family health insurance, our children go to school with school supplies, we have bought a decent home and we save for our children’s future.
Weaving has brought hope to my family, we are living a normal life like many Rwandans and I am very grateful to all the people who buy our baskets, Imbuto Foundation and Gahaya Links for their support.