Rita, Kirabho Vocational Training Institute

A graduate of Kirabho’s tailoring training programme, Rita completed her training in 2022 and established a small tailoring business in her local village. She married soon after leaving school and at 20, she provides for her daughter and her husband, who has just completed secondary school and is yet to find a job.

Rita rents her sewing machine which accounts for nearly a third of her average monthly earnings. Her work comprises of making traditional clothes including Basuti, a traditional ladies dress and repairing clothes. At Christmas and Easter her income rises dramatically as more work is available.

Rita has been able to start paying her daughter’s nursery school fees. She hopes to continue to support her child through education, to buy her own workshop and build her own house. In order to achieve her plans, she saves a proportion of what she earns each month.

While Rita was lucky to find a machine to rent, there are several other young women who have not yet found a machine to rent and who struggle to obtain gainful employment.