From Hopelessness to Leadership: Emmanuel’s Journe

"I never imagined I could build a home or run a business. Today, I'm building a house worth 2,000,000 RWF, planning to buy cows that could double in value. Love & Hands helped me realize I already had what I needed to start" After losing his mother in 2018, Emmanuel Murwanashaka, a 30-year-old from Nyagatare, found himself overwhelmed—caring for his sick sister, doing unstable jobs, and struggling with a deep sense of hopelessness. Despite owning land, he didn’t know how to use it meaningfully. In 2023, he joined Love & Hands after hearing about it at church. Many left when they realized it wasn’t direct financial aid, but Emmanuel stayed. One lesson, the “half-bottle” illustration, shifted everything. It taught him he already had what he needed to change his life. Emmanuel discovered his leadership: organizing his group, proposing rice farming, and securing land. He began building a house, mobilized others, including university graduates, and even inspired relatives to believe in savings and self-reliance. Today, Emmanuel is confident, leading, saving, and dreaming bigger: expanding farmland, launching a business, and becoming fully self-employed. His message: “Start with what you have, help will find you already working.”...

Emmanuel, Community Mentor Kayenzi-Kamonyi

There has been a significant change in mindset among the youth teams, but this has not always been the case. Initially, some teams had a hard time understanding how ABCD works for the community because they did not receive the capital that they were expecting. Whenever I wanted to visit them, they would lie to me about the meeting time and I would not find them (this happened several times). But once, I told them testimonials of other teams(previous cohort) and how they started, and they understood that they own their challenges, which pushed them to start saving. We now have 15 active teams, some engaged in agricultural activities such as planting pineapples, fruits, and vegetables and others in rearing chickens, pigs, goats, and rabbits. Some teams take their harvest to the marketplace every Wednesday and Friday for selling. (Emmanuel 3rd from right) ...