Evelyne Niyongabire’s Journey to Financial Independence
Meet Ms. Evelyne Niyongabire, a 37-year-old married woman with five children: two girls (ages 13 and 5) and three boys (ages 10, 8, and 10 months). Evelyne and her family live in Quota Makamba, in the Makamba Commune of Makamba Province, Burundi.
Together with her husband, they faced significant challenges in managing their finances, particularly in planning and prioritizing their family’s needs within their limited resources. This struggle led them to accumulate debt continuously.
"Before learning from CMS-Africa, we lived on credit every single day. Even the little money we had was spent on unplanned things. We didn’t prioritize or plan our family income; we spent money any way we wanted since we did not have any priorities. We accumulated debts from other families, associations, service providers in excess of 100,000 Burundian Francs ($34.7) per month.” says Ms. Evelyne.
She felt trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt, which caused her great anxiety. However, in October 2023, Evelyne, along with 29 other women, attended a Women Empowerment Program (WEP) program by CMS-Africa at Cathedrale Ebenezeri, Diocese de Makamba, her local church.
They were equipped with valuable principles of personal and financial management, including managing God’s wealth, saving, investing, saving with others, self-discovery, managing family relationships, and entrepreneurship.
“The teachings were incredibly beneficial because they opened my eyes to doing things the right way,” Evelyne says. “Reverend Jeff taught us how to use our income wisely, whether it’s a little or a lot. He showed us how to save to achieve our plans or vision, and he emphasized the importance of not wasting our income. We learned to list our priorities.”
The sessions were so practical that Evelyne immediately began applying the key lessons, particularly in reducing household expenses, which enabled her to start paying off debts.
"After the training, I decided to cut down on expenses like clothes and shoes. We used to spend about 500,000 Francs ($173.4) per month on groceries, expensive clothes, and other non-essential items without any plan. Our children attended expensive schools, but this year, we moved them to a more affordable school with similar quality education,” she explains.
By reducing expenses, Evelyne began saving money, and also received a loan from a savings group which she used to start a restaurant business in December 2023 to supplement her family income.
"Now, I can save 100,000 Francs ($34.7), some of which goes into the bank and the rest into the Twitezimbere Anglican Women self-help group thanks to the teachings. I also opened a restaurant using utensils from home, adding a few more with 500,000 Francs ($173.4) and paying rent. Now, I’ve replaced all the borrowed utensils with new ones bought from the profits. I earn around 500,000 Francs ($173.4) per month, which allows me to pay salaries to my two employees, cover 50,000 Francs in rent, and still have about 360,000 Francs ($125) in surplus.”
Evelyne notes that after the training, all the women in her cohort formed a self-help group, where each member saves 20,000 Francs ($7) per month.
Starting her own business has made Evelyne financially independent, reducing her dependence on her husband’s income. Her vision is to diversify her sources of income by venturing into different enterprises.
“Before, I completely depended on my husband for school fees and daily needs, but now I can take care of my own needs and contribute to the children’s school fees. My husband now has more financial freedom. I also cover other expenses without bothering him… I save 30,000 Francs per month with the goal of improving my business. For example, with the profits from the restaurant, I’ve bought 800,000 Francs worth of maize and 400,000 Francs worth of beans as stock, which I plan to sell at a higher price in the coming months, and hope to triple the returns. In the future, we plan to buy a car for our family’s transport needs and finish building our house. Now, every cent we earn is spent according to a specific plan.”
Her plan is to share her knowledge on financial management with other people in the previous community saving group where she used to save.
“I want to show them the right way to borrow because many people take loans and use them irresponsibly, spending on things like food and clothes without a purpose. I want to share this information about saving,” she says.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, CMS-Africa, through her partnership with local churches in Burundi, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya, equipped over 500 women with the knowledge and skills needed to increase household economic diversification, access decent work, and reduce the gender economic gap.
Together with her husband, they faced significant challenges in managing their finances, particularly in planning and prioritizing their family’s needs within their limited resources. This struggle led them to accumulate debt continuously.
"Before learning from CMS-Africa, we lived on credit every single day. Even the little money we had was spent on unplanned things. We didn’t prioritize or plan our family income; we spent money any way we wanted since we did not have any priorities. We accumulated debts from other families, associations, service providers in excess of 100,000 Burundian Francs ($34.7) per month.” says Ms. Evelyne.
She felt trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt, which caused her great anxiety. However, in October 2023, Evelyne, along with 29 other women, attended a Women Empowerment Program (WEP) program by CMS-Africa at Cathedrale Ebenezeri, Diocese de Makamba, her local church.
They were equipped with valuable principles of personal and financial management, including managing God’s wealth, saving, investing, saving with others, self-discovery, managing family relationships, and entrepreneurship.
“The teachings were incredibly beneficial because they opened my eyes to doing things the right way,” Evelyne says. “Reverend Jeff taught us how to use our income wisely, whether it’s a little or a lot. He showed us how to save to achieve our plans or vision, and he emphasized the importance of not wasting our income. We learned to list our priorities.”
The sessions were so practical that Evelyne immediately began applying the key lessons, particularly in reducing household expenses, which enabled her to start paying off debts.
"After the training, I decided to cut down on expenses like clothes and shoes. We used to spend about 500,000 Francs ($173.4) per month on groceries, expensive clothes, and other non-essential items without any plan. Our children attended expensive schools, but this year, we moved them to a more affordable school with similar quality education,” she explains.
By reducing expenses, Evelyne began saving money, and also received a loan from a savings group which she used to start a restaurant business in December 2023 to supplement her family income.
"Now, I can save 100,000 Francs ($34.7), some of which goes into the bank and the rest into the Twitezimbere Anglican Women self-help group thanks to the teachings. I also opened a restaurant using utensils from home, adding a few more with 500,000 Francs ($173.4) and paying rent. Now, I’ve replaced all the borrowed utensils with new ones bought from the profits. I earn around 500,000 Francs ($173.4) per month, which allows me to pay salaries to my two employees, cover 50,000 Francs in rent, and still have about 360,000 Francs ($125) in surplus.”
Evelyne notes that after the training, all the women in her cohort formed a self-help group, where each member saves 20,000 Francs ($7) per month.
Starting her own business has made Evelyne financially independent, reducing her dependence on her husband’s income. Her vision is to diversify her sources of income by venturing into different enterprises.
“Before, I completely depended on my husband for school fees and daily needs, but now I can take care of my own needs and contribute to the children’s school fees. My husband now has more financial freedom. I also cover other expenses without bothering him… I save 30,000 Francs per month with the goal of improving my business. For example, with the profits from the restaurant, I’ve bought 800,000 Francs worth of maize and 400,000 Francs worth of beans as stock, which I plan to sell at a higher price in the coming months, and hope to triple the returns. In the future, we plan to buy a car for our family’s transport needs and finish building our house. Now, every cent we earn is spent according to a specific plan.”
Her plan is to share her knowledge on financial management with other people in the previous community saving group where she used to save.
“I want to show them the right way to borrow because many people take loans and use them irresponsibly, spending on things like food and clothes without a purpose. I want to share this information about saving,” she says.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, CMS-Africa, through her partnership with local churches in Burundi, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya, equipped over 500 women with the knowledge and skills needed to increase household economic diversification, access decent work, and reduce the gender economic gap.