“Come visit me!” she excitedly asked on the phone. After a twenty-minute walk to her rural home in Kora, Rwanda, I found Gloria beaming with joy as she sat down to tell me her testimony.
At only 23-years old Gloria felt hopeless. The second of five siblings, her parents could not afford to send her to school as a child. Without an education, Gloria had no job prospects for the future. While visiting her cousin in a neighboring town, she heard about a sewing class where each student receives a sewing machine at graduation.
Gloria fervently prayed and asked God to help her gain acceptance into the program. A few weeks later she found out she would be one of eleven students! After a one-year tailoring course, Gloria graduated and put her skills to work by opening a tailoring business using her new machine. “This was my dream!” she exclaimed. “God has answered my prayers; before I was desperate worrying about my future.”
Gloria mainly repairs tattered clothes. Most people in rural Rwanda cannot afford new ones. She also designs women’s clothes and earns an average of 5 USD monthly—a hefty sum in the rural district of Kora. With her proceeds so far Gloria bought an iron, leased land to grow beans for market, and helps pay school fees for her younger siblings. She hopes to expand her business so she can help support her poverty-stricken parents.
“This training opened my eyes to God’s grace. We learned how to pray and fellowship together as well as learn to sew,” said Gloria. “I’m forever grateful for the many ways TLAfrica supporters transformed my life.”
