Tabara Africa – Single Parent Network in Rwanda
Rwanda's First NGO Supporting Parents Without Partners
May 17, 2009
Usually, as a single parent, you know that even if you are unemployed you and your children won't starve and you won't become homeless. Countries with a strong social welfare system help towards housing benefits, job seekers allowance and child benefits. But in many countries across the world there is no social welfare system – if you have no income, you have nothing.
Tabara Africa is Rwanda's first Non-Government Organisation (NGO) for single parents. Tabara is Kinyarwanda for 'Help' and that is what they say they are there to do.
What is the History of Tabara Africa?
Tabara Africa was established in June 2008 by Jasmine Rizik, a Ugandan single mother who had been living in Rwanda for over three years when her Rwandan husband decided to leave. Jasmine suddenly found herself alone, raising two young children.
In becoming a single parent she started to meet other single parents, taking in another local girl who had recently had a daughter. She began to realise that many of the problems she faced were common to lots of other single mums and dads in her area, problems such as:
- Social Isolation
- Stigma
- Unemployment
- Threats (both physical and verbal) from former partners
- Fear of having to give up their children to other family members
- Inability to pay for their child's education
- Poor health due to low-income
Jasmine decided to form a Committee with fellow single parents in order to start an NGO. They held their first public meeting in September 2008 and became a fully registered Rwandan NGO in March 2009.
What Are Tabara Africa's Objectives?
According to Tabara Africa's website, the organisation has four main objectives:1) Setting-up single parent networks, through which to:
2) Increase child welfare by increasing access to health care, education and other basic rights which low-income families often go without
3) Assist single parent employment by supporting vocational training and single-parent work co-operatives without compromising child welfare (supporting flexible working hours and child care initiatives)
4) Lobbying to make this a government issue and influencing policies which affect the welfare of single-parent families.
And their vision is one of:
"...a world in which ‘single parent family’ does not necessarily mean ‘low income family’, where the children of single parents have the same access to education and healthcare as children with two parents, and where single mums and dads can hold their heads high, free from stigma, and be proud of who they are."
They have currently set-up single parent networks across the capital city of Kigali, including the suburbs of Kacyiru, Kicukiro and Kimihurura with a membership of around 80 parents (3% single fathers) raising over 150 children.
What Is the Main Issue Facing Single Parents?
According to one member of Tabara:
"The largest problem faced by single parents has been how to make money. The stigma of being a single parent is still high and some families disown relatives that become single parents even when their partner has left them. This puts a greater burden on the parent to find work but desperation sometimes means they are exploited, working long hours, sometimes seven days a week, with no time to see their children. Some parents are forced to give up their children to other family members because they cannot feed them."
In their information leaflet, Tabara Africa welcomes all single parents, be they widowed, divorced, separated or never married. What matters is not what has happened, but what will happen next for both parent and child.
If you would like more information on Tabara, you can visit their website mentioned above, or even join Tabara Africa's FaceBook group to stay up-to-date on news and events.
If you would like more information in English, Kinyarwanda or Luganda you can call +250 (0)78362 2212 (9am - 8pm Central African Time) or e-mail: info@tabara.net
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