Supporting survivors to improve their livelihoods through small business initiatives, agricultural projects, and livestock projects, enables them to increase household food and economic security and financial independence. Below is just one of the profiles of a survivor who has benefited from support through the Good Gifts Catalogue.

Uzamukunda Charlotte is a genocide widow, 50 years old. She lives in the Southern Province of Rwanda. She received support through the Good Gifts project to start banana farming on her small piece of land near her house. She said that before receiving the support from SURF she used to cultivate bananas in the old way, without any investment of either time or money. However, she is focused on making her work more productive, and now with the support she has started receiving in the form of banana plants she has enjoyed a good harvest from the banana plantation after taking it more seriously as a business.

She recognises that the business has the potential to change her life as now she has started to get good results, and every month she generates more than 80,000 Rwf (£70) from selling the bananas.  She added: “Before I received the support the harvest was very poor because I grew local  bananas, but after receiving the new plants from Good Gifts I started to invest more time, using manure, and now I have started receiving the fruits from my hard work.”

Charlotte has children who are attending school, as before it was difficult for her to pay for transport and school materials for the children. But now that problem has been solved by the income from the bananas.

You can buy banana plants or other Good Gifts to support the work of Survivors Fund (SURF).