Tabara

The morning after we went to Heaven, Katie and I were up bright and early on a trek across town for a 9am meeting… on a Saturday. Those familiar with me might well be wondering what on earth might have dragged me out of the house on a Saturday morning before I’d even had a cup of coffee… The answer is Tabara.

Tabara is an NGO just getting started here in Kigali, which is aiming to provide support and assistance to single parents in the city, and Saturday morning was their first public meeting. I’d come across Tabara while reading the blog of a VSO volunteer, Marion, based here in Kigali; the organization is an initiative started up by a Ugandan friend of hers, Jasmine. I’d been looking for something to get involved with since I arrived here, and decided to get in touch with them to see what I might be able to contribute. Luckily a meeting with Marion, Jasmine, Florence (another Tabara member), Katie and I proved successful and two weeks later, Katie and I were knocking on Jasmine’s door so we could head over to the preschool Tabara had borrowed for the morning. It was a tiny room with about 18 tiny wooden benches; Jasmine was telling me that up to five little children fill each bench every day!

To be honest, none of us expected very many people to show up. Jasmine had said she’d told a few parents about the meeting but didn’t expect more than about ten people… By 9:30, the tiny schoolroom was packed with over fifty parents (and some of their children). It was unreal. Jasmine and the Pastor who serves as Tabara’s president (because Rwandan NGOs must be officially run by a Rwandan) introduced the organization and what support it hoped to provide to Kigali’s single parents, and we began taking down people’s names and information about their children. Jasmine organized the parents (which, while mostly women did include two men) into small groups to discuss what the parents wanted Tabara to do for them, primarily concerning income-generating activities. There was so much discussion (of course, almost none I could understand, although Jasmine is a lifesaver about translations) about what each of these parents wanted to be able to do to improve their lives and the lives of their children, and it was so exciting to see so many who had come out for no incentive other than trying to start making a difference for their kids. I was so excited for Jasmine that there was such a turn out. Someone from the district council stopped by, and sent a photographer over to take pictures, which will really help to demonstrate that there is a real need for supporting such an organization.

This is something I am so excited to be a part of. It’s personal for me – it’s only circumstance that separates myself and my child from these men and women I met. I’m so pleased to try and share some of what I’ve learned from being involved in parenting groups in Canada and seeing what might apply here, particularly in terms of setting up support networks and working to improve health and education opportunities for these children. There is so much to be done for single parents and their kids here in Kigali, but Tabara is a big step forward.