The first house we built was for Solome in 2014, and that just . . . happened.
In 2015, we built four houses for single-mother families. At this point, a set of qualifications for house recipients had yet to be developed. These women were connected to Rwanda Sustainable Families, a micro-loan organization, and Rosa met in 2012 and 2014. The women were suggested by Felix, Inshuti of Rwanda’s Project Coordinator. After Rosa visited them and witnessed their need for proper housing, they were picked to be part of our 2015 build.
During 2016 we built six houses, again focusing on single-mother families. As Inshuti of Rwanda began growing into a small nonprofit organization, we realized the need for sets of guidelines when choosing house recipients out of the numerous impoverished families. We decided house recipients must own land and have at least three children of young age.
For our 2017 Building Season, we built 10 houses! This year we began working closely with Murara Sector leaders to identify homeless families. We found 130 people in the Murara Sector who were in immediate need of housing, and most of our 2017 families came from this list. We also began helping masons who had been working with Inshuti since our first house. Now we plan to help both single-mother families and families with working fathers who are still struggling.
In 2020, we constructed 11 standard Inshuti homes and two Umuryango Family houses, sheltering 19 families. Inshuti of Rwanda chose the families for the standard houses, and Murara Sector leaders picked the eight families for the Umuryango houses. Of our house recipients, six were hard-working fathers, four were single-mother families, and one was the family of an Inshuti mason. All 19 families had at least three school-aged children.
Another successful Building Season happened in 2021, constructing 15 new Inshuti houses. Eight families were selected from Rubavu Sector's housing list as we continued our close collaboration in sheltering those most in need. The sector provided a waiver for tax-free materials, greatly diminishing the overall cost of each house. We also housed six Inshuti worker families and the daughter of a 2016 house recipient.
Our 2022 house recipients have a wide range of backgrounds; almost all were chosen from the Rwandan government housing list, most are single mothers, and many are genocide survivors and widows. We reserved a few slots for Inshuti workers to continue strengthening our Inshuti community.
In 2023 we continue to grow and expand the reach of our impact. This year, we plan on building 25 houses over two Building Seasons. Our house recipients have a wide range of backgrounds; almost all were chosen from the Rwandan government housing list, most are single mothers, and many are genocide survivors and widows. We reserved a few slots for Inshuti workers to continue strengthening our Inshuti community.
