* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Jeanine*, 19, Democratic Republic of Congo
When I was a child, conflict over land with our neighbours resulted in both of my parents dying. My father’s brother adopted me, but there was not enough money to send me to school, so I spent my childhood working alongside my uncle on the farm.
We were in the field working one day when armed men came out of the forest. They took me by force, beat me, and raped me in front of my uncle.
Every member of my family disowned me as a result, and it didn’t stop there. The news reached neighbouring villages - I was the story of the moment.
I have learned that evil never comes alone—I fell pregnant with the child of my rapist. The pain I carried during those nine months was too much. I hated the child.
In 2018 a neighbour who had graduated from the Women for Women International programme told me that the organisation was recruiting new women to join. I went along to enrol and was selected.
I have already learned a lot of things from the programme that have improved my life—but the most important for me is the group work.
Today I found myself in a family, the women in the group are like my sisters—we share so much. I am no longer the single mother from rape, isolated and rejected. I have become a happier and happier woman, who takes good care of her son.
With the monthly stipend we receive from the programme I have started a small fruit business. I am also learning soap making with the other women, and I deeply hope that this job will allow me to offer my son what I could not have—a normal life.
*The full name of the author has been withheld to protect identity.
