Our Sisters’ Opportunity Vocational Program Empowers Marginalized Girls Through Fashion

When girls drop out of school and fail to transition to higher learning, they are forced to take up menial jobs and unpaid care work or endure abuse to make ends meet. Community organizations, such as Our Sisters’ Opportunity (OSO), are working to change this narrative through scholarships, provision of school materials, and vocational training. 

For our partner OSO, offering vocational training through fashion design has been a game changer for girls in the Gakenke Sector in Rwanda. Delphine Uwamahoro, the Founder and Executive Director of OSO, says the inspiration for OSO’s flagship vocational program —the Creative Design Academy– was to give vulnerable girls a chance at education and inspire the Rwandan education sector to do better for girls.

Delphine says tailoring was seen as a woman’s job in the past and did not bring in much income. Through OSO, Delphine and her team are changing the narrative by supporting vulnerable girls between the age of 15-25 to make up to $400 per month through their fashion design skills. The selected girls attend a one-year vocational program with a uniquely tailored curriculum that implements Digital Fashion Design and Ethical Fashion Concepts.

Marie, an 18-year-old girl from the Gakenke Sector, is a beneficiary of OSO’s fashion and design program. Marie had to drop out of secondary school in her third year because her family could not afford tuition. Marie worked as a farmhand in her village and later moved to Kigali, where she earned $15 as a housekeeper. 

“I sent all the money I made to my mom to support my siblings... This salary was not enough. I always wanted better work. I decided to go and work where they build houses. I got a great job there; I was paid $50 per month,” Marie says.

At the construction site, Marie and the other girls faced sexual harassment. Some were forced into accepting sexual advances for fear of losing their jobs. Marie was raped, and a month later, she discovered she was pregnant.

“Life became complicated again. Since then, I had been scared to go out to look for job opportunities, I couldn’t go back to my village; I was ashamed of what happened. I didn’t dare to share it with anyone. It was hard to start over,” Marie narrates.

Our Sisters’ Opportunity is keen on supporting girls like Marie to access sustainable, dignified jobs. When Marie heard about OSO, she felt this was her second chance at a better life for herself and her 4-year-old daughter. After participating in their selection exam, Marie got a chance to attend OSO’s Creative Design Academy. At OSO, Marie found a safe space and a support system that gave her the courage to tell her story and work towards her dreams.    

Delphine says existing community norms that are deeply rooted prevent girls like Marie from exercising their agency to speak up for their rights and against vices like GBV. 

“One challenge is mindset. Girls lack confidence and grow up not knowing their worth and their rights. When you educate them on their rights, they question themselves and are scared to bring what they learn into action because the community still takes them back,” Delphine says.

To support girls like Marie, OSO implements a healthcare program to provide girls with a safe space for psychosocial support. Through the program, girls also learn about their sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR). OSO also involves community leaders and duty bearers to train and sensitize them against GBV. Through their initiative, OSO has engaged the police, healthcare workers, and lawyers to train them about the role of working against the taboos that hinder young women and girls from exercising their agency, accessing education, and pursuing their goals. 

The girls OSO supports come from extreme poverty. Young women and girls are offered a 1-year scholarship for an entrepreneurship course where they learn to create and market their products to improve their lives. Besides fashion design, OSO offers entrepreneurship courses in soap production and agribusiness. Annually, OSO trains 100+ girls within their fashion and design program and 480+ girls overall. Since its inception in 2019, more than 1560 girls have graduated from OSO’s vocational programs. 

Our Sisters’ Opportunity’s unique interventions focus on breaking barriers for young women and girls through economic empowerment to address poverty and empower girls to develop their agency and know their rights. To continue this work, Delphine hopes OSO will access more funding to create a safe environment for girls like Marie who fall through the cracks of patriarchal society and miss out on the chance to continue their education. 

Learn more about OSO’s vocational program and support them.