Smiling from ear to ear, Nirina, Lova and Soa welcome us into their small eatery. The eatery represents a huge victory for these young women who have all gone through a difficult period characterized by violence.
Nirina and Lova are both victims of economic violence by their respective partners. Abandoned with their children by their partners, the two women benefited from psychosocial support from social workers of the CECJ in Tulear.
Given that the mediation with their former partners only ended in a partial settlement of their alimony pay, the two women, who had only modest incomes, took the initiative to enroll and participate in a training on income-generating activities organized by the CECJ and the Vocational Training Centre for Women.
At the age of 22, Soa's disability has led to her social exclusion. Right from a young age, she had always suffered from discrimination, which pushed her to abandon school and preferred helping her parents with their daily activities. Soa's ambition was to stand on her feet and not be a burden to her parents. To achieve this goal, she enrolled in a course for Cookery and Baking.
I can now in turn help my parents. They are so proud of me
The three young women met during the training and agreed on opening a small eatery together. Putting together their start-up funds and banking on the start-up kits offered to them at the end of the training, it was easy to open their restaurant together on a busy street downtown in Tulear, offering a wide variety of pastries, snacks and dishes to their customers.
Quite proud of their success now together, they have become financially independent. "I can now in turn help my parents. They are so proud of me. Those who used make a mockery of me before, even come here to buy cupcakes" says Soa.
As for Nirina and Lova, the greatest added values are their ability to ensure their children's education as well as saving up some money. "I don't need any more alimony from the father of my children, I can take care of them on my own. And I know that his parents are also against it. But I just want him to take responsibility as a father and that's why I thank the CECJ for continuing the proceedings with this man", Lova confides.
For Nirina, "I just want to thank UNFPA and Norway for helping to restore our dignity. If all the women who are facing similar difficulties can get this kind of support, it would be very good. However, I think we should not wait for help either, but we should go ahead and trust ourselves. When you believe in yourself, you can achieve things that you didn't even dare imagine before."
