Claudine

“I hope one day I will be able to have a school, where I can teach French. I love teaching. I love my clients, and they love me too,” says Claudine.

Claudine’s passion for teaching French stems from her experience as a refugee, and the struggles she faced accessing services. Having fled from Rwanda to Nairobi in 2009 with her husband and four children, Claudine and her family initially faced difficulty in getting their refugee status determination, and she felt that this was a result of having a translator who was not properly interpreting her story. Frustrated, Claudine was determined to help other refugees learn French, so that they could express themselves in their own words. 

After her husband suffered from a stroke, Claudine’s family began relying on her entirely for financial stability. One of Claudine’s children was also ill, and required surgery. Struggling to survive, Claudine learned about RefugePoint in 2014, through a community outreach meeting at her church. RefugePoint assisted Claudine and her family in applying for and receiving access to care from The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), which enabled her daughter to access a much-needed surgery at Kenyatta Hospital. RefugePoint also began assisting the family with food, which Claudine said enabled her to put money into savings and purchase French books so that should begin her business of teaching French. 

In addition to teaching French, Claudine runs a food stand, grows and sells fresh vegetables, and cleans local office buildings to provide for her family. In February of 2018, Claudine completed RefugePoint’s business training, and received a small business grant of $200. Prior to receiving the grant, Claudine had been selling vegetables and snacks on the side of the road – which was very unstable and dependent on the weather. The location was also very far from Claudine’s family, and caring for her children and husband was challenging. The grant allowed Claudine to invest in renting a small room, close to her home, where she now has desks, and a chalkboard in order to facilitate her teaching. Out of this same room, Claudine continues to sell vegetables and snacks.

Claudine is extremely industrious, and has found incredible ways to make things work despite difficult circumstances – for example by trading teaching time for resources like French dictionaries and books, and by convincing her landlord to allow her to use his empty lot of land to grow her vegetable garden without extra charge. Claudine says that the most important lessons she learned during the RefugePoint business training was how to welcome clients, and how to behave as a business owner. Claudine said that with her savings, she hopes to be able to buy a small property in two years.

“I feel like an angel brought RefugePoint into my life. I was in a really difficult place, and I felt like I was not making any progress. I am so grateful for the food assistance and for the business grant,” Claudine said.