BUJUMBURA, March 7th (ABP) – In order to empower themselves, women can also practise certain trades that were once “reserved for men”. These were the words of Jeanine Kampirwe, a woman who extracts sand and gravel from the Kizingwe river south of the city of Bujumbura, in an interview with ABP on Wednesday 5 March 2025.
According to Kampirwe, this job is not easy for women, as it requires a lot of physical strength.
However, instead of begging, she decided to take up this trade so that she wouldn’t have to wait for her husband to come along and do nothing. She advised the other women to do the same in order to empower themselves.
She also said that she earns money from this trade, and that she manages to help her husband cover the needs of their family, pointing out that she sells her extracted products for between 500 and 1,000 BIF per bag, and between 50,000 and 90,000 BIF per “Ben” lorry.
Kampirwe also revealed that she was orphaned at an early age, and that she led a miserable life without family support. She also revealed that she had two children with her deceased first husband, and that she started working in this trade to ensure their survival.
Kampirwe testifies that this trade has changed her life, even if the beginnings were not easy. According to her, her family is no longer short of rations or rent thanks to the extraction of gravel and sand. Despite this, Kampirwe points out that women are not able to extract these materials at the same rate as men, but little by little they are able to make a living from it and become independent. She also points out that this trade is virgin territory for women, as there are few women interested in it, pointing out that there are only three in the Kajiji locality of Kizingwe.
She also deplores the behaviour of some women who prefer begging, theft and prostitution to manual labour. She reminds them that earning money through manual labour is more honourable than working in shameful and risky occupations.