How a savings group helped Sandrine find community, deeper faith, and a better future
![Sandrine Niwemuraza and her tailoring business](https://blog.hopeinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sandrine-Niwemuraza-scaled.jpg)
Sandrine working in her tailoring shop
Sandrine Niwemuraza had every reason to stay away from church. “[My] mother used to encourage me to go to church, but I did not want to because I didn’t feel welcomed.”
While still in high school in rural Rwanda, Sandrine became pregnant, and she and her mother—also a single parent—felt despair about their situation. They now faced the reality of even deeper generational poverty. Rejected by their extended family, church, and neighbors, they felt alone.