Stitching a new beginning: Awa’s path to dignity and independence

In the Central African Republic, many people find themselves in vulnerable situations amid ongoing conflict and chronic instability, leading to mass displacement and widespread protection risks.

As part of the ECHO HIP 25 project, funded by the European Union, DRC deploys teams in rural communities to carry out protection activities, including the prevention of and response to gender-based violence. These efforts aim to strengthen access to essential services and reduce protection risks for affected populations in the sub-prefectures of Paoua, Markounda, Bocaranga, and Batangafo.

This testimony was collected by DRC’s field teams. Awa is an assumed name used to protect the identity of the individual concerned.

Awa, a young mother from the northwest of CAR, shares that she has experienced a period of great vulnerability since adolescence. Exposed to multiple risks in a context marked by conflict and precarious living conditions, she found herself raising her daughter alone, born of a relationship in which she had no decision-making power.

“I lived from day to day, without being able to think about the future,” she recalls.

Awa’s life began to take a different turn when she crossed paths with DRC protection committees working in her neighborhood. One day, while on her way to the market, she noticed a DRC team raising awareness in the community about gender-based violence (GBV), the risks of early marriage, and girls’ well-being and access to education. She decided to stop and take part in the session.

Deeply moved by these issues, she took the initiative to visit the DRC safe space the following day. There, she met the Psychosocial Protection Assistants (APS), with whom she felt comfortable sharing her story and receiving tailored psychosocial support.

Awa was then referred by the APS to psychosocial activities led by survivors of GBV and human rights violations.

Over the course of DRC-supported sessions focused on women’s rights and empowerment, Awa gradually became aware of her own strengths and began pursuing professional training in sewing.

Awa explains:

“I invested in learning to sew, which has enabled me to become earn some money and become independent by selling clothes I make at home and at the market.”

With the support of humanitarian assistance funded by the European Union, Awa’s living conditions have been profoundly transformed. Today, she shares her experience with other women facing similar vulnerabilities, showing them that support systems exist and that change is possible.

Awa now lives with dignity, provides for her daughter, and supports her parents, thanks to the ECHO HIP 25 project implemented by DRC and funded by the European Union in the Central African Republic.

Awa is now looking ambitiously into the future:

"I would like to have my own sewing machine and open a sewing workshop outside my home, a centre dedicated to the training of young girls, boys and women of working age."