Women Rising: Empowering women and families

Hi, my name is Anne Marie. I would like to share something with you all that is close to my heart. 

As some of you know, I was born in Rwanda and I moved to the US as a refugee after surviving the Genocide against Tutsi of 1994. I came to the US with my older sister, who was widowed in the genocide, and her three children. Many of our family members had been killed, including our parents, three brothers and my little sister. Twenty-five years later, I have two sons, a 12-year-old and a 5-year-old, that I am raising on my own. Much of my trauma has faded away but I have days when I am overwhelmed by the challenges of being a single parent. As you can imagine, I have gone through so much in my life but nothing has been as hard and emotionally draining as raising children alone.



Over the last year, I have used my energy and time to create Ineza Village Inc, a nonprofit organization.  Ineza is a Kinyarwanda word meaning kindness and generosity. Generosity and kindness are themes that God has used throughout my life to show me His love and the foundation of my parents' upbringing. I want to extend that same love to others. Ineza Village’s vision is to provide financial assistance to working single moms and refugee families, including child care assistance, access to community resources as well as employment and education opportunities to improve their lives.

However, our immediate financial needs consist of administrative fees (ex: cultural, employment training to single mom refugees), website development costs and transportation expenses.  I have been volunteering my time to non-English speaking refugee single mothers helping them navigate the US education system with their children as well as getting them to employment, social services, and interpreting.

I would love to do this full-time but I have two children to raise and provide for as well. At this time, I would be overjoyed if I could at least give them two full days a week. I have invested so much time and what little money I can into this vision. My dream is to see Ineza Village become a resource hub for single moms and refugee families in the greater Atlanta area. Our country needs this more than ever, and I am positioned to be an empathetic and capable resource for these families.


Additional information: EIN#82-4725346

Ineza Village is a nonprofit approved by IRS under section 501(c)(3).  Therefore donations to the organization are eligible for tax deductions.

If you are not able to make a financial donation at this time, please share with your friends and coworkers and keep us in mind in the near future. Please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you so much for your precious time and your generosity. May God reward your kindness.