Emerthe

Emerthe (45) is a wife and mother of 6 children. She works as a pointer and supervisor and sometimes as a trainer in pointing for women. She is also a trade union leader at the construction union STECOMA.

Emerthe at work. Photo: Jan Banning. 
Text courtesy of Hope Kabuchu

Building houses for genocide survivors

On the day of the first meeting with Emerthe, she is wText courtesy of Hope Kabuchuorking at a large housing project near the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda, where they are building more than 100 homes for military veterans and genocide survivors. She is very busy, working fast, with a team of all-female pointers and construction site helpers, smoothing the joints of a newly constructed stone building.

Certified for pointing and paving

Emerthe left school during the genocide in 1994 when she was about 15 years old. After the war, she never had the opportunity to go back to school. She began as a helper in the construction industry but focused on learning other skills in construction as an apprentice. She became a member of the construction trade union STECOMA and took part in the training programme organised by the union, which resulted in her receiving the certificate for pointing and paving in 2016.

Trade union leader at STECOMA

Emerthe was elected to a leadership position at trade union STECOMA as a women’s representative for the Kicuciro district. She is a member of the teams that train women on their rights, how they should be treated at work, provides training on sexual harassment and how to deal with corruption through sexual solicitation at work. She would like to recruit more women into the sector. She is motivated by the fight for workers’ rights. “I like exchanging ideas and travelling to different construction sites to talk to women about their rights, to motivate them to enjoy what they do and also to join a trade union so that women can speak with one voice.”

Emerthe at home with her husband. Photo: Jan Banning

International exchange

She enjoys being a union leader, because it allows her to meet a whole variety of people. In 2019 STECOMA organised an international gender training course in Kigali, in collaboration with the FNV and global union BWI. Emerthe was there and thoroughly enjoyed meeting women from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and from the Middle East and North Africa, who had come to Rwanda to exchange ideas.

Living situation gradually improved 

Her living situation has gradually improved and is now finding work more easily because STECOMA works with employers to be given information on employment opportunities and publishes available opportunities in construction projects that members can apply for. She has persevered because she sees immediate benefits in construction work, giving the example that she and her husband have bought a 25 by 20-metre plot in Gicuciro, near Kigali, where they hope one day to build a house.

Proud of family

Emerthe says she is so proud that she has a very happy family and talks about the obvious love between her and her husband. Her hope for the future is that they will be able to build a family home and no longer have to pay the monthly rent for the two-room house where the eight of them currently live on the outskirts of Kigali city.