Solidarity for the Development of Widows and Orphans to Promote Self-Sufficiency and Livelihoods, widely known as SEVOTA (from its French acronym) – was born from a promise made in the darkest days of Rwanda’s history. Its founder, Dr. Godeliève Mukasarasi, launched the organization in gratitude to God for protecting her family during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
In an interview with Rwanda Dispatch, Dr. Mukasarasi shared the deeply personal origins of SEVOTA. As the genocide unfolded, she prayed fervently for the survival of her five children. “I couldn’t fathom losing my beautiful children. I promised God that if they survived, I would dedicate my life to serving others,” she recalls.
Dr. Godeliève Mukasarasi, the Founder of SEVOTA
That promise became SEVOTA, founded on December 28, 1994, to support women who were raped during the genocide, children born from those rapes, and other vulnerable survivors.
Dr. Mukasarasi’s account is both harrowing and inspiring. When killings started in Kamonyi on April 19, she was overwhelmed with fear. Memories of past anti-Tutsi violence from 1973 compounded her dread. The Interahamwe militias had begun their killing spree, and on April 23, her family home was destroyed. Her mother-in-law and other relatives were taken to a killing site near the Nyabarongo River, never to return. “We commemorate them every year in Ngamba Sector,” she said.
“Stranded with no knowledge of our next destination, I believed in God’s protection when the Interahamwe militias were marauding the entire area, thirst to terminate the lives of the Tutsi. God answered part of my prayers – my husband and children survived but lost my in-laws and friends,” adds Dr. Mukasarasi.
Key highlights of 30-year journey
The vision for SEVOTA came to Dr. Mukasarasi during a time of prayer in October 1994. She saw women in unimaginable pain—hungry, crying, and hopeless. She took this as a divine call to act. With a background in social work in Ngamba Sector, she organized some women and started with 26 widows in a single-room structure in Taba Sector. That number soon grew to over 100.
“My first assignment was awareness about women’s rights and freedoms through trainings aimed at empowering genocide widows with legal acquaintance,” recalls Dr. Mukasarasi.
SEVOTA’s mission is to provide psychological, legal, and economic support to genocide widows, orphans, and rape survivors. Its early work focused on raising awareness of women’s rights and legal empowerment. On March 8, 1995, SEVOTA launched its first grassroots campaign during a peace rally organized by Pro-Femmes Twese Hamwe.
Its infancy was challenging largely due to limited means and the founder mobilized resources along establishing useful connections.
Soon after, SEVOTA received support from Terre des Hommes Netherlands, African Communities Initiatives Support Team (ACIST), Care International, the Rwandan and Spanish Red Cross, Association Rwandaise pour le Développement (Rwandan Development Association, ARDEC), Réseau des Femmes œuvrant pour le développement rural (Rural Development Women’s Network), among others.
The partners’ interventions brought smiles to SEVOTA’s beneficiaries as life resumed, they were given basic needs like clothes, shelter, food, farm tools like hoes, fertilizers, seeds and small livestock like goats.
Along the journey, SEVOTA expanded its targeted audience to include orphans. Some 68 widows’ groups were organized across all the administrative units of Taba Commune with 10 orphans’ groups. Shortly, groups of orphans’ guardians and groups of survivors were formed to enhance a sense of society, cooperation and solidarity.
Weekly counseling sessions were initiated to help survivors share their traumatic stories and support each other. Monthly gatherings under the Urunana rw’Abashaka Amahoro (Taba Women’s Peace Network) became key platforms for healing and reconciliation.
National and International Impact
Dr. Mukasarasi credits Rwanda’s good governance for enabling SEVOTA’s success. “I owe much to a government that empowers Rwandans to dream and act,” she said.
SEVOTA has transformed many lives, supports community members recognize their difficulties and find appropriate solutions. This empowerment is done through trainings and coaching. Ultimately, the organization has developed their skills to improve emotional, social, health, legal, and economic conditions of many.
Unity, reconciliation and development programmes are some of the priority activities SEVOTA engages in to promote healing through expressing remorse and forgivingness, and such efforts have resulted in peaceful coexistence between the genocide perpetrators and survivors.
The organization has expanded its operations countrywide and currently operate in 11 districts and is recognized for its role in promoting unity and development initiatives. It has presence in – Kirehe and Bugesera in Eastern the province, Kicukiro, Gasabo and Nyarugenge in Kigali, Musanze in Northern Province, Rubavu and Ngororero in Western province, Nyanza, Muhanga and Kamonyi in Southern Province.
The organization played a pivotal role in international justice by advocating for rape to be recognized as a weapon of war and a crime against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) sitting in Arusha, Tanzania.
“Initially, rape was categorized as a lesser crime. Through testimonies from women in Urunana rw’Abashaka Amahoro and advocacy from Kamonyi women and legislators, it was rightfully elevated to a crime against humanity,” Dr. Mukasarasi explained.
Women who testified at ICTR in Arusha won recognition as models of self-reliance and agents of change, especially of mindset in their communities.
Agaseke k’Amahoro: A Symbol of Healing
SEVOTA introduced Agaseke k’Amahoro—the Peace Basket—as a cultural initiative to promote healing. Rooted in Rwandan tradition, it fosters love and solidarity through gift exchange and communal visits. “It helps survivors feel loved and reconnected,” notes Dr. Mukasarasi.
Notably, many families were totally wiped out, others had only one or few relatives who survived and lived in isolation and felt rejected finding it hard to coexist with the people they saw as their betrayers. The organization regarded such people as in need of reintegration into the wider Rwandan society and their own families and/or find new families where they can be loved and develop a sense of belonging, again.
Many genocide survivors, especially orphans and isolated individuals, have been reintegrated into society through SEVOTA’s programs. Initiatives like therapy, vocational training, and economic support such as livestock distribution and small business funding. Couples are also trained under the Legitimacy, Transparency, and Accountability (LTA) program to foster gender equality and peaceful family life.
Agaseke k’Amahoro initiative has helped genocide widows, victims of rape and orphans to return a smile on their faces once again.
The initiative brings about love and sense of brotherhood because it involves exchanging gifts and visiting each other, a practice rooted in the Rwandan culture. Such occasions provide space for sharing problems and challenges, while finding solutions together.
Legacy and Global Recognition
Dr. Mukasarasi expresses deep humility and gratitude for being recognized among the Abarinzi b’Igihango (protectors of the friendship pact) awarded during the 9th Annual Forum of Unity Club Intwararumuri. As a widow who transformed her personal pain into a mission of healing and reconciliation, she has long stood as a voice for widows and survivors of sexual violence.
Her inclusion among honorees acknowledged not only her tireless advocacy for women and children born of rape, but also her unwavering commitment to rebuilding the social fabric of the Rwandan community. A profound affirmation of the power of compassion and solidarity in restoring dignity and unity among Rwandans.
She is also happy for the progress of the ongoing projects including the Institute of peace and the Gardens of Righteous for Humanity recognized at international level.
In 2023, Dr. Mukasarasi’s name and achievements were included in the Gardens of Righteous for Humanity in Milan City in Italy, and promised to establish similar gardens in Rwanda.
Back in Rwanda, SEVOTA established the Gardens of Righteous for Humanity, which features a wide variety of medicinal and ornamental plants like umurinzi, used traditionally to treat heart and liver ailments.
Recent achievements also include training the youths vocational skills to help them engage in productive economic activities.
And, couples are also mobilized in groups and facilitated financially or otherwise to start small business to ultimately improve their wellbeing. The organisation supported by partners give exotic cows to beneficiaries, who in return pass-on the calves to others in their group.
Last year, the organisation created awareness about peaceful families as baseline for country’s development and unity, with focus on prevention of gender-based violence. The training dubbed Legitimacy, Transparence and Accountability (LTA) saw couples train in skills to prevent GBV through dialogue, mutual respect and unity. While the platform was, also, used to emphasize the core values embodied in Ndi Umunyarwanda programme.
Dr. Mukasarasi’s work continues to evolve, with youth vocational training and peace education at the forefront. As Dr. Mukasarasi puts it, “Our journey is about restoring dignity, one life at a time.”
