Emmanueline’s New Beginning

For nine years, Emmanueline lived behind prison walls. When she was finally released, freedom did not immediately mean that life became easy. She returned to her community carrying the emotional weight of her years in prison, without knowing how she would rebuild her life or support her family.

“I couldn’t see how I was going to restart my life,” Emmanueline recalls. The transition back into the community was difficult, and she struggled with trauma, uncertainty, and hopelessness.

Restoration Burundi believes that supporting a person should not end when they walk out of prison. In partnership with Muhira Connect, the organisation has been supporting ex-prisoners through psychological support, regular follow-up, training, and economic empowerment. Monthly sessions give former prisoners a safe space to speak about their experiences, receive guidance, heal from trauma, and learn how to rebuild their relationships within their communities.

For Emmanueline, this continued support made a difference.

“When I returned to the community, they continued following up with us through regular monthly trainings,” she says. “We had a space where we could speak up and were taught how to live and behave in the community. The burden of trauma I used to carry was lifted. The teachings have continued to help me until now.”

Restoration Burundi also helps ex-prisoners become economically independent. Recognising that emotional healing is difficult when a person has no means of meeting basic needs, the organisation provides practical training in small business and, where possible, start-up capital to help former prisoners establish income-generating activities.

Emmanueline received a small amount of capital and used it to start a business selling soaked cassava, avocados, peanuts, and ripe bananas.

“They supported me with a small amount of capital. Now I can run my small business and pay my house rent,” she explains.

Her business may be small, but it has become an important source of hope. Each day, she carefully prepares her products and takes only a small quantity to her roadside selling point, bringing more from home as the products are sold.

“I have to wash the cassava well to keep it clean,” she says. “Some of it is kept here, while the rest is kept inside the house. I only bring a small quantity to my roadside selling table at a time, and as it is sold, I gradually bring more.”

The income helps Emmanueline meet some of her family’s daily needs. She lives with her children, who are also without jobs, and the family has to pay rent and provide for themselves.

“God bless this Association for doing so much to lift me out of prison and give me this capital,” she says. “It helps me in my everyday life. I can buy charcoal and feed my family.”

For Restoration Burundi, Emmanueline’s story illustrates why reintegration must go beyond prison release. Former prisoners need to be welcomed back into their communities, supported as they deal with trauma, equipped with practical skills, and given opportunities to rebuild their livelihoods.

Emmanueline still faces challenges, and her business has a long way to go. But she is no longer simply asking how she will survive. She is thinking about how she can grow. She says. “I want to continue working, grow my business, and build a better life for my family.”

This comes as part of Justice program of Restoration Burundi which consists of helping legally vulnerable prisoners and supporting their reintegration into the community