Healing Together. Learning Together. Growing Together.
The Teen Mum Community, also known as the Agacaca Programme, is the heart of Dukataze’s Teen Mum Incubation Hub. While vocational training and entrepreneurship provide teenage mothers with the skills to earn a living, the Teen Mum Community provides something equally important, a safe and supportive environment where young mothers can heal, grow, and build lasting relationships with others who understand their journey.
Teenage motherhood often comes with social isolation, stigma, rejection, interrupted education, financial hardship, and emotional challenges. Many young mothers lose confidence in themselves and feel excluded from opportunities available to their peers. Without continued encouragement and guidance, even those who complete vocational training may struggle to remain motivated or overcome the daily challenges of parenting and rebuilding their lives.
The Agacaca Programme was created to ensure that no teenage mother walks this journey alone.
Why the Teen Mum Community?
At Dukataze, we believe that sustainable economic empowerment requires more than vocational skills. Young mothers also need a strong support system that helps them build confidence, strengthen their parenting journey, improve their mental wellbeing, and continue making informed decisions about their future.
The Teen Mum Community provides that support through regular gatherings where participants learn from one another, receive mentorship from professionals, and develop practical life skills that complement the technical training offered through the Teen Mum Incubation Hub.
Inspired by the Rwandan tradition of Agacaca, a space where communities came together to share, listen, and solve challenges collectively, the programme creates an atmosphere built on trust, respect, healing, and mutual support. Every participant is encouraged to share experiences, celebrate achievements, discuss challenges openly, and learn from others who have faced similar circumstances.
By reducing social isolation and strengthening peer support, the programme helps young mothers regain confidence and continue pursuing education, employment, and entrepreneurship while creating healthier environments for their children.
What Happens During the Monthly Sessions?
Every month, members gather for structured learning and mentorship sessions facilitated by professionals, community leaders, and experienced mentors.
Discussions focus on the real-life challenges faced by teenage mothers while providing practical tools to overcome them. Participants explore topics such as positive parenting, child development, mental health and emotional wellbeing, financial planning, leadership, communication, healthy relationships, conflict resolution, gender equality, self-confidence, goal setting, and personal development.
Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education remains an important part of every programme cycle. Through open and age-appropriate discussions, participants strengthen their understanding of family planning, maternal health, healthy relationships, consent, reproductive rights, and informed decision-making. This knowledge helps young mothers make choices that protect their health, support their aspirations, and reduce the risk of repeat teenage pregnancies.
The programme also regularly welcomes guest speakers, successful entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and inspirational women who share practical experiences and motivate participants to continue building independent futures.
Building a Lifelong Support Network
The Teen Mum Community is not simply a monthly meeting, it is a lifelong network of encouragement, mentorship, and solidarity. Many participants continue supporting one another long after completing vocational or entrepreneurship training by sharing opportunities, exchanging business ideas, celebrating milestones, and encouraging each other through life’s challenges.
This continued connection strengthens the overall impact of the Teen Mum Incubation Hub. As young mothers become more confident, financially independent, and informed about their health and rights, they become role models for other girls and women in their communities. They demonstrate that teenage pregnancy does not define a person’s future and that, with the right support, every young mother has the potential to build a successful and dignified life.
The Agacaca Programme reminds every participant that empowerment is not a journey taken alone. By bringing teenage mothers together in a community rooted in compassion, learning, and shared purpose, Dukataze is helping create stronger families, healthier communities, and a future where poverty and lack of opportunity are no longer barriers to success.