Buresho Claude, 46 Veneranda Musengimana, 40, wife is a retailer of fish in Karongi market while husband is a fisherman in Lake Kivu in Western Province. The couple has five children with age space of two years and their last born is nine months who they gave birth to un planned after many years. Buresho decided to undergo vasectomy after agreeing with his wife who had undergone a caesarean operation while giving birth to their last born. He said that he did not want his wife to face any more risks associated with pregnancy or any side effects caused by family planning

“My wife always used family planning but faced complications. However, our community health worker encouraged her to visit the health center. I made the decision because I was afraid to have more children and realized that I could not support them as I wished. I wanted to be able to provide quality education and healthcareto my children to have a better future which I didn’t get at my time to avoid continuous poverty in our family,” he said. 

The father of five is happy for the decision he took to relieve his wife from maternal related challenges and support her to dedicate some time for work and improve standards of their living.

He confirms that there are no side effects he has faced since he opted for vasectomy despite the false talks from his community. “All the negative talk about vasectomy are lies but rather due to fear of other men in society. Whenever there is an opportunity I talk to people about men involvement in family planning and its benefits” Bureshyo says. 

Buresho and his wife Musengimana Veneranda in their home

Musengimana Veneranda appreciates the support from her husband saying it’s a brave decision and she will respect him for that. “My husband’s decision has helped both of us to concentrate on income generating activities. Once our last baby is grown, I will be fully occupied in the market, join cooperative schemes, expand my business and reach out for loans in the bank because I will not have little children to look after,” said Musengimana